BTCC Thruxton Round-Up: Lloyd enters record books with maiden Porsche win
Persistent rain and strong winds made the third TOCA Tour event of 2012 a massive challenge for the competitors in the Michelin-backed Ginetta, Porsche and Renault championships – but even though conditions at Thruxton were harsh, the weather did bring out some true star performances.
Michelin columnist and 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar Daniel Lloyd underlined his quality with a sensational drive in the second of the two Thruxton encounters, slicing his way through from eighth on the grid in round six to claim his first category victory in unbelievable style.
Making history as the first ever Scholarship Winner to actually take a race victory in Porsche GB, Lloyd’s success was all the more deserved when considering the awful conditions and the fact he was without the all-important front splitter, which had broken off, for the majority of the race.
Championship leader Michael Meadows won round five to consolidate his points lead while Oman’s Ahmad Al Harthy completely owned the Pro-Am 1 Class with a faultless weekend – two poles and two class victories.
In Ginetta Junior, Charlie Robertson secured his first ever winning double with a truly remarkable weekend in which he dominated qualifying and racing to rocket into the championship lead, having been fourth in the points prior to rounds five and six…and all at the tender age of 15.
Niall Murray and Harry Woodhead were second and third respectively in both races, the latter making the first visits of his rookie season to the rostrum. Erstwhile series leader Sennan Fielding didn’t have the best of weekends and slipped behind Robertson and Murray to third in the points.
Sharp makes it eight wins from nine in GT Supercup…
Despite seeing his early season winning streak ended at Donington Park a fortnight ago, the Tom Sharp express returned to normal service at Thruxton with three more tremendous victories. Having now won eight of the nine races contested, his series lead over Tom Ingram is a huge 115 points.
Two second places for Ingram maintained his runner-up spot in the championship but he did lose out on another podium in the last race due to a driveshaft problem. His loss was Josh Wakefield’s gain, the category rookie coming through to take a career-best second place. In the G50 Cup class, Louise Richardson smartly took her first win in round nine while Mark Davies won the other two.
In the world of the all-action AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup, James Colburn enjoyed a surprise winning double when reigning champion Paul Rivett made a rare mistake in the second encounter. Thinking the race was one lap shorter than it actually was, Rivett was more cautious than normal at the chicane which gave Colburn the chance to slice past and hold the lead over the final 2.36 miles.
In the opening encounter, Colburn held off Josh Files and Adam Bonham while in race two the podium was completed by Rivett and championship leader Jack Goff. Rookie racer Josh Cook starred to climb from 13th to sixth in race two although he missed out on the class win to Kim Andersson.
There is now a six-week break in the TOCA Tour calendar, the action resumes on 9/10 June at Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire.
Related Article: Lloyd Wins Carrera Cup Thriller At Thruxton
