The Story
After a strong start to the season, Eurotech’s two (occasionally three) car team struggled towards the end of the year. Martin Depper and Jeff Smith would be in the Hondas once again, with rookie Daniel Lloyd joining the team for three rounds. It was a challenging season for the team and, whilst they managed to take points from almost every race, they couldn’t get far in the teams’ championship.
Two Eurotech cars headed to Brands Hatch for the first race of the season, where things started on a high. Smith took a trio of points finishes, with two top ten finishes, proving the jump forward from the year before. Depper would have to wait until Donington Park for his first point, coming with an eleventh place in the final race. Donington was more of a mixed weekend for the team. Depper had been forced to retire from the first race after his wheel came lose and made an escape from the rest of the car. In the final race, a blow out left Smith stranded at the side of the track whilst his team mate went on to take eleventh.
Depper and Smith were joined by Lloyd at Thruxton as the Eurotech team expanded to three cars. The weekend went on to be a spectacular pair of days for the team. Smith kicked off the weekend by qualifying seventh for the first race and spent the race battling to keep inside the top eight. Meanwhile, his teams were slowly working their way through the field, aided by retirements ahead of them. The race ended in chaos as multiple cars collided. Smith managed to navigate the disaster to take fourth, with Depper crossing the line in fifth behind him. Lloyd took points from his first BTCC race, taking twelfth.
Race two was a little less spectacular. A spin dropped Smith out of podium contention whilst puncture forced Depper to retire. Lloyd would finish the race the top of the Eurotech trio, building on his P12 in race one to cross the line seventh. That put the rookie on the second row of the grid for the reverse grid, but handling issues ruined his race and he could only manage an eleventh.
Over the next two weekends, Lloyd proved himself a talented racer, taking points in three of the six races, but off track issues haulted his progress. A sponsorship deal fell through and Lloyd ran out of the funds needed to secure his seat. There was no way Lloyd would be able to run for the rest of the season and the rookie dropped out. Eurotech decided to battle on with just two cars rather than find a replacement for their third driver.
The second half of the season was a lot more challenging for the now two car team. Depper was only able to take three points from the final six rounds, with bad luck, small mistakes, and contact ruining many of his races. Smith would fair a little better, finishing the races more often than not, but he wouldn’t see the performance he had done at the start of the season. In the opening six rounds, Smith took forty five points. In the final six, he took only twenty three.
The rather disappointing end to the season meant Eurotech would only be able to manage thirteenth in the teams’ championship, falling down from their ninth place at the midpoint of the season.
The Stats
Qualifying Positions
Finishing Positions
Position Changes
Image Credit: Caroline Rhea
