Dan Lloyd admits that he pumped himself up with anger and adrenaline in order to win the opening TCR UK Series race at Knockhill, after confusion in the minutes before the race about whether he would start from the front or the back.
Lloyd qualified his WestCoast Racing Volkswagen on pole position on Saturday, but during scrutineering his car was reported to have been found to be underweight, along with three other cars.
The issue was reported to the Clerk of the Course and all four cars were subsequently excluded from qualifying. However, the teams appealed the decision and minutes before the race was due to begin the ruling was overturned, reinstating the original grid positions.
TouringCars.Net understands that the confusion surrounding the weight of the cars was procedural rather than technical, resulting in the original qualifying result being upheld, in part due to the lack of time before the start of the race, which ended up being delayed by ten minutes as a result.
With Lloyd starting on pole he was able to lead from lights-t0-flag to claim his third win of the season and extend his championship lead.
“There’s been quite a few complications [on the grid], but to be honest I deserved to be there,” said Lloyd. “It was the right thing I was there and I’m glad it happened in the end.
“Once I got [on pole], I don’t really get nerves, but by the end of it all, with the adrenaline, I was fully shaking! I just needed to do the job and made sure that I did it.”
Lloyd admitted afterwards that he was pumped up by the situation surrounding his grid position, which he believes helped him at the start of the race on a damp and drying track.
“I was so revved up at the start – I was angry! I put so much heat into the tyres that I was borderline chucking the car off on the warm-up lap to get as much heat in as possible. That’s what allowed me to open up that gap at the start whilst it was still slippery.
“Then it sort of evened out, and Aiden [Moffat] was matching my pace. When the safety car came out I was gutted, but then I heard he had stopped which was unfortunate. I don’t wish that on anyone, but it made my life easier at the end of the race.”