BTC Norlin Racing driver Dan Lloyd had another weekend to forget in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as contact and a lack of pace saw great points scoring opportunities pass him by.
Since his victory in the reverse grid race at Croft, Dan’s best finishing position had been two ninth place finishes, this was a result he wanted to improve upon last weekend at Silverstone.
A close qualifying saw Dan qualify just three tenths off of pole position in sixteenth position. He just had to gain one position to score a point so it was a good basis in case any rivals ahead of him hit trouble.
Progress however was stalled as Dan decided to take the unfavourable tyre hit early therefore he crossed the line where he started. But, with zero ballast again and a better tyre for race two. Hopes were high.
Following a great start, Dan managed to work his way into the top ten before he tried to make a move on the Ford Focus RS of Tom Chilton for eighth. Then disaster struck when an over enthusiastic driver behind punted the Honda Civic Type R off into the gravel.
Possible hopes of a podium finish if he had kept up the pace were dashed in an instant and he salvaged nineteenth place at the flag. Not the result expected only a few laps previously.
A chance to claw back some pride in race three was the aim for Dan and the squad. However, despite the issues to drivers ahead, Dan had to be on the ball to drive through the carnage and score a solitary point in fifteenth. All that hardwork during the weekend rewarded with one point.
After the weekend. The Yorkshireman spoke of his disappointment at what had happened,
“Another tough day at the office.
“We made the decision to get the hard tyre out of the way in race one and actually outperformed most of the grid by not dropping back.
“I felt really confident going into race 2. I made a great start and was quickly making my way through the grid, but then I just got whacked from behind. It’s so frustrating. With the pace we had, I feel sure that we could have been on for a podium.
“Up until I was taken off, we were right there with Ingram, and he went on to win. That just killed the rest of the weekend for us really. It feels like yet another missed opportunity which is a shame.”
