WestCoast Racing’s Dan Lloyd praised the Castle Combe circuit for being “really good fun” after warm-up this morning [14 July], as this weekend marks his first competitive outing at the track.
The championship leader topped the half-hour session with a late lap of 1:06.884, edging out Ollie Taylor’s Pyro Motorsport Honda Civic Type R FK7.
He told TouringCars.Net it was a strange feeling visiting a track in the UK with no previous experience, but that he enjoys the 1.85 mile circuit.
“Yeah it was good,” said Lloyd. “First time I’ve been to this circuit so it’s a long time since I’ve been to a circuit in the UK that I haven’t been to. I really like it to be honest – it’s really good fun – quite ballsy.
“We’re still tweaking my driving style to suit it and a couple of changes to the car. It was a really good start to the day.”
After winning every single race of the inaugural TCR UK championship so far this year, Lloyd and the WestCoast Racing VW Golf GTi’s are carrying 60 kilos of compensation weight this weekend, while all other competitors carry none.
“This weekend we’ve got 60 kilos of success ballast, obviously because we’ve been doing so well. It’s part of touring car racing sometimes you have to carry the weight. We’re just trying to maximise it really.
“We’ve carried the weight before at Brands Hatch, but the difference is this weekend no other cars have weight in. For example the Honda had weight in at Brands Hatch – all that’s been taken out. We’re actually 50 kilos heavier than the second-lightest car, and 90 kilos heavier than some others out there. So it is a big difference.