German flu has Hywel in a spin — F3 Racing with Hywel Lloyd

German flu has Hywel in a spin

Illness and set-up problems contributed to a disappointing weekend in Germany for young Welsh racing driver Hywel Lloyd.

The rising Formula Three star from Corwen had that sinking feeling as he struggled to get on terms with a new circuit while nursing a bout of flu. Lloyd, 24, struggled in qualifying at the Hockenheim track and was never able to repeat his challenging form of the previous week at Rockingham.

Instead he laboured round the famous circuit in the first of the weekend’s two races with a below-par car but still managed to finish 10th in the International Championship Class to earn a point.

Heavy rain before the off for the second race made the German circuit an unpredictable prospect for the 20-car field, all of whom opted to race on slick tyres.

There were several spinners in the early laps among them Lloyd who went off after nine laps and quite a few more found their cars less than well suited to the conditions.

Lloyd said: “I was just off the racing line and caught a puddle of water and that sent the car into a spin and off.

"It was a disappointing finish to a pretty poor weekend.

“I didn’t feel well all the time I was there. I think I had flu and that meant I was running on adrenaline but everyone has to go to work when they’re not feeling that great and you just have to get on with it.”

CF Racing Team Manager Harry Lloyd, Hywel’s father, said: “It was disappointing that we didn’t perform, especially after we showed what we’re capable of at Rockingham.

“We were third fastest there but at Hockenheim we were never up with the pace and couldn’t seem to get the set-up of the car right.

“We’ve got a month before the next races in Snetterton in July and we’ve got to make good use of that time.

“We’ve got a super engine now and all the tools and we’ve just got to get the car right because there is so much potential there."

The weekend’s races were won by Swede Marcus Ericsson and Austrian Walter Grubmuller, the driver Lloyd tangled with the week before at Rockingham in an incident which cost the Welshman a podium finish.

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