Huddersfield’s Dan Lloyd signed off the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season in fine style during an action-packed finale at Brands Hatch last month, adding more silverware to his campaign collection with his fourth podium visit of the year (23/24 October).
After a strong showing during Saturday’s practice sessions on the Grand Prix configuration, the Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing driver secured fifth on the grid for the opening race – just 0.13s off pole position.
Lloyd made light work of despatching the Honda of Dan Rowbottom to take fourth, defending the place from the newly crowned Jack Sears Trophy winner to the flag in his Vauxhall Astra.
A storming start from the 29-year-old in race two saw him charge past both Senna Proctor and double champion Gordon Shedden to steal second before the end of the opening tour. A true challenge on the race lead looked to be on the cards as Lloyd closed in on Josh Cook before an intervention from the safety car scuppered his plans, and the #123 crossed the line in second – with the Huddersfield-based racer picking up his fourth podium of the season.
Ladened with 66kg of success ballast on-board for the season finale, Lloyd faced an uphill battle from eighth on the grid following the reverse-grid draw. An heroic effort of damage limitation on the iconic GP loop was rewarded with his third points finish of the weekend, taking 13th at the final flag.
“It was a great weekend to finish off the season on a high,” said Lloyd. “We did a great job in qualifying – finishing just 13 hundredths off pole position – and managed to carry that momentum into the first race. I had a strong start off the line, keeping the two rear-wheel-drive cars behind me and then made a move on Rowbottom which put us up to fourth.
“We made a couple of changes to the car before race two and thankfully they paid off! I’m still learning how the car reacts to having weight on-board so with 49kg on I thought it might be a case of damage limitation. I got off to a mega start and first lap and it even looked like we were going to be challenging Josh [Cook] for the lead before the safety car kind of ruined our chance. To come home in second with that amount of weight in the car was amazing, though.
“I had a really scruffy opening lap in race three with some contact which caused a bit of damage to the car. We were struggling with understeer with the 66kg as well so I got eaten alive in the last race. But overall it was a great weekend and a mega way to finish off the year.
“Huge thanks to all the sponsors and club members and also to Adam Weaver and the Power Maxed Racing crew for a job well done this year.
“At the moment it’s looking very positive that I’ll be back in the BTCC next year, it’s just a matter of working out the details with whichever team I’ll be racing with and sitting down with my sponsors to get their support to go again.”
The highlights and successes from the last three race meetings have helped to propel Lloyd up the championship order and, despite a challenging start to the year, he ends the 2021 season seventh in the Independent Drivers’ Standings, with the Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing team placed fifth in the Independent Teams’ Championship.
