Dan Lloyd admits: “We tried to be too clever”

Dan Lloyd admitted he had ‘tried to be too clever’ with his qualifying strategy after failing to secure pole position for the first time in the TCR UK Championship.

Lloyd went into the qualifying session keen to extend his 100 per cent record in the series and seemed set to make it four poles from four after posting a best time seven tenths clear of the chasing pack in his WestCoast Racing-run Volkswagen.

With only ten cars taking part in the session due to an issue for Robert Gilmour’s Alfa Romeo, and the gap to the cars behind, Lloyd then elected to play the strategy game by logging a number of slower laps – with drivers second best times being used to help determine the grid for race two.

Whilst that second best time would be good enough for a place on the front row of the grid for race two once the top ten had been reversed, Lloyd then missed out on pole for race one when Ollie Taylor improved late in the session with Lloyd admitting that the plan hadn’t worked as hoped.

“We were trying to be too clever in that session,” he said. “We knew there were ten cars out on the grid – there’s a reverse pole. So the theory was bang one lap in and then go slow-ish for one lap; you could then have pole for two races.

“And that’s what I did. I went out and I put a good lap in. Wasn’t perfect but it was good, I was quickest by seven tenths. And then I would have been front row for the second race. Then Ollie [Taylor] went out last minute and did a great time, and pipped me by three thousandths, which is frustrating.

“But lessons learnt – trying to be too clever – I am P2 for the second race, which is good, but in hindsight I would have liked to be pole anyway. I’ve still got really good pace so I’m not worried for tomorrow.”