One of the drivers who grabbed the headlines at Donington park wasn’t even racing at the event as Eurotech revealed their latest signing, Daniel Lloyd, live on ITV4 just after race one.
Eurotech had always intended to run three cars this season but ran out of time to do a deal as well as a TBL needed to enter the championship. But with the withdrawl of Andy Neate from his works Honda deal on the Monday before Donington, it meant that Honda’s third TBL (On loan from TOCA) was now available and Eurotech were able to secure it on loan for the remainder of 2016 Discussions immediately got underway and by the Donington weekend, Jeff Smith (Eurotech boss) and Daniel Lloyd were ready to announce their deal with Lloyd in Eurotech’s third Honda Civic from Thruxton onwards.
Lloyd was first seen in cars and on the TOCA package in 2008 when he raced in the Ginetta Junior championship alongside such drivers as Alice Powell.
He then did a season in the Clio cup before racing in Gt’s the next season before making his BTCC debut for Triple Eight in a Vauxhall Vectra at Croft.
He then moved to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB for two seasons as well as racing in the German VW Sirocco cup. He stayed with Porsches until the end of 2013 but also dabbled in GT racing. In 2014 he went to GT racing full time racing in several championships including the prestigious Blancpain championship.
Last season saw him race in British GT with first Motorbase and later Academy Motorsport with whom he won the GT4 category in the final race of the year at Donington Park. Now he returns to the BTCC and it’s clear he’s looking forward to the challenge;
“I tested with the team ahead of the season and I was immediately impressed with the way it operated. I have been looking to do the British Touring Car Championship for a long, long time and it is the biggest championship in the country.
“It is going to be a step in to the unknown for me to start with, but I want to get familiar with the car quickly and be challenging for podiums – although starting at Thruxton is going to be an eye-opener. I need to gain confidence, but with the crew around me I am sure that won’t take long.”
He joins team boss Smith alongside Martin Depper and Smith explains this is an important step in moving his team to the front of the field;
“This is exactly the situation we wanted the team to find itself in. It is vital for our future that we have a strong, young driver who help push the entire programme forwards.
“Dan is keen to help Martin and myself move up the grid and we can all learn lessons from each other. This is an important step for Eurotech Racing.”
Thruxton is on the 7th and 8th May and we’ll find out how Daniel Lloyd will fair on his debut for the team.
