TEENAGE driver Daniel Lloyd produced his best race performance to gain a first ever podium finish since stepping up to car racing.
The 16-year-old former kart ace achieved the feat in round eight of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship at Donington Park.
After producing a career-best qualifying effort, hopes were high for the rookie racer to feature strongly in both races of the event – and so it proved with Lloyd backing up his top-six finish in the previous seventh round.
Climbing to fourth in the 2008 driver standings, just 22 points shy of the top three, Lloyd is gaining confidence at the wheel of his Tockwith Motorsport-run BRDC Stars of Tomorrow car and is aiming to add more podiums to his tally as the season unfolds.
“It’s great to finally get on the podium,” said a delighted Lloyd.
“The car has been great and it all came down to the last lap in the second race. I didn’t get a brilliant start and I didn’t feel fantastically quick, but I managed to keep on the back of the cars ahead. It got a bit messy during the last few laps.
“I thought where best to position myself and then when the three ahead of me went through the Old Hairpin on the last lap I positioned myself perfectly to pass all of them – we went from sixth to third in one move, which was great!”
After avoiding a start-line incident and more chaos at Redgate Corner on lap two, which brought out the safety car, Lloyd was back in seventh position but then exited Craner Curves superbly to catapult himself from sixth to third.
During the seventh round, Lloyd slipped from third to outside the top 12 before battling back into the top six.
The Huddersfield Grammar student was also the only driver to lap within a second of race winner and championship leader, Dino Zamparelli.
Thruxton host rounds nine and 10 on May 17 and 18.
