Lloyd wins Carrera Cup thriller at Thruxton
- Daniel Lloyd scores first Carrera Cup win
- Ahmad Al Harthy completes Pro-Am1 double win
- Tania Mann takes Pro-Am2 maximum points
Daniel Lloyd scored a stunning debut Porsche Carrera Cup GB victory at Thruxton today (Sunday 29 April) in a thrilling round six of the championship. In a race of ever changing fortunes, run with slick tyres on a very slippery track, Lloyd battled ahead of long-time leader Rory Butcher as Glynn Geddie charged through to grab second place.
In a race where the entire field started on slicks on a damp track, and then had to cope with more rain mid-race, there was superb action all down the field as drivers battled successfully to stay on track. In Pro-Am1, Ahmad Al Harthy (Redline/Oman Air) completed a perfect weekend with another victory, while Tania Mann (SIBSport) gain scored maximum Pro-Am2 points after her first taste of racing in such conditions.
Butcher (Celtic Speed) is renowned for his pace in tricky conditions and he burst into the lead at the first corner as Lloyd (JD Pierce with Team Parker) turned in a monster opening lap to go from eighth on the grid to second place. Michael Meadows (Redline Racing) slotted into third, while Geddie (Redline Racing) charged through from 11th on the grid to hold sixth place behind Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing).
Despite losing the splitter from the front of his car on lap five, Lloyd maintained a dogged chase of Butcher and his prayers for more rain were answered mid-race. That mitigated the loss of the splitter somewhat and allowed him to stay close to Butcher as Meadows held a watching brief in third and Geddie hunted them all down.
Conditions mid-race were incredibly tough as the rain returned, but the driving standards were superb as Butcher fended off Lloyd. But Geddie was the big threat now, having demoted Meadows, and by lap 18 the leading trio were almost nose-to-tail. Out of Church a lap later, Butcher and Lloyd were side-by-side and they raced level up to the Chicane with Geddie close behind. Lloyd tried for the outside, but Butcher’s car snapped into a spin and Lloyd had to straight-line the chicane to avoid contact.
Now it was Lloyd leading under pressure from Geddie and the Carrera Cup Scholarship driver held on for a debut win by just half a second. “Rory did a great job leading,” said Lloyd. “When he spun I had nowhere to go: it’s just fantastic to get my first win.” “We needed that result,” said Geddie after his best drive of the season to date.
Butcher had given his all in supremely tough conditions and completed the podium as Meadows ran home fourth. “That was about championship preservation,” said Meadows, who had wisely opted to make sure of another strong finish rather than take big chances. Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport) and Gelzinis completed the top six.
Al Harthy again won Pro-Am1 from seventh overall, having raced well clear of a long tussle between Oly Mortimer (GT Marques) and Victor Jimenez (Redline/Oman Air). “That’s been the toughest weekend I’ve had in the Carrera Cup,” said Al Harthy. “The conditions were incredible, and we’ve had two really strong results.”
Round six results:
Pro category: 1 Daniel Lloyd; 2 Glynn Geddie; 3 Rory Butcher
Pro-Am1 category: 1 Ahmad Al Harthy; 2 Oly Mortimer; 3 Victor Jimenez
Pro-Am2 category: 1 Tania Mann
Related Article: Barker Wins Michelin Award In Carrera Cup GB At Thruxton
