AFTER a career-best Clio Cup performance in front of a record-breaking 135,000 crowd at Silverstone, promising rookie Daniel Lloyd is setting his sights on a top-six push when the action resumes at Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend.

At the wheel of his 200-plus brake horse power ELF Renault racer, the 17-year-old from Scammonden has been in highly impressive form over the last three race meetings where he has improved each time. He is now a very respectable ninth overall in the standings – the highest placed newcomer.

During the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit event at the beginning of July, where the Clio Cup acted as a support category to the international World Series by Renault championship, Lloyd produced by far his most competitive race drives since graduating from the Ginetta Junior Championship with sixth and seventh place finishes in rounds 11 and 12 respectively – the former from 18th on the grid.

“Silverstone was definitely the best weekend of the year for us so far,” commented Lloyd.

“Things didn’t go perfectly by any means, qualifying didn’t go as planned at all, but in the races our lap times spoke for themselves. We had the second fastest lap overall in the first race so if we had been able to start inside the top 10, who knows what might have happened? Even so, sixth was a fantastic result.

“We know we have to work really hard to make sure we qualify on the first four or five rows to make the races more straightforward, and if we can do that at Snetterton I’m sure we’ll have the car to fight for a couple of top sixes in the races.

“That’s where we’ll be aiming. We’ll also be welcoming some guests from Staffline Group Plc (they have completed a buy-out of original sponsors The Workplace) to Snetterton so, obviously, it’s going to be a really important event.”

Driving for West Midlands-based Total Control Racing, the most respected and successful squad in the history of the ELF Renault Clio Cup, Lloyd is thriving under the tutelage of team principal Lee Brookes, a former category champion himself and a one-time leading light as a privateer entrant in the British Touring Car Championship.

Following free practice at Snetterton’s high-speed 1.95-mile track on Friday, qualifying for rounds 13 and 14 of the Cup is provisionally scheduled to take place at 10.55 on Saturday, with the first race expected to follow at around 16.30.

Round 14 is timetabled to begin at 11.55 on Sunday and the event is being covered by ITV4.