Dan Lloyd is optimistic of returning to the British Touring Car Championship grid again in 2022, after the Power Maxed Racing driver signed off his 2021 season with another podium on his way to 11th overall in the drivers’ standings.
Until 2021, Lloyd had never previously contested a full season in the BTCC, instead competing in part-seasons in 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The Yorkshireman went into the weekend 13th overall and on a run of form, hoping to further improve his championship position before the end of the year.
Having stood on the podium in both of the previous two events, on Saturday Lloyd was once again on the pace, putting his Vauxhall Astra in fifth in qualifying, just over a tenth of a second from pole.
In race one, Lloyd made one position past Daniel Rowbottom to claim fourth come the chequered flag, giving him a strong starting position for race two.
In that second encounter, Lloyd made it up to second past Senna Proctor and Gordon Shedden on the opening lap, and then challenged Josh Cook for the lead, ultimately finishing in second for his fourth podium of the season – all of which had come in an eight-race run at the end of the year.
The final race put Lloyd in eighth on the reverse grid, and with 66 kg of ballast on board, the best he could manage was 13th, giving him 11th in the overall drivers’ championship and seventh overall in the independent drivers’ championship.
“A great weekend to finish off the season on a high,” said Lloyd. “We did a great job in qualifying – finishing just 13 hundredths off pole position and managed to carry that momentum into the first race.
“I had a strong start off the line, keeping the two rear-wheel-drive cars behind me and then made a move on Rowbottom which put us up to fourth.
“We made a couple of changes to the car before race two and thankfully they paid off! I’m still learning how the car reacts to having weight on-board so with 49 kg on I thought it might be a case of damage limitation.
“I got off to a mega start and first lap and it even looked like we were going to be challenging Josh for the lead before the safety car kind of ruined our chance. To come home in second with that amount of weight in the car was amazing, though.
“I had a really scruffy opening lap in race three with some contact which caused a bit of damage to the car.
“We were struggling with understeer with the 66 kg as well so I got eaten alive in the last race. But overall, it was a great weekend and a mega way to finish off the year.”
Lloyd thanked Power Maxed Racing Team Principal Adam Weaver for his faith in him in 2021, and added that he is optimistic of returning to the grid in 2022, although he did not specify with which team.
“Huge thanks to all the sponsors and club members and also to Adam Weaver and the Power Maxed Racing crew for a job well done this year.
“At the moment it’s looking very positive that I’ll be back in the BTCC next year, it’s just a matter of working out the details with whichever team I’ll be racing with and sitting down with my sponsors to get their support to go again.”