Driver Database News

Total Control Racing capped off a hugely successful year in the best way possible this afternoon, Saturday, 7th November, with Daniel Lloyd clinching the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup title and team-mate Sam Tordoff securing his second career category race victory.

“I’m obviously delighted for Daniel and Sam, they both performed fantastically this weekend and have proven they can be serious championship contenders next year in the main Clio Cup”, said team principal Lee Brookes, “It’s been a great weekend for TCR, the team did a terrific job.”

Racing at Rockingham International Super Sports Car Circuit in Northamptonshire, the pre-eminent Clio Cup squad locked out the front row for both of the day’s races with Tordoff taking pole position for each encounter two 10ths of a second ahead of fellow first-year Clio driver Lloyd.

While qualifying took place on a mainly wet track, the outcome of the opening race was determined by tyre choice as the circuit began to dry fairly rapidly. Both TCR drivers chose wet-weather rubber and while 20-year-old Tordoff held the lead for the first couple of corners, Lloyd fought his way by into Chapman Curve.

Split by just a couple of 10ths of a second, the team-mates looked very well placed but as early as the third lap it was clear James Colburn’s gamble on slick front tyres was coming into play. While Lloyd still held first place, Colburn nudged Tordoff back to third position on the fourth tour through Turn 1 and then, into Deene Hairpin, he barged Lloyd out of the lead.

Recovering in fourth place, the 17-year-old mounted a solid comeback while Tordoff moved into the lead due to the delay Colburn brought about for himself. Into lap five, the TCR man led by well over a second but both he and Lloyd were struggling with tyre degradation as the track dried quicker than expected. That said Lloyd did manage to move back into third place at Brook Chicane.

On lap six, the inevitable lead change occurred when Colburn dived up the inside of Tordoff into Tarzan Hairpin but the Leeds-based racer then lost another position – this time to Lloyd – at the same part of the track when running into the gravel trap under braking as a result of the lessening grip from his tyres. Recovering in fourth, Tordoff did manage to grab third before the finish.

After the first encounter, Colburn led the standings by six points from podium debutant Lloyd with Tordoff a further three points adrift. Post-race though, Colburn was handed a two-point penalty for his overly robust overtaking manoeuvre on Lloyd at Deene.

Winter Cup goes down to the wire
With everything to play for heading into the afternoon race, Lloyd got the jump on Tordoff at the start to lead while the latter kept Colburn at bay for second. Pressuring his Huddersfield-based team-mate hard, Tordoff managed to move ahead on lap three at Yentwood following a mistake by Lloyd which led to him running slightly wide off the track.

Tordoff immediately tried to press home the advantage and posted the fastest lap of the race on lap three to help build a 1.2 second buffer. Lloyd hit back though and on lap six posted what would prove to be the quickest lap of all to secure the ultimately crucial two bonus points.

Running mere 10ths of a second apart for the remainder of the 12-lap encounter, Tordoff took the win for his Wednesbury-based team while second place for Lloyd – coupled with the points for fastest lap – gave him the Winter Cup crown by a single point. Tordoff ended the campaign tied on points with Colburn in the Vice-Champion’s position.

Reflecting on the weekend, Lee Brookes added: “Qualifying went really well, Sam and Daniel were very evenly matched and we definitely had the pace on everyone else. The guys took the decision to go with wet tyres for the first race but we all supported that choice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right call but they still rescued podium finishes.

“In the second race, they turned it around well and either one of them could have won the race and the Winter Cup. It was great to see Sam back on the top step of the podium and I’m really pleased Daniel had some good luck for a change to win the title – both of them did the team proud.”

Final 2009 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup Standings:
Champion: Daniel Lloyd, 58pts; =2nd Sam Tordoff & James Colburn, 57pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Teenagers Sam Tordoff and Daniel Lloyd both produced outstanding performances for Wednesbury-based Total Control Racing at Rockingham on Sunday, 20th September, with Tordoff claiming his third ELF Renault Clio Cup podium of 2009 and Lloyd unluckily missing out on his maiden category win.

Lining up second and third on the grid respectively for the 17th round of the season, Leeds-based Tordoff and Huddersfield racer Lloyd each made good starts to the first Clio race of the weekend at the venue’s International Super Sports Car Circuit to get on terms with pole-sitter Philip Glew.

Into Deene Hairpin for the first time, Tordoff ran slightly wide on the exit and lost some momentum but Lloyd got good drive out of the turn and managed to pass Glew at Yentwood to lead a Clio Cup race for the first time in his short career.

Into lap two Lloyd held a reasonable lead over the rest with TCR team-mate Alex MacDowall in fourth place, Tordoff in 11th after his lap one moment and Mike Robinson in 13th position – the latter starting lower down the order than he would have liked after a tricky qualifying session on Saturday.

Driving impressively, Lloyd looked comfortable at the front ahead of Glew and returning 2001 Clio Cup Champion Danny Buxton but at the end of the eighth lap, his car under-steered wide out of Brook Chicane and made heavy contact with the retaining wall at Turn 4.

Meaning an immediate retirement, Lloyd was bitterly disappointed and post-race investigations by the team pointed to a possible puncture which caused the 17-year-old’s car to become unsettled.

With Lloyd out of the race MacDowall, Tordoff and Robinson each moved up a place, the latter making the best progress of all to actually get ahead of Tordoff before the finish, grabbing a well deserved seventh place result – just a couple of 10ths of a second ahead of his team-mate. For MacDowall, fifth position was a good return to maintain his Vice-Champion’s spot in the standings.

Round 18 produced a welcome podium for Tordoff with a fine drive to third place behind newly crowned 2009 Clio Cup Champion Glew and former title winner Buxton. Running just a 10th of a second or so shy of the pace of the top two, Tordoff’s result moved him to within 23 points of the championship top six – the spot currently held by team-mate Robinson.

For Surrey-based Robinson, race two was made more difficult after he was caught-up in a tangle at Deene on lap one but he came through to finish 10th, a couple of spots behind MacDowall who, even though not enjoying one of his better weekends, is still on course to be 2009 runner-up.

For Lloyd, a career-best top five result was just reward for a great drive and also incredibly hard work by the TCR mechanics to get his car repaired after the round 17 accident. With just four hours in which to get the car anywhere close to race-readiness, the team did a superb job and although the Clio wasn’t anything like 100 per cent Lloyd still managed to secure an impressive finish.

“Sam and Daniel have come to the top again this weekend which is great to see”, said team principal Lee Brookes, “For Daniel to lead the first race ahead of Glew and Buxton, two highly rated drivers, without feeling any pressure was fantastic. It’s just such a shame what happened but we think he’d probably picked up a puncture which unsettled the car.

“The team did a fantastic job to get the car back out there, they worked unbelievably hard and it paid off with a good result. Sam’s podium in race two was obviously fantastic, he’s proven again he’s a genuine front-runner with a bright future. Alex and Mike were both unfortunate this weekend but they’ll bounce back at Brands Hatch where we’re aiming to try and win the team’s championship.”

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography

Saloon car rookie Sam Tordoff enjoyed an outstanding international race debut at Circuit Zolder in Belgium on Saturday, 22nd August, by securing a brace of podium finishes for Total Control Racing during a guest outing in the Belgian Renault Clip Cup Championship.

Joining the Leeds-based 21-year-old for the trip across to the continent were his regular ELF Renault Clio Cup team-mate Alex MacDowall and the Carlisle racer’s father Ray, all three drivers taking the opportunity to run at the Belgian venue in support of the prestigious 24 Hours of Zolder race.

Tordoff and MacDowall junior were both on the pace from the off in the pre-event practice on Wednesday, 19th August, and during the all-important qualifying session for the opening race of the weekend Tordoff posted the second fastest time of 1m49.714 seconds (131.61km/h), Alex was fifth fastest with a lap of 1m50.041 seconds (131.22km/h) and Ray was 14th quickest.

In the race two qualifying period, an unbelievably close session, Alex turned the tables on Tordoff by securing a superb pole position with a lap of 1m50.111 seconds (131.13km/h) while Tordoff took fourth on the grid with a time of 1m50.195 seconds (131.03km/h) – just eight 100ths of a second splitting the team-mates – with Ray MacDowall 15th fastest.

In race one, all three TCR drivers held position early on with Alex the first to gain a place with a good move on Czech racer Joakim Lambotte to move into the top four on lap six. The following tour wasn’t a good one for Tordoff or Alex though with both slipping back a place – Tordoff to third behind Dutchman Robert van den Berg and MacDowall to fifth following a tap from behind.

Tordoff hit back quickly by moving into second position again on lap eight and he remained there to the chequered flag on lap 15, finishing just 0.375 seconds shy of winner Francois Verbist to end his first international race as the top ‘Junior’ runner. Alex MacDowall took fifth place with a good drive while Ray was 13th on his first competitive outing in the newly upgraded Clio Cup car.

The second encounter was incredibly tight throughout and at the finish on lap 14, less than four 10ths of a second covered the top four. Unfortunately for Alex, he wasn’t able to make his pole position start count and slipped to eighth on the opening lap after being pushed wide onto the grass at the first corner.

The Cumbrian, who is currently second overall in the ELF Renault Clio Cup driver standings, produced a great fightback though and by lap nine he was in the top four ahead of Tordoff. On lap 11, Alex moved into third place while Tordoff dropped back to sixth but the place swapping didn’t end there.

Into lap 12, third-placed MacDowall was just 0.183 seconds shy of the race leader – underlining the closeness of the racing – but Tordoff edged ahead of his fellow TCR driver on the penultimate tour before getting the better of David De Saeger on the last lap to take another second place result. Alex ended the race in fourth position, frustratingly a mere 10th of a second outside the podium.

Ray MacDowall enjoyed an improved run in race two with a fine 11th place result to win the battle of the gentleman drivers ahead of JJ Magalhaes. Gaining two positions on the opening lap, the seasoned campaigner moved into 11th place on lap six and remained there to the finish.

Reflecting on a successful weekend in Belgium, TCR team principal Lee Brookes said: “The Zolder races were a good chance for Alex and Sam to gain extra experience and it was good to have Ray back out with us too. Sam did a great job to take two second places on his first ever visit to Zolder and the same goes for Alex who took a great pole position and was unlucky not to be on the podium.

“It’s been a busy few weeks for us but we’ve enjoyed it and now we’re looking forward to next weekend’s Clio Cup and Ginetta G50 races at Silverstone. It’s important we have a strong showing in both championships, especially with the season at a critical stage, so hopefully we can carry on the momentum in Clios and get back to winning ways in the G50 Cup too.”

TCR will be back in action this coming weekend, 29th/30th August, at Silverstone National Circuit in Northamptonshire for the 15th and 16th rounds of the ELF Renault Clio Cup and rounds 21 and 22 of the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup. In addition, the rescheduled 11th round of the G50 Cup season will also take place.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

West Midlands-based Total Control Racing made this weekend’s race meeting at Snetterton its own after another incredible outing today, Sunday 2nd August, with further wins in the ELF Renault Clio Cup and Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup.

After winning rounds 15 and 16 of the Ginetta G50 season yesterday, King’s Lynn driver Carl Breeze made it a perfect hat-trick this afternoon with a very well deserved success in round 17 to eat into the championship lead of chief rival Nathan Freke.

In the Clio Cup, meanwhile, car racing rookie Sam Tordoff took a memorable debut victory under huge pressure from series leader Philip Glew, category front-runner Andrew Herron and team-mate Alex MacDowall to cap off an unbelievable weekend for the Leeds-based youngster.

For round 17 of the Ginetta G50 Cup Breeze started from pole position, his third of the weekend, with TCR team-mates Fulvio Mussi and Joachim Ritter eighth and 10th on the grid respectively. At the start, Breeze immediately moved into the lead but he had to fight hard throughout with Frank Wrathall applying serious pressure for the duration of the 18-lap encounter.

Mussi produced perhaps his best drive of the 2009 campaign with an excellent climb through the order into fourth place, just a couple of seconds shy of a maiden podium, while Danish racer Ritter battled through a weekend of sickness to post a fine 11th place finish.

Round 14 of the Renault Clio Cup provided one of the best rookie performances of the season with Tordoff converting his first ever pole position into a lights-to-flag victory. Holding off the vastly experienced Glew for the full 16 lap duration, Tordoff looked completely in control and the win has enabled him to climb into the championship top eight.

MacDowall, who won Saturday’s 13th round, consolidated the runner-up spot in the championship with a fighting fourth place while Mike Robinson ran in a fairly lonely fifth position all the way through. Daniel Lloyd came back from a disappointing qualifying day on Saturday to take a hard fought 11th place finish and remain inside the series top 10.

Speaking on his first win, Tordoff said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to be on the top step of the podium, it’s a great feeling. We’ve been fast in practice all year but never quite got it together in qualifying when it mattered. This weekend we were second on the grid yesterday and on pole today, it just makes things so much easier when you start at the front. To be on the podium on Saturday was a huge relief and I think that gave me the confidence to lead from the front today.”

Reflecting on the entire team performance in both G50 Cup and Clio Cup this weekend, TCR team principal Lee Brookes commented: “Sam’s win in Clios was absolutely superb and added to Alex’s victory on Saturday and Carl’s three wins in the G50 Cup, it couldn’t have been much better for the team. Five wins from five races across two championships is outstanding, we’re delighted.

“In Clios, I’m confident we have a team now where any one of the four drivers can win. Alex, and now Sam, have both won races and Daniel and Mike have shown they each have the pace to do the same. We’re still not sure what the problem was for Daniel in qualifying but we’ll sort that out.”

Brookes added: “In Ginetta, Carl had a terrific weekend and he pulled a massive gap back to the championship leader. We can definitely still win the title. Fulvio drove a blinder today as well, he’s proven this weekend he can run with the podium drivers. Unfortunately Joachim wasn’t feeling too well all weekend but he still did a good job. Now we’re looking forward to Knockhill in two weeks.”

TCR’s next track action will come with rounds 18, 19 and 20 of the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup which will take place at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland a fortnight from now, 15th/16th August. Two weeks on from the Knockhill event, the ELF Renault Clio Cup will reconvene with the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship package at Silverstone National Circuit over the weekend 29th/30th August.

Provisional 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup Standings (after Rd14):
Drivers: 2nd Alex MacDowall, 326pts; 5th Mike Robinson, 215pts; 8th Sam Tordoff, 186pts; 10th Daniel Lloyd, 155pts
Team: 2nd Total Control Racing, 624pts

Provisional 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Standings (after Rd17 – Rd11 yet to be rescheduled):
Drivers: 2nd Carl Breeze, 446pts; 5th Fulvio Mussi, 251pts; 10th Joachim Ritter, 170pts
Teams: 1st Total Control Racing

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk proved to be a very happy hunting ground for crack motor racing squad Total Control Racing earlier today, Saturday, 1st August, with the team winning not only round 13 of the ELF Renault Clio Cup but also the 15th and 16th rounds of the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup.

On a simply outstanding day for the Wednesbury-based outfit, Carlisle teenager Alex MacDowall claimed his third victory of the year in an action-packed and rain-shortened Clio Cup encounter and he was also joined on the podium by rookie team-mate Sam Tordoff, the Leeds racer taking his first ever podium with a superb second position and backing it up with the fastest lap of the race.

After taking pole position for round 13 with a fastest time of 1m17.872 seconds (90.23mph) during this morning’s qualifying session, at the start of the race MacDowall made a textbook start to lead as light rain started to fall and threatened to make conditions very tricky indeed.

Behind, championship leader Philip Glew managed to get ahead of Tordoff at the start – the TCR ace having qualified second on the grid – while Mike Robinson held on to his starting place of ninth.

For rapid rookie Daniel Lloyd, what started as a very positive weekend during testing soon became a luckless disappointment when he was punted out of the race at the first corner. Third fastest during the opening pre-event practice and then finishing sixth in session two, a tricky qualifying session placed him mid-grid but he was hit at Riches Corner and forced into an immediate retirement.

Following a couple of laps behind the Safety Car to enable Lloyd’s car to be retrieved, at the re-start MacDowall got away well and led in worsening conditions all the way to the Bomb Hole on lap 10 when Glew managed to slither past.

Less than a lap later though, Glew pushed too hard at the Esses to try and fend off MacDowall and got his car sideways as the TCR star moved ahead once more. He was followed through by team-mate Tordoff and the pair remained first and second to the finish on lap 14 when red flags were shown due to the increasing rainfall.

Therefore, the finishing order was taken from the positions on lap 13 which still meant MacDowall won, Tordoff was second and Robinson came through to finish in eighth position, also moving him up into the championship top five.

Commenting, MacDowall said: “The conditions were very tricky, the rain got quite bad as the race wore on and it was especially slippery at the Esses. When (Philip) Glew got by me I tried to get back at him as quickly as possible and at the Esses on the next lap he just went in too hot and I was able to get back ahead. I’m really pleased with our third win, the team did a great job with the car.”

Podium debutant Tordoff added: “It was a very hard race but I kept it all together and managed to stick with Alex (MacDowall) and Phil (Glew). It was a case of waiting for either of them to make a mistake really. We’ve had the pace all weekend and considering it’s my first year in cars, let alone in Clios, I think we’re doing a good job.”

Breeze returns to winning ways with memorable Snetterton double
Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup title challenger Carl Breeze was in totally dominant form at Snetterton today, taking three pole positions in qualifying for rounds 15, 16 and 17 of the season and backing them up with victory in the first two races.

After an unbelievably difficult couple of months, namely a huge accident at Oulton Park at the end of May and a subsequent crash at Croft in mid-June which did little to aid the healing process, Breeze arrived at his home track this weekend fully recuperated and immediately returned to winning ways.

Dominating qualifying, the TCR star pressed home his advantage with two fantastic performances in rounds 15 and 16 to close to within 27 points of current series leader Nathan Freke. Challenged fairly hard by Christian Dick in the opening encounter, the team mechanics made some changes to Breeze’s car for race two which he won by 11 seconds and in which he also posted a new lap record.

Team-mate Fulvio Mussi finished a fine fifth in round 15 after a good drive from eighth on the grid while in round 16 a potential career best finish of second place behind Breeze was taken away after Mussi was adjudged to have lined up in an incorrect position on the grid. Although taking the chequered flag in second position, a 10 second penalty was added to his time dropping him to sixth.

Danish racer Joachim Ritter, meanwhile, finished ahead of former British Touring Car Championship driver Charlie Butler-Henderson in ninth place during the first outing and managed another top 10 in round 16 to consolidate 10th overall in the championship standings.

Speaking after his double win, Breeze said: “It’s good to reward the TCR boys with a couple of wins and great to bounce back after the disappointments of Oulton and Croft. We made some changes to the car for the second race to find some more speed and the team deserves all of the credit as it gave us an extra three 10ths of a second. It’s been a great day, hopefully tomorrow will be too.”

Reflecting on TCR’s day in both the Ginetta G50 Cup and Clio Cup, TCR team principal Lee Brookes commented: “We’re absolutely made up with Carl’s two wins in the G50 races today, he performed very well indeed, and in the second race Fulvio did a great job as well. It was just a shame he was out of position on the grid at the start, he was gutted about that. Joachim had a couple of good runs too.

“In Clios it was a very bad day for Daniel, we’re so disappointed for him. On the other side of things Alex did everything right to win again and Mike took another solid finish. The day belonged to Sam though, out of all of the drivers I think he surprised people the most and to take his first podium and be on pole position for Sunday’s race is a great achievement.”

Round 14 of the ELF Renault Clio Cup is timetabled to take place at 11.55 tomorrow, Sunday, 2nd August, with round 17 of the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup set to begin at 13.35. Please check listings for details of live television coverage on Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4.

Provisional 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup Standings (after Rd13):
Drivers: 2nd Alex MacDowall, 302pts; 5th Mike Robinson, 195pts; 9th Sam Tordoff, 154pts; 10th Daniel Lloyd, 145pts
Team: 2nd Total Control Racing, 570pts

Provisional 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Standings (after Rd16 – Rd11 yet to be rescheduled):
Drivers: 2nd Carl Breeze, 410pts; 5th Fulvio Mussi, 228pts; 10th Joachim Ritter, 160pts
Team: 1st Total Control Racing

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.