Dan Lloyd hails “emotional result” after Race 1 win
Brutal Fish Racing’s Dan Lloyd says has hailed “a really emotional result” after claiming victory in the TCR Europe series season-opener at Paul Ricard.
The British driver made the most of a superior getaway off the line from third on the grid to hold the lead for the duration of the 10-lap race, beating Comtoyou Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and pole-sitter John Filippi.
Lloyd, who claimed two race wins last year, credited his improved starts as a key factor in taking the win.
“It’s a really emotional result after such a difficult year for everyone around the world,” Lloyd said.
“To come here and have a result like that against some top drivers means I’m so, so happy. All credit to the Brutal Fish team and Honda for an awesome result.
“The start was perfect; that’s the benefit of having a season under my belt and it’s not something I’ve had before. It took me until the second half of the season last year for me to really nail my starts so hopefully I can keep them going like that!”
Lloyd’s start combined with a forceful manouevre on Filippi into the first corner was ultimately what secured the win as the top three drivers kept pace with each other until the flag, with just over a second splitting the trio over the line.
Filippi lamented a poor initial launch off the line and also felt the straight-line speed of the Target Competition Hyundai i30 N TCR was not quite at the level of the Honda and Audis in front of him.
“I really didn’t do the job at the start, that’s all,” a disappointed Filippi said.
“I missed the start a little and I lost my first place to Lloyd and in the first corner I didn’t have so much space, so I had to manage the speed a little bit.
“It just wasn’t possible to catch the Honda and the Audi on the straights; I tried to manage my tyres as best as I could and see what happened.
“Two laps from the end I tried to overtake Mehdi but there were double yellow flags and so I had to abort my attempt.
“On the last lap, the tyres were gone and so any chance of second place was gone as well. I think I had a fair and clever race, but maybe I need to be a little more aggressive in future.”
