Dan Lloyd was frustrated with brake issues that left him with limited track time in qualifying for the TCR UK series at Oulton Park, leaving the WestCoast Racing driver to settle for second.
Lloyd could only manage third fastest in the morning’s earlier practice session, before putting in the second-best time in qualifying to line up alongside the Honda of Ash Sutton on the front row for race one.
But the series leader was not happy with his day, as brake issues affected his efforts in practice and left him in the pit lane for the first half of qualifying at Oulton Park.
“We’ve had a really tough day,” said Lloyd to TouringCars.Net. “We only did three laps in free practice because of a lot of brake issues, and those brake issues continued into qualifying, so we didn’t actually get running until 15 minutes to go.
“It hasn’t been a good day at all, to be honest, so all things considered, pulling out that sort of lap and getting P2 was good.
“Realistically we’re not going to be able to compete with Ash this weekend with the weight deficit. I’m really pleased with that and we just need to make sure we beat Ollie.”
Lloyd also failed to put in a strategic time for the second race, which sees the grid formed from the top ten reversed second-fastest laps of each driver.
That will leave him with an uphill task in the race two from ninth on the grid, whilst the Honda of Sutton managed to bag second by only posting one competitively fast lap in qualifying.
“We haven’t had time to have any strategies because with only three laps in free practice we weren’t sure where we are at.
“It was a very scruffy qualifying, so there wasn’t time and it was a case of going out at the end and doing as best as I could.
“Ash has played the game well and he’s in a nice position to do that, so fair play to him as he’s at the front in both races.
“It’s going to be tough – it is difficult to pass on this circuit. But it’s a 30-minute race as well and tyre degradation is going to be huge, so you never know what that might mean with cars later on in the races and how people use their tyres.
“To be honest, unfortunately, the way it is I feel like I’m just racing for P2 today. I think I can make the podium in race two – I’ve done it before.”