Following a career best qualifying effort, Ella Lloyd charged through from ninth on the grid in the Donington reverse grid contest to finish in third position, again stepping onto the British F4 Championship podium for the third time this year.
Ella Lloyd continued her excellent form in the British F4 Championship by once again stepping onto the podium. Following a career best qualifying effort of third in wet conditions on Saturday, Lloyd charged through from ninth on the grid in the reverse grid contest to finish in third position. Defending smartly from multiple race winners for the majority of the race, Ella earned a hard-fought podium result while displaying front-running pace in dry conditions.
Stepping onto the podium for the second time this season during the previous round at Knockhill, Lloyd was now looking to move into the top-10 of the overall championship standings.
Returning to the circuit at which she scored a double points finish on her British F4 Championship debut, the JHR Developments racer was aiming to continue this impressive form in her debut season of single seater competition. With race three from the season opener postponed due to inclement weather, it was rescheduled for this weekend giving Ella a further chance to add to her points tally.
Preparations for the event began with a pair of free practice sessions which were held in the customary Thursday slot at Donington Park. Lloyd was able to make significant improvements across the day and this saw her end practice in 11th position, less than three-quarters of a second away from the fastest time set by Rowan Campbell-Pilling.
After a series of dry test sessions, qualifying was held in wet conditions on Saturday morning and would pose a further challenge to the drivers. Lloyd acclimatised to the change in conditions quickly and ran as high as second at the halfway point in the session.
The second half of the session saw three separate red flags and therefore improvements were challenging. However, Ella was able to secure her best qualifying result to date with a superb third place effort in challenging conditions.
Grid positions for race one of the weekend were set by the driver’s second fastest times from qualifying with Lloyd lining up from seventh. Conditions remained tricky for the opening race, with all drivers fitting the slick tyres on what was now a drying track. Ella got a good launch from the fourth row of the grid and was holding a position inside the top-10 until receiving contact on lap one which forced her to retire from the race.
The second race of the weekend at Donington Park was the catch-up event from the opening round of the season and the grid was formed based on the driver’s fastest qualifying time from the round one session. Therefore, Lloyd lined up on the fourth row of the grid in seventh and was looking to capitalise on this strong position.
It was a challenging start for the JHR Developments driver who dropped six positions on the opening lap and fell to 13th position after being tagged and spun.
Lloyd was quick to fight back and passed Alex Ninovic on lap two, followed by Kai Daryanani on lap three. The safety car was then deployed with Ella now back up to 11th position and closing in on a top-10 spot.
As the racing got back underway, Lloyd was shuffled out and dropped to 17th position as the racing was close in the final sector. Once again recovering well, Ella passed Yuhao Fu on lap eight and then set the fourth-fastest lap of the entire race to underline her strong pace in both wet and dry conditions.
Into the closing stages, Lloyd passed Maxwell Dodds for a position inside the top-15 and immediately caught returning driver August Raber. On the penultimate lap, Lloyd received contact and this saw her pull into the pits with damage to end her race prematurely. This was an unfortunate conclusion to a series of strong recovery drives with the JHR Developments driver showing good pace during the twenty-minute contest.
“I had a good start for the first race, and I went for a move into the Old Hairpin, but it was a bit damp on the inside, so I locked up, and the rears came around", Lloyd summed up her first race day. "In race two I was turned around coming out of the Melbourne Hairpin and that put me to the back, and I had to come into the pits as I had damage."
Race three of the weekend was the partial reverse grid contest with Lloyd lining up from ninth position, promoted from tenth following a grid drop penalty for teammate Leo Robinson. An exceptional start saw the Welsh racer gain five positions on the opening lap to move into fourth as the safety car was deployed. Lloyd was soon promoted to third position with Alex Ninovic requiring to pit with damage to his front wing.
When the race restarted, Ella was immediately challenging second-place driver Chloe Chong and she was able to make the move for the runner-up position into Redgate corner. This was an important pass for Lloyd with a number of fast drivers following her through as she searched for her third podium finish of the season.
Lloyd was defending superbly from Rowan Campbell-Pilling during the middle portion of the race as she protected her runner-up position. As championship leader Deagen Fairclough moved ahead of Campbell-Pilling in the closing stages, Ella’s task was made more challenging and the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was able to make the pass on lap 11.
Nonetheless, Lloyd settled into third position and set a number of fast lap times to ensure she crossed the line in third position to secure another podium result. It was an excellent drive from Ella who displayed her defensive skills against a number of the championship front-runners.
“Race three I was up to fourth on lap one, then I was into third, and had a good restart and took second", Ella recalled. "I was battling with the championship leader, and he managed to get by, but I kept pace with him to the flag as the car was the best it had been all weekend."
For the final race of the weekend, Lloyd lined up from third position following her career best qualifying performance. The JHR Developments driver got an excellent initial launch off the line and quickly moved into second position, before running side-by-side with Alex Ninovic. Although Ninovic found a way through, Lloyd ran three-wide down the back straight as the drivers approached the Fogarty Esses.
Ella had to take to the gravel and this lost her momentum into the final sector with Kai Daryanani now behind. An ambitious move from Daryanani at the final corner ran Lloyd out wide and this dropped her to 14th at the end of the opening lap.
Lloyd immediately fought back and moved ahead of Maxwell Dodds on lap two, before losing out in a duel with Bart Harrison at the Melbourne Hairpin. Running in a competitive train of midfield drivers, Lloyd was planning her next move as a top-10 finish remained realistic. On lap six, Harrison and Martin Molnar ran side-by-side into the Fogarty Esses and this allowed Ella to get a better run out of the corner and complete the pass on both drivers.
Now running in 12th position, Ella was defending well from Molnar with the Virtuosi Racing driver showing good speed during the middle portion of the race. Unfortunately Lloyd was then assessed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits as she attempted to keep the Hungarian racer behind.
Into the closing stages of the race, contact was made between the Fortec Motorsport duo of Daryanani and Alex Berg, with damage to both cars elevating Lloyd inside the top-10. The race was brought to an early conclusion following August Raber’s car coming to a halt at the Melbourne Hairpin and therefore Lloyd was classified in 12th position once her penalty had been applied.
"I had contact from the side which spun me around and dropped me back in the final race and had a track limits penalty as well", Lloyd said. "I had my best qualifying of the year, with P3, and my second podium, so it wasn’t a bad weekend.”
Despite the challenges in the first two races of the weekend, Lloyd bounced back with an excellent podium in the reverse grid contest. Her defensive driving was exceptional as she kept a number of fast cars behind her for the majority of the contest.
Ella’s career best qualifying performance in challenging conditions was another highlight as she displayed her adaptability in her debut season of single seater competition. Lloyd will be looking to make it four podiums in five meetings when the British F4 Championship drivers return to action at the Silverstone National circuit on the weekend of September 21st/22nd.
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