Dutch delight as Ella delivers more points

WELSH star Ella Lloyd delivered a standout performance in the Netherlands.

- ROGER GALE

Round five of the F1 Academy saw Lloyd take three fourth-place finishes at Zandvoort, as the Welsh McLaren protégé added to three second places in Montreal and her run of point-scoring British F4 Championship results.

She said: “Decent qualifying pace in tricky conditions meant being just a tenth away from pole position.

“Starting Saturday’s race from the outside of row three, in the top five through the early laps, with close battles bringing out a safety car”

The papaya-coloured number 20 Rodin Motorsport car fought through more wheel-to-wheel battles, with Lloyd eventually taking fourth place by half-a-second.

Race two, a precursor to the Dutch Grand Prix, began with a lightning start by Lloyd which launched her past fellow Briton Alisha Palmowski, who started on the outside of the front row.

Ever the opportunist, Lloyd then challenged for the lead but was rebuffed, forcing her to turn her attention to defending second place.

Just as she appeared to have settled into her task however, Lloyd was hit with the news that she had marginally jumped the start and would have to open up a gap of five seconds to retain her place at the chequered flag.

Although she managed to put space between herself and the chasing pack, there were too few laps remaining, with Lloyd demoted to fourth after the finish.

She said: “That five-second penalty wasn’t ideal.