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IPS: Mid-Ohio: Alex Lloyd race report
Drive Shafted at Ohio Clerical Medical and Manx Sports Aid Foundation backed 22-year-old Alex Lloyd, driver of the Sam Schmidt Motorsports Lucas Oil car, came away from the inaugural race at Mid Ohio facing another disappointment when he was ...
Edited: Mar 27, 2008, 11:54 PM
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Drive Shafted at Ohio
Clerical Medical and Manx Sports Aid Foundation backed 22-year-old Alex Lloyd, driver of the Sam Schmidt Motorsports Lucas Oil car, came away from the inaugural race at Mid Ohio facing another disappointment when he was in second place in the race and his drive shaft broke, forcing him to pull in and end his race early.
The weekend started well with Alex qualifying on pole, his 4th of the season so far. It was an early morning qualifying session, with the track slippery and green. The session was 25 minutes and Alex left it until his last lap to put in a time of 1min13.7, ensuring his start from pole for the race on the Sunday.
"Today was all about getting it together for the last lap," said Alex. "The track was improving every lap and I was able to pull out a great lap there at the end. It is great to get our second consecutive pole and continue our run of qualifying on the front row every time this season."
On Sunday, race day, the Indy Pro Series was out on track after the IndyCar practice, so the track was in better condition. Alex started the race from pole and made a good start, and immediately began pulling away. The number 51 car made it to second and began chasing down Lloyd. With Alex struggling with his car balance, the number 51 soon caught and passed Lloyd on lap 15. From then on Alex held a comfortable gap in 2nd but had nothing for the leader. With the races' only caution coming on lap 22 Lloyd prepared for the restart knowing this was a good chance to pounce back into the lead. As the green flag dropped once more, Lloyd immediately lost all drive to his rear wheels as the input shaft failed causing Lloyd to pull off the track and retire from the race. Fortunately for the championship it was only a minor setback as Alex lost only 21 points to second place Hideki Mutoh.
"We have had some really bad luck the past 2 races," stated Lloyd. "If we had finished where we should have we would be champions already but I guess that will have to wait. We still have a big lead in the championship but it is frustrating not getting the results we deserve. We didn't have the car to win toady but for sure we were good enough for second. We will pull together as a team and move forward at Kentucky and try and get the number 7 Lucas Oil car back into its rightful spot in victory lane."
-credit: alex-lloyd.com
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