Dan Lloyd on Oulton Park: “It’s been a very tough weekend”

Dan Lloyd leaves Oulton Park with a 78-point lead in the championship after his toughest weekend of the year, with the WestCoast Racing driver struggling on full ballast, and also punished with a three-part penalty after a second race incident with Stewart Lines.

The TCR UK points leader finished second in the first race, finishing six spots ahead of title rival Ollie Taylor, but in Race 2, Lloyd could only manage fourth, two behind Taylor with the Pyro Honda driver reclaiming ground in the standings.

With Lloyd found at fault for contact with Maximum Motorsport’s Stewart Lines out of Cascades on lap seven, the Volkswagen driver was given a three-point endorsement on his racing licence, with comes with an additional 15 points championship penalty, as well as a five-place grid penalty for the next race.

“This was a really tough meeting to deal with mentally,” said Lloyd to TouringCarTimes. “Ash (Sutton) has come in at a very convenient time with the weight. We are running the maximum compensation weight at the worst track in the country for carrying weight. We’ve seen what it does in WTCR when the Golf carries 60kg and it’s taken its toll here.”

Lloyd started Race 2 from seventh on the reversed grid race and slowly worked his way through the field before he caught Lines’ Cupra.

“I was struggling in that second race to keep up with other people who are normally towards the back of the grid,” he added. “We’re really missing a trick here with the weight; they’re pulling car lengths on me in a straight line even when I get a better exit, so it was really tough that second race.”

Lloyd’s championship lead comes down to 78 points, with 91 available each weekend, while it’s not certain yet he’ll be back for the next round at Croft, meaning he may only have the season finale at Donington Park left to race.