Wolfsburg (18 June 2011). Daniel Lloyd is the brilliant winner of what has been the most captivating race of the 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup season so far.
At the season's fourth round at the Lausitzring the Briton won the race that saw numerous changes of the lead in front of James Mobley from the United States and the Pole Mateusz Lisowski. In the overall standings Lisowski has kept his lead with a score of 148 points in front of Mobley (120 points). In the group of motorcycle stars in the Legends classification Ralf Waldmann was victorious in front of the Moto2 racers Aleix Espargaro and Max Neukirchner.
In the race that was shaped by numerous overtaking maneuvers James Mobley was able to defend his pole position after the start. Directly behind him a pack of four consisting of Ola Nilsson, Mateusz Lisowski, Daniel Lloyd and Aditya Patel was engaged in captivating battles for positions across several laps. From the second half of the race onwards a highly dramatic battle between Lloyd, Lisowski and Mobley ensued that saw several spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. In the end the young Briton, who had started into the race from position five, prevailed against Mobley and Lisowski as his clinched his first victory in the Scirocco R-Cup.
Motorcycle stars Waldmann, Espargaro, Neukirchner push forwards from the rear
Among the Legends Ralf Waldmann delivered an extremely strong performance. The 20-time motorcycle Grand Prix winner overtook several regular drivers and advanced from 15th to tenth place in the near 275-hp bio natural gas race car. The two Moto2 racers, Aleix Espargaro and Max Neukirchner, also showed that they are able to handle four wheels as well. The Spaniard Espargaro catapulted himself from 21st to eleventh place. Neukirchner showed a great recovery too and finished the race in 13th place. Slightly disappointed was Dirk Raudies, the 1993 world champion in the 125-cc class, who finished the race in 23rd place.
The fourth race of the season was also watched by numerous celebrities including "Alles was zählt” actress Anna-Katharina Samsel, who recently received the "German Soap Star Award” as the best actress in the RTL soap.
Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director:
"Congratulations to the winner, Daniel Lloyd, but also to James Mobley and to Mateus Lisowski! All three have shown a fantastic race with thrilling overtaking maneuvers that were marked by exemplary fairness. The Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup has shown yet again that among the one-make cups it guarantees captivating motorsport, also thanks to the innovative push-to-pass system. ‘Well done' also to our motorcycle Legends who have delivered a sparking display of their great driving skills on four wheels as well. We missed Stefan Bradl, who unfortunately is sick in bed at home. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope that he'll be in top form again at Assen!”
# 38 – Ralf Waldmann
Qualifying: 15 – race 10: "At first I repeatedly hit the push-to-pass button while I was steering so I didn't have any more shots left on the final laps. Otherwise I might have advanced some more. I had huge fun in the race, a big compliment to all the drivers here in the Scirocco R-Cup. But you could see that we motorcycle guys are pretty good at handling four wheels too.”
#11 Daniel Lloyd
Qualifying: 5 – race 1: "It was the best race of my life. I'm extremely happy; it's such a good feeling. As early as on my first lap I used the push-to-pass button three times to push forwards. I want to thank Mateusz Lisowski and JD Mobley because everyone was putting up a fierce but always fair defence against the others. And I'd like to particularly thank my father, Neil, and Andy from my sponsor TNTpost.”
#36– Dirk Raudies
Qualifying: 25 – race 23: "I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed about my 23rd place. After 13 years without racing I've obviously gotten a little rusty although I did some fitness training before the race. I lost most of my time while braking because I was too cautious in that respect. But on the whole it's been really good fun. The Scirocco-Cup is a great racing series with really thrilling overtaking maneuvers – even though I didn't have any.”
#40– Aleix Espargaro
Qualifying: 21 – race 11: "Thank you very much, Volkswagen! I simply enjoyed the race. It's great that there are so many overtaking manoeuvres thanks to the push-to-pass button – almost as many as we've got in the Moto2 World Championship. At first I used the push-to-pass as much as possible, which allowed me to move forwards right away. That was my secret for success.”
#40– Max Neukirchner
Qualifying: 22 – race 13: "I was too slow at the start but then I started pushing to make up ground. For me it was a very interesting experience because in a car race you can also drive with slight body contact without immediately retiring like you would in a motorcycle race. On the last laps I also got a better handle on understeer. I'd definitely drive again if I had the opportunity to do so.”
#8 – Mateusz Lisowski
Qualifying: 7 – race 3: "It was an incredible race, perhaps the most thrilling one so far. And despite the close overtaking maneuvers it was always fair. At the end, without a push-to-pass left I no longer had a chance to keep James Mobley behind me. But I'm a fighter and at the next race I want to be at the very top again. I think we did a good job of advertising the Scirocco R-Cup today.”
#17 James Mobley
Qualifying: 17 – race 2: It is huge fun competing with guys like Mateusz or Daniel. This is true racing with so many great overtaking manoeuvres and we proved that the competition in the Scirocco-Cup is spectacular but fair. In the race my strategy was to use the push-to-pass once on each lap but in the end it wasn't quite enough. But I'm super pleased with my second place. My aim is to finish each round in the top five by the end of the season. The championship is what ultimately counts for me.”
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