Daniel Lloyd fights back to claim fifth consecutive win

WestCoast Racing’s Daniel Lloyd claimed victory in the opening TCR UK race at Brands Hatch after recovering to edge out a fast-starting Ollie Taylor.
The Pyro Motorsport racer made the better start from the front row and edged ahead in the Honda Civic FK7 on the outside line heading into Paddock Hill Bend. Drama ensued behind the pair as Lewis Kent moved up to third and then made light contact with Lloyd’s Volkswagen Golf GTI at Druids, before sliding a little wide at Graham Hill Bend and allowing the top two to escape up the road.
Though Taylor held firm in his defence of the lead, Lloyd would not be denied and pounced on an opening at Clearways to reclaim top spot and then extended his advantage to 1.8 seconds before the end. The result increases his advantage in the championship to 80 points, whilst second for Taylor means he moves up to the same position in the standings.
Josh Price looked to have held onto fourth after an absorbing race-long contest with Jessica Bäckman, but disaster struck on the run to the chequered flag and the Honda Civic FK2 slowed, allowing the Swedish lady to seize a strong result.
Another drama struck the Cupra of Stewart Lines on the formation lap as an issue with the air jacks forced him to a halt, but swift work by his mechanics allowed him to make the start, and he recovered in composed fashion to post a season-best result of fifth. Jessica’s sibling Andreas survived a sideways moment after contact at Surtees to put all three WestCoast Racing machines in the top six, ahead of the Pyro Motorsport machine of Finlay Crocker.
Alex Morgan was forced to retire the Renault Mégane TCR, but gathered valuable data on the car and will look for a better turn of luck in the second contest later today.
Race 2 will start at 15:45 local time (16:45 CET); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.