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Richard Lloyd (racing driver)

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Richard Lloyd
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born(1945-02-18)18 February 1945
Died30 March 2008(2008-03-30) (aged 63)
Farnborough, London, England
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19821985
TeamsGTi Engineering, Richard Lloyd Racing
Best finish2nd (1985)
Class wins0

Richard Hugh Lloyd (18 February 1945 – 30 March 2008)[1] was a British racing car driver and founder of multiple sports car and touring car teams. He drove in multiple championships himself, including the British Saloon Car Championship and the World Endurance Championship.

Life and career

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A Porsche 924 Carrera GTR which Lloyd co-drove with Andy Rouse and Jeff Allam.

Initially Lloyd worked for Decca Records from 1964 to 1970, during which time he became interested in racing after competing in a Triumph TR4A during 1967. He later formed his own public relations business, Motor Race Relations, in 1971, while continuing his own driving duties, during which time he won multiple events in the British Saloon Car Championship. He went on to form GTi Engineering in 1978, running Volkswagen Golf GTIs and Audi 80s. This team eventually became Richard Lloyd Racing in 1985 as Lloyd moved into the World Sportscar Championship with Porsche 956s and 962s.

Following the demise of the team in 1990, Richard Lloyd returned to racing, driving, and winning, in the Porsche 924 Championship. In 1995, he established Audi Sport UK to once again compete in the British Touring Car Championship, with support from the Audi factory. Lloyd re-entered sports car racing in 1999 with the Audi R8C program at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, before being chosen by Audi's fellow Volkswagen Group subsidiary, Bentley, to run the EXP Speed 8 program in 2001.

Audi Sport UK was renamed Apex Motorsport during their Bentley tenure, subsequently became Jaguar's development team for the XKR in the FIA GT3 European Championship. Lloyd stopped racing professionally in the 1990s, but continued to run in historic racing events up until his death.

Death

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Lloyd died on 30 March 2008, when a private jet on which he was travelling crashed into a house in Farnborough, London, shortly after take-off from Biggin Hill Airport. All five occupants died upon impact; among them were an Apex Motorsport Data Engineer, Christopher Allarton, and former British Touring Car Championship driver David Leslie.[2] Both were en route with Lloyd to the Nogaro Circuit in France to prepare Apex Motorsport's Jaguar for the upcoming FIA GT3 season.[3]

The investigation into the crash found that a combination of incorrectly identified, non-critical system failures led to the in-flight shut-down of both engines, with the crew unable to restart them in time to avoid the impact.

Racing record

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Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos. Pts Class
1973 A.J. Rivers Simoniz Racing Chevrolet Camaro Z28 D BRH SIL THR THR SIL ING BRH SIL BRH
Ret
NC 0 NC
1974 A.J. Rivers Simoniz Racing Chevrolet Camaro Z28 D MAL
2†
BRH
Ret
SIL
2
OUL
2
THR
1
SIL
Ret
THR
1
BRH
2
ING
4†
BRH
1†
OUL
2
SNE
Ret†
BRH
Ret
8th 47 2nd
1975 Think Automotive / Simoniz Racing Chevrolet Camaro Z28 D MAL
1†
BRH
4
OUL
2
THR
1
SIL
1
BRH
1†
THR
2
SIL
2
MAL
2†
SNE
5
SIL
12
ING BRH
2†
OUL
Ret
BRH
2
4th 65 2nd
1976 Ottershaw Motors Opel Commodore GS/E D BRH SIL
Ret
OUL
Ret†
THR
Ret
THR
5
SIL
?
BRH
18
MAL
5†
SNE
Ret†
BRH 23rd 9 7th
1977 Richard Lloyd Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI B SIL
?
BRH
DNS
OUL
2†
THR
?
SIL
?
THR
?
DON
7†
SIL
12
DON
3†
BRH
?
THR
?
BRH
8
3rd 40 1st
1978 Richard Lloyd Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI B SIL
8
OUL
1†
THR
?
BRH
1†
SIL
1†
DON
1†
MAL
1†
BRH
11
DON
DSQ†
BRH
DNS
THR
?
OUL
1†
2nd 90 1st
1979 The Akai Golf Volkswagen Golf GTI B SIL
11
OUL
DSQ†
THR
11
SIL
15
DON
?
SIL
?
MAL
2†
DON
10
BRH
?
THR
?
SNE
11
OUL
1†
3rd 82 1st
1980 GTI Engineering Audi 80 GLE B MAL
Ret†
OUL
3†
THR
10
SIL
10
SIL
10
BRH
?
MAL
?†
BRH
DSQ
THR
9
SIL
15
8th 41 3rd
1983 GTI Engineering Volkswagen Golf GTI C SIL OUL THR BRH THR SIL DON SIL DON BRH SIL
13
25th 3 12th
Source:[4]

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1982 United Kingdom Canon Cameras
United Kingdom GTi Engineering
United Kingdom Andy Rouse Porsche 924 Carrera GTR IMSA
GTO
77 DNF DNF
1983 United Kingdom Canon Racing
United Kingdom GTi Engineering
Netherlands Jan Lammers
United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer
Porsche 956 C 339 8th 8th
1984 United Kingdom GTi Engineering United Kingdom Nick Mason
France René Metge
Porsche 956 C1 139 DSQ DSQ
1985 United Kingdom Richard Lloyd Racing United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer
United Kingdom James Weaver
Porsche 956 GTi C1 371 2nd 2nd

References

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  1. ^ "Richard Hugh LLOYD". Companies House. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  2. ^ Farnborough Air Crash: Cessna Aircraft Goes Down In Kent |Sky News|UK News
  3. ^ "David Leslie and Richard Lloyd killed in plane accident". Planetlemans. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  4. ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
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