OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY LLOYD ON BTCC TEST DEBUT

TNT Post and Propack backed racer Daniel Lloyd made a stunning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship test debut at Rockingham in Northamptonshire today, Tuesday, 25th May, by ending the outing just 0.375 seconds shy of the outright pace.

Running with multiple championship-winning team Triple Eight Race Engineering in one of the squad’s ‘ex-works’ Vauxhall Vectras, the 18-year-old concluded the day with the seventh fastest time overall after posting a best lap of 1m24.261 seconds (82.88mph).

Set during the latter stages of the afternoon with his only run on new tyres, Daniel’s tremendous effort placed him a superb fourth in that session, just 0.3 seconds shy of Jason Plato, Marking his first outing in a saloon car since the ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup last November, the Huddersfield racer impressively outpaced a number of vastly experienced BTCC drivers including Gordon Shedden and former champion James Thompson.

“It’s been an absolutely fantastic experience”, said the 2009 Clio Winter Champion, “Obviously I want to thank Ian Harrison (team principal) and everyone at Triple Eight for giving me such a great car to drive – the level of professionalism is incredible. The Vectra is amazing, it’s very much like a bigger version of a Clio, with more speed and more grip, so I felt very comfortable.

“The day was brilliant, I’m really happy with my performance but I know we could have been quicker still as I made a mistake at turn six so lost some time there. To be within 0.3 seconds of the top of the times though is something I didn’t expect! It’d be unbelievable to be able to race in the BTCC.”