Great balls of fire — F3 Racing with Hywel Lloyd

Great balls of fire

Hywel Lloyd was hot stuff as the new Formula Three season roared into life at the first official testing at Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit.
The young Welsh racing star provided some spectacular action as jets of flame poured from his exhaust at the end of the 150mph back straight.
Hywel admitted: “When I first saw it in the mirror I thought the car was on fire but it’s actually quite straightforward and not a problem.
“When you come off the throttle there’s a little bit of fuel left in the exhaust and that’s so hot it just ignites and burns out – it looks good though.”
Lloyd and the other drivers also had to contend with a damp start and a wet track when the cars first rolled out of the pits before the circuit dried out enough for them to use slicks in the afternoon.
The 23-year-old from Corwen, who finished third in the F3 National Class last year, has stepped up in class and has a better car too, as he explained: “There’s more grip, more grunt and more braking power.
“It was good to get back into a car and while you’re never pleased unless you’re the fastest in most respects we were pleased.
“It was a good shakedown and got everyone back into the groove but it will take another test or two to get fully up to speed.
“Snetterton is a good circuit and it has the longest straight in Britain so it’s pretty quick. The first corner should be flat out in the dry and you’re flat out again on the back straight but there are a couple of chicanes to make it interesting.”
Lloyd is back in testing action at his ‘home’ circuit of Oulton Park next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 10 and 11, and the Cheshire track also hosts the seaon’s opener in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series next month on Easter Monday (April 13).