Focus On – Daniel Lloyd

Yorkshire-based racing driver, Daniel Lloyd has always had an affiliation with Croft circuit. Being based in Huddersfield West Yorkshire, Croft is one of Daniel’s local circuits, and has been the scene for many of his racing exploits.

After making his mark on the karting world in 2003, Daniel soon began fighting his way up the motorsport ladder, trying his hand at various series on his way upwards. The karting scene saw the now 18 year old achieve many awards, including becoming Vice-Champion of the South Yorkshire Kart Club in 2004. As with the majority of the stars of motor racing, karting provided the perfect stepping stone for Daniel, as he applied his new found race craft to the next step.

Achieving the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship in 2007 gave Daniel the ideal entrance into his first season of racing cars, as he made his debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2008.

Acting as a support series to the prestigious British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), the Ginetta Junior series enabled Daniel to gain knowledge of some of the UK’s top circuits – one of those, of course, being Croft. During the 2008 round at Croft Daniel fought through to secure pole position, together with a race win, setting the precedent of his connection with the circuit.

The 2008 season also saw Daniel concrete his name on the tin tops side of the sport, by attaining three race wins, two more podium place finishes and one pole position (as achieved at Croft). Together this gave him fourth place overall in the final championship standings, as he said goodbye to another chapter of his life before moving upwards again.

Keeping with the BTCC package Daniel moved onto the Renault Clio Cup for 2009, where he soon extended his already impressive racing CV.

After switching to a different series, the 2009 season was another learning curve for Daniel, however he embraced the challenge. He finished the year 11th overall in the final standings, with 11 finishes in the top ten, four of those being top six finishes. He was also awarded Driver of the Day on two occasions. As well as his Clio Cup exploits, a brand new challenge awaited the youngster in May 2009, when he tried his hand at Hillclimbing.

Harewood Hillclimb in Leeds welcomed Daniel for one of their May events, where he competed, sharing a Lotus Elise with one of the Hill’s regulars. By the end of the day he had got to grips with the car and the venue, even beating the time of his ‘team-mate’ in his own car.

At the end of the season, Daniel contested the Renault Clio Winter Cup Championship. Unfortunately now not contested at Croft, Daniel still managed to prove himself against his rivals, becoming the 2009 Renault Clio Winter Cup Champion.

2010 has so far seen Daniel enjoy a mixture of machines. Daniel followed many British motor racing stars, such as fellow Yorkshire-man Justin Wilson, across the pond to try his hand at single-seater racing, contesting the Skip Barber National Championship in America.

Since starting the 2010 season, Daniel has again been enhancing his CV, not only by qualifying as an official ARDS Instructor, but also by adding various tests to his name, such as Formula Renault UK testing. In recent weeks he has enjoyed a test with Triple Eight Race Engineering, a front running team in the BTCC. As a result of a successful stint behind the wheel of their Vauxhall Vectra, Daniel has secured himself a seat with the team in the prominent series and will make his BTCC debut with them this coming weekend (19/20th June 2010).