Photo: TCR Europe

Early season misfortune prevented TCR Europe title charge says Dan Lloyd

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Brutal Fish Racing’s Dan Lloyd says he had the pace to challenge for this season’s TCR Europe series title had it not been for bad luck at key moments during the year.

Lloyd, who finished the year tenth in the standings following two victories, missed the opening round of the year at the Hungaroring, but was a frequent front-runner as the year progressed.

The Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR driver retired from the opening race of the final round at Monza last weekend with a puncture, but finished on the podium in third in the second race. It was a weekend Lloyd said, that typified his year.

“It’s been a really good season,” Lloyd told TouringCarTimes.

“We had a couple of costly DNFs this season, without which we’d probably have right up there in the hunt for the title.

“Monza Race 1, we had the pace to be in the top five easily but I got a puncture. Oschersleben stead of a DNF, we would have got an easy top eight as well. So, really solid points were lost there.

“We had a mess up at Hockenheim, that was due to a bad start and then there was a couple of circuits I hadn’t been to in years that needed a bit of time to get used to again.”

Lloyd also reckons part of the reason for being so competitive in 2019 has been his adaption to the Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR, which he feels is the car he has “dialled into the most” in his career.

The British driver has acted as TCR’s official Balance of Performance (BoP) test driver and won last year’s TCR UK title in a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR and admitted to having to change his driving style to fit the Honda.

“It’s one of my strengths, being able to jump in different cars and be quick. I’ve done GT racing, did that at the start of this year and was quick after about three years out, so I know that’s something that comes naturally to me.

“But switching from the Volkswagen to the Honda is a completely different thing. The driving style, throttle pick-up, traction and the brakes, totally different.

“Some cars are strong at one circuit, others are strong at another one which is great. But with the Honda, it’s probably the most dialled into a car that I’ve ever been.”