Daniel Lloyd secured his sixth victory from six starts in the 2018 TCR UK Series as he fought from ninth place on the reverse grid to take the win in the second race at Brands Hatch, but not before encountering a hard defence from Carl Swift.
The Maximum Motorsport driver led from the go whilst team-mate Stewart Lines fell back into the field as the dealt with a slippery first couple of laps after fluids were spilt around the circuit from a previous support race. Josh Price in the BMR Autoglym Academy Honda made a good start to run second behind Swift as Lewis Kent went wide at Druids after running in third place.
Jessica Backman scored her first podium finish in the TCR UK Series at Brands Hatch. Credit: BRSCC / TCR UK Series
Lloyd started to make his way towards the front of the field by trying to pass the Pyro Motorsport duo of Finlay Crocker and Ollie Taylor in the opening laps, with both drivers putting up a stern defence to begin with. However Taylor fell back down the field whilst Crocker moved forward in the Honda Civic which was visibly twitchy as each lap progressed.
Kent was another victim to fall back down the field as the race drew on with Crocker passing the Essex and Kent Motorsport Hyundai for sixth place on lap five. Lloyd had already dispatched the Hyundai a lap before and was soon past team-mate Jessica Backman and Price for second place.
Swift was looking good for a podium until contact ended his running. Credit: BRSCC / TCR UK Series
Lap seven saw the fight for the lead rage as Lloyd passed Swift going into Druids, however the CUPRA TCR driver fought back and regained the lead which he held on to for another three laps. Once the WestCoast Racing driver took the lead he was never headed again.
The second race was one of attrition as first Price retired with suspected further fuel feed problems and then Alex Morgan retired the Renault Megane after further issues hampered the cars running.
Fuller scored his first podium of the year at Brands after missing out Knockhill. Credit: BRSCC / TCR UK Series
A late race fight between Swift and Andreas Backman for third place saw contact after Druids where Backman had damaged the suspension on the Volkswagen Golf, but this contact also led to Swift retiring from a certain podium later on with a broken wishbone.
Crocker was also involved for the fight for fourth place with Backman and Lines however a mechanical issue in the rear end brought his day to an end.
Finlay Crocker was in the hunt for fourth place until a mechanical issue ruled him out of the race. Credit: BRSCC / TCR UK Series
Whilst Lloyd took his sixth win of the year, Jessica Backman took her first podium finish of the series in second place with Howard Fuller also taking his first podium finish after passing Lines for third place in the final laps.
The 2018 TCR UK Series moves to Castle Combe for rounds seven and eight of the year in July. The important note to remember is that this will be the first allocation of Balance of Performance and Compensation Weight for the series.
