Ella Lloyd Extends Point-Scoring Streak in British F4 at Thruxton

Ella Lloyd continued her point-scoring streak in British Formula 4 with another top-ten finish at Thruxton Circuit, which hosted the fourth round of the season. She collected her fourth top-10 of the year with a tenth place in race one, then added a further point to her tally by gaining one position in the reverse grid race.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Ella Lloyd continued her point-scoring streak in British Formula 4 with another top-ten finish at Thruxton Circuit, which hosted the fourth round of the 2024 season. She collected her fourth top-10 of the year with a tenth place in race one. The Welsh racer then added a further point to her tally by gaining one position in the reverse grid race.

In her first season of single-seater racing, Lloyd has enjoyed a very positive start to the championship, scoring two seventh-place finishes - at Donington Park and Snetterton - as her personal best results. Although she missed out on a top ten at the Brands Hatch round, she kept the point-scoring streak alive with a remarkable comeback in race two, where she gained nine positions.

Heading into the fourth round at Thruxton, the fastest circuit in the UK, Ella had the chance to test in a pre-event session the week before the race meeting, as well as in the two free practice sessions on Friday. The JHR Developments driver built up her confidence and progressively reduced the gaps, running in the top 15.

Having set the 15th fastest time early in the qualifying session, everyone returned to the track with a new set of tyres for the final 5 minutes, but Lloyd struggled to set a clean lap as she had three times deleted for track limits infringements.

At the end of a tricky session, Ella was 18th for the grids of races two and three, while the second-best laps that shaped the starting grid of race one saw the Welsh driver in 17th place.

Ella had a great start and gained three positions, moving up to P13, then picked up two more places with a sterling first lap. The red flag, though, halted the action soon after, when Zack Scoular and August Raber were involved in a big accident. Ella Lloyd was up to P10 before the neutralization, but the red flag meant that she would have to start eleventh as positions were taken one lap back.

Racing resumed for the final seven laps; Ella, restarting in P11, dropped one place, passed by Yuanpu Cui. Logging very competitive lap times, faster than a few cars ahead, Ella was looking to make up more positions and return to the top ten - and she did manage to get ahead of Maxwell Dodds, crossing the finish line in P11.

Following post-race penalties for Yuanpu Cui and Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Ella was promoted to tenth place and scored a valuable championship point at the end of a great recovery drive that saw her making up eight positions.

“I started quite far back for race one as I didn’t have the best qualifying, but I had a really good first two laps before the red flag,” Lloyd recalled. “I was already up to P10, so my race craft stood out, as if you can race, you can get through the field quickly. When the red flag was shown the order went back a lap, so I restarted 11th, and I stayed around there for the rest of the race.”

The reverse grid race of the weekend featured Alex Berg and Mika Abrahams sharing the front row, having set the 11th and 12th times in qualifying. Ella Lloyd had another outstanding start and soon gained three spots off the line, then continued to make her way through the order, slotting into P12 after just a handful of corners.

Unfortunately, a multiple-car accident involving Sherwood, Pulling, and Scoular saw the red flag being deployed once again - and, not having yet completed one lap, Lloyd saw all her progress come undone as she would have to restart from her initial starting position as the race got back underway.

As she tried to join a battle between JHR Developments teammate Chloe Chong and Maxwell Dodds, a mistake by the Virtuosi Racing driver saw Chong checking up and Lloyd hitting the back of the #11 machine. The collision damaged her front wing, and Ella had to make her way to the pits for a new nosecone.

A safety car a couple of laps later was a good opportunity to catch back the pack, but the green flag waved soon after, and she couldn't get back in the mix. In the final minutes, Lloyd battled with her teammate Chong, and a last-corner move on the final lap saw the two making contact again; despite the collision, Lloyd crossed the finish line in 17th - moving up one position from the start and thus earning an extra point.

“Race two I had a really good start, but when the red flags came out, they went back to the original starting positions, so all the gains I made didn’t make a difference,” Lloyd explained.

“When we restarted, the cars in front were battling, they had some contact, and I ended up losing my front wing. I knew it had happened, so I shot straight into the pits, but we didn’t manage to catch the Safety Car train.”

Significant delays in the track action on Sunday saw the third and final contest of the day being postponed to the late afternoon. The race then started behind the safety car and with a shortened lap count. A hectic first lap saw Yuhao Fu losing his front wing - and Ella Lloyd moved up one position to P17.

She then started a close battle with Dodds, as the two traded positions just behind Chong and Gademan. Ella grabbed 16th place - and she would gain one more spot when race leader Deagan Fairclough ground to a halt on lap six, handing over the lead of the race to Reza Seewooruthun.

The safety car was deployed - and a lengthy recovery meant that the race eventually ended under caution: Ella Lloyd took the chequered flag in P15, having again recovered three places from the start.

“We were only told on the grid for race three that it was going to be a Safety Car start, and you can’t do too much when you’re all in a line,” Lloyd commented. “We only had six laps of racing, and it ended behind the Safety Car, so there wasn’t much I could do.”

After another positive weekend in the ROKiT British Formula 4, Lloyd now sits in 13th place in the overall drivers' standings, with 23 points to her name.

She will have the chance to continue growing her tally in just a few days’ time, as the series heads to Silverstone for the fifth of its eleven rounds of the season.