Lloyd gets ready for title showdown

Hwyel Lloyd is gearing up for the crucial deciding race in the 12 round 2007 BARC Formula Renault Championship, at Oulton Park on Saturday 29^th September. Driving his CF Racing 2.0 litre Renault engined car, Lloyd won the last round of the at Thruxton to narrow the points gap to the current points leader Dean Stoneman at the top of the championship and set up an exciting end to the season.

Deja vue - Hwyel exits Lodge Corner on his way to win at Oulton Park earlier this season

Lloyd and Stoneman have been close all year, even clashing in the 2^nd round, when Hwyel was taken out of the lead after an over-optimistic challenge by Stoneman, went wrong. However in the early rounds Hwyel was the dominant force winning 3 of the first 6 races and scoring well in the others to build a handy lead. Things then started to go wrong at Snetterton. In round 8 Lloyd could only score some minor points by staging a stirring come-back drive, after losing a dozen or so places when he was barged onto the grass in a midfield scrum, meanwhile Stoneman scored maximum points. The mishaps continued at Brands Hatch when Hwyel made a big mistake on the green flag lap and spun out of pole position, again recovering to at least score some points, before bouncing back to dominate the next two races to put himself back in contention.

Hwyels father Harry summed up "It’s been a fantastic season regardless of the outcome. Its only Hwyels’ second season in car racing, although he did race karts before, and this season has brought something special out in him. He had to dig deep especially after the disappointments at Snetterton, but this season has already given him immense experience."

With 15 points for a win, 12 for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, 8 for 4th, falling to 1 for 20^th plus bonus points for Pole Position and Fastest Lap, Hwyel is targeting a win with maximum points which means that Stoneman, whose form seems to have peaked, must finish 3^rd or better.

However Harry believes Hwyel has the momentum with him and also revealed another twist to the title chase . "Dean seems to be trying to play a percentage game, trying to bank the points without taking risks, but Hwyel is happy just to be going for the win. Even so we know that Dean is racing under appeal after an incident in one of the earlier races and could lose a lot of points, but we are hoping Hwyel can do where it counts, out on the track." Supported by local firm Corwen Forestry, Hwyel regards Oulton Park as his home circuit, and there should be plenty of support from family and friends too, he said "I’m looking forward towards it. I’ve already won at Oulton Park this year. This will make it a doubling interesting weekend!"