Dan Lloyd leaves China having increased his points tally in the TCR International Series by just one after damage to his car in race one caused a retirement and subsequent non-start at the Zhejiang Circuit.
Lloyd managed just two laps in the opening race before having to retire to the pits with light damage to the front of his car, caused by contact with the rear of Gianni Morbidelli’s Volkswagen and Attila Tassi’s Honda through turns one and two at the start of race one.
Unfortunately for the Brit, that contact damaged a water pipe in his car and the damage was just significant enough to also prevent Lloyd being able to start race two due to the time required to enact the repairs.
It meant Lloyd, who had qualified in a strong fifth place on Saturday, has to leave China having made little progress in the championship standings for Craft-Bamboo Racing.
“I’m gutted to be honest,” said Lloyd to TouringCars.Net. “I’ve been driving really well all weekend, and I should have been on for a strong top five then.
“It’s bad, not just to retire from race one, but also to not do race two. I feel like I’ve been stripped of the chance to try and impress people, so I’m gutted.
“Everyone went to the inside, because being on the outside can really make you suffer around here, and braked really early and concertinaed.
“To be honest, the little bit of contact was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, it was a tiny little tap. The actual dent at the front of the car was really small, but that dent has cracked the pipe and its made of plastic, so whether it’s a tiny crack or a big crack it drops all the water out. It’s unfortunate that where the contact was it’s cracked something.”
With the weekend therefore constituting Lloyd’s worst since joining the TCR series back in June, he is already looking forward to taking on the Dubai Autodrome for the season finale in November.
“I haven’t been there before, so I’m obviously certainly looking forward to it,” added the 25-year-old. “I just hope the SEATs can be competitive. The Volkswagens have been really strong and the Hyundais are mega quick, so as long as the BoP [Balance of Performance] is there I look forward to it.”
Lloyd also hopes that the BoP is adjusted to bring the León cars in line with the Golfs which enjoyed success in Zhejiang.
“All weekend in China the Golfs have dominated, and we’ve got a higher ride height and more weight when it’s technically the same car, so it doesn’t make sense.”