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Croft BTCC: Dan Lloyd and BTC Norlin take first series win

Dan Lloyd secured his maiden British Touring Car Championship victory with a fine lights-to-flag drive in the final race of the weekend at Croft

Lloyd was drawn on pole having finished race two in ninth spot and made the perfect start to lead the field into Clervaux for the first time, with a fast-starting Tom Chilton moving into second spot.

No stranger to running out front this year during his dominant programme in the TCR UK series, Lloyd commanded the race from the head of the pack and gradually eased away.

It meant a first win for the Yorkshire racer at his home circuit and also a first win for the BTC Norlin just two weeks after both of its cars were heavily damaged in the startline accident at Oulton Park.

"I'm lost for words - I'm so happy," said Lloyd, whose BTCC season had only started at Oulton.

"It means so much to the team as we didn't know if we'd be out after the damage at Oulton and it's amazing to get a victory.

"This is just awesome. I know I'm quick and that I can do the job, and credit to the team. To get a win in my fourth day in the car is unbelievable."

After his strong start, Chilton ran in second throughout but couldn't match Lloyd for pace - instead being forced to drive with one eye in his mirrors in the closing stages after Senna Proctor closed in behind.

Ultimately the top three finished the race in the same order they finished lap one, with the focus instead falling on the battle for fourth behind.

Despite the maximum ballast on his car, race one and two winner Ashley Sutton seemed the man most likely to take best of the rest honours as he worked his way through the field from ninth on the grid.

But having battled hard to climb into fifth, he then came across the Honda of Matt Neal.

Reigning BTCC champion Sutton made his move at the end of the eighth lap, but a touch at Clervaux on the following lap sent him over the gravel and he brushed the barriers before rejoining.

Neal went on to take fourth spot, with Sutton then battling with the BMWs of Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan in the fight to be best of the rear-wheel drive cars.

Turkington prevailed to maintain his points lead going into the summer break, with Sutton and Jordan following close behind.

Sam Tordoff completed a solid weekend with eighth place after holding off Tom Ingram on the run to the line, with Tom Oliphant breaking into the top 10 in his Mercedes.

Of the other main championship contenders, Adam Morgan took 13th place for his only points finish of the weekend but a miserable meeting for Jack Goff ended with no points on the board as he retired to the pits.

Race three result

Pos Driver Team Car Laps Gap
1 Daniel Lloyd BTC Norlin Honda 15 21m59.346s
2 Tom Chilton Motorbase Ford 15 5.835s
3 Senna Proctor Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 15 6.326s
4 Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda 15 7.775s
5 Colin Turkington WSR BMW 15 8.172s
6 Andrew Jordan WSR BMW 15 8.906s
7 Ash Sutton Team BMR Subaru 15 9.739s
8 Sam Tordoff Motorbase Ford 15 14.330s
9 Tom Ingram Speedworks Toyota 15 14.427s
10 Dan Cammish Team Dynamics Honda 15 15.602s
11 Rob Collard WSR BMW 15 19.657s
12 Adam Morgan Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes 15 19.797s
13 Rory Butcher AmD Tuning MG 15 24.733s
14 Tom Oliphant Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes 15 24.804s
15 Matt Simpson Eurotech Racing Honda 15 24.923s
16 Stephen Jelley Team Parker Racing BMW 15 24.955s
17 Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Racing Mercedes 15 25.208s
18 Josh Cook Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 15 25.228s
19 Jason Plato Team BMR Subaru 15 28.177s
20 James Cole Motorbase Ford 15 30.536s
21 Bobby Thompson Team Hard Volkswagen 15 30.928s
22 Ollie Jackson AmD Tuning Audi 15 35.055s
23 Tom Boardman AmD Tuning MG 15 35.882s
24 Josh Price Team BMR Subaru 15 36.361s
25 Jake Hill Team Hard Volkswagen 15 38.767s
26 Sam Smelt AmD Tuning Audi 15 40.137s
27 Michael Caine Team Hard Volkswagen 15 41.919s
28 Brett Smith Eurotech Racing Honda 15 46.227s
- Jack Goff Eurotech Racing Honda 10 Retirement
- Rob Austin HMS Racing Alfa Romeo 7 Retirement
- Chris Smiley BTC Norlin Honda 5 Retirement
- Mike Bushell Team Hard Volkswagen 5 Retirement

Drivers' standings

Pos Driver Points
1 Colin Turkington 162
2 Tom Ingram 143
3 Matt Neal 127
4 Andrew Jordan 120
5 Tom Chilton 118
6 Adam Morgan 116
7 Jack Goff 112
8 Ash Sutton 111
9 Josh Cook 109
10 Senna Proctor 94
11 Sam Tordoff 94
12 Rob Collard 86
13 Dan Cammish 80
14 Chris Smiley 60
15 James Cole 59
16 Matt Simpson 54
17 Rob Austin 51
18 Aiden Moffat 47
19 Rory Butcher 46
20 Daniel Lloyd 37
21 Brett Smith 34
22 Ollie Jackson 32
23 Jake Hill 29
24 Mike Bushell 29
25 Jason Plato 19
26 Tom Oliphant 19
27 Tom Boardman 14
28 James Nash 6

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