Triple Eight‘s Dan Lloyd took the official Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Media Day test as a positive learning experience for MG, despite teething troubles interrupting his afternoon at Donington.
Lloyd’s afternoon was truncated by ‘minor’ mechanical issues in Leicester as he finished 26th of the 30 runners, but the Triple Eight man was nonetheless encouraged on a day where gathering data and experience comfortably trumped laptimes.
The 25-year-old echoed MG team-mate Aron Taylor-Smith‘s comments by the conclusion of the test, saying that they entered behind on mileage compared to numerous rivals.
“A bit of a frustrating day, because we spent a lot of time in the garage”, said Lloyd when speaking to The Checkered Flag after the Donington test.
“We’re playing a bit of catch-up, but our testing really starts now while the others have had their best test days. It’s one of [MG’s] first proper days out on the circuit though, whereas a lot of teams have already had their miles in.”
On teething troubles, Lloyd admitted “it’s mostly been surrounding the steering rack, but we had a leak and seal issues also. Thankfully, they weren’t major issues.
“It’s kind of to be expected. We know what all of those issues were and solved each one, so then it’s just been a case of me getting back into the swing of things.”
A first full season awaits for the youngster, who last season picked up a personal best BTCC result of sixth at Oulton Park when driving for Eurotech Racing.
Adapting to the MG6 GT proved Lloyd’s main call to action at Donington, adding: “I’ve not been in a front-whel drive car since June 2016, so it takes a bit of getting used to again. All good work though.
“Last year was great for me. It helped me into this drive and it’s a real bonus knowing you’re with a prestigous brand for a full season.”
