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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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Rounds five and six of the 2010 BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Championship presented by Mazda will take place five weeks from now over the weekend 24th/25th April at Virginia International Raceway in Virginia, USA.
2010 BF Goodrich/Skip
Barber National Championship presented by Mazda driver standings:
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mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk 2010 BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Championship presented by Mazda. BITTERSWEET CONCLUSION TO SEBRING WEEKEND FOR RAPID LLOYD
After climbing through the order during round three on Thursday, 18th March, to claim a fine top five finish – mere 10ths of a second shy of a maiden single-seater podium – the Huddersfield teenager aimed for more during round four qualifying and duly delivered with his first pole position. Scorching to the top of the timesheets during the closing minutes of Friday morning’s session, Daniel improved yet further on his final lap to post a best time of 2m23.020 seconds (93.134mph) to clinch the prime spot on the grid for the second American Le Mans Series-supporting encounter. At the start, the 18-year-old led away well from the front of the grid and ran comfortably for the first couple of laps before dicing hard to remain on top in the lead bunch of cars. Well on course to challenge for his debut Skip Barber National Championship race win, Daniel’s bid was then dealt a bitter blow when a sudden loss of power led to significantly slower lap times. Unable to prevent a slide down the order due to a badly over-heating engine, which was the result of a clogged radiator, the reigning ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup Champion’s car at least managed to keep running for the scheduled distance, crossing the line in 11th position. “I’m really disappointed we had the engine problem as a podium at the very least was on the cards and, realistically, I think we could have won that race”, said Daniel, “Taking my first pole position was great and showed what I’m capable of in this championship. It’s just very unfortunate a problem with the car stopped me challenging for my first win – that’s motor racing though!” Beginning the second event of the 2010 season with an impressive top five performance during the first practice session on Tuesday, 16th March, the British racer could well have claimed his debut podium during the third round of the campaign on Thursday, 18th March. Producing a superb drive from 12th on the grid into the top three, Daniel just fell short of a rostrum finish at the final turn when edged back to fifth place by two rivals who managed to gain an advantage by ‘drafting’ his car on the run to the chequered flag.
Pic: BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Championship presented by Mazda
PROMISING SINGLE-SEATER DEBUT FOR BRIT LLOYD AT HOMESTEAD MIAMI
Under glorious Florida sunshine, the Huddersfield racer adapted well to his new surroundings in double-quick time and produced two sterling race performances on the 2.21-mile road course – the first a battling recovery drive from the tail of the field into ninth position and the second a highly competitive 10th place finish a mere 1.6 seconds behind the winner! Sunday’s second round was certainly the highlight for Daniel in terms of competitiveness. Qualifying 11th fastest, he ran in the lead group of 10 cars throughout the race and in a tremendous grandstand finish around the final turn of the oval banking, the teenage Briton was little more than a second shy of the podium on his Skip Barber debut. He also posted the fourth best race lap of 1m31.8 seconds. “It’s been a fantastic experience racing in America for the first time, I think I did a good job on my championship debut”, said Daniel, “The finish to race two was unbelievably close, only a few 100ths of a second covered the top three and that proves the importance of slip-streaming on the oval turns. I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved so far and happy with how well I’ve adapted to single-seaters.” During his maiden run in a Skip Barber car on Thursday, 4th March – his 18th birthday – Daniel made a solid start by ending the first practice 16th fastest. Improving further on Friday, 5th March, he qualified in 10th place for his maiden single-seater race, just nine 10ths of a second shy of pole position. Making a great start to round one on Saturday, 6th March, Daniel gained two places in quick succession and by the beginning of lap three he was in seventh position. Unfortunately, the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup Champion was then forced off the track through Turn One and dropped a long way behind the rest of the field to 17th, and last, place. Mounting a sparkling recovery, the open-wheeler rookie carved his way through the order and prior to red flags being shown approximately five minutes from the scheduled finish – due to an incident involving two other competitors – Daniel had made his way back into the top 10 in ninth position. On Sunday, he ended the second qualifying session with the 11th best time and the race itself was much more straightforward than the first. Lapping with podium finishing pace, Daniel delivered a highly competitive performance with his second top 10 of the weekend.
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British
racer Daniel Lloyd endured a bitterly disappointing conclusion to an
otherwise enjoyable and rewarding race meeting at Sebring International
Raceway in Florida on Friday, 19th March, during the second event of the
2010 BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Championship presented by Mazda. 
Daniel
Lloyd made a great start to his single-seater career at Homestead Miami
Speedway in America over the weekend, 6th/7th March, with a brace of top
10 finishes during the opening event of the 2010 BF Goodrich/Skip Barber
National Championship presented by Mazda.