31 May 2004

A TRIBUTE TO KEVIN LLOYD

Rounds 9 and 10 of the Clio Cup were completely overshadowed by the tragic death of Kevin Lloyd and this report is a tribute to a man who was a close personal friend.

Kevin was not the image of an archetypal racing driver - overweight, greying hair, and that huge yellow race suit that I knew he secretly wore with immense pride. You see Kevin and I both felt the same about motor racing: we weren't born into it, we did not have the largesse of wealthy families to ease us into it, we both did it the hard way. By being out-and-out enthusiasts who dearly wanted to be involved but didn't have the knowledge or, more importantly, the money to do it. That's why Kevin Lloyd only started racing at the age of 42, the time most people are thinking of retiring from motor racing, he was just starting.

By meeting up with Lee Brookes from Total Control Racing, Kevin was introduced to the new, exciting adrenaline-filled world of motor racing, and now with his own electrical business established he could afford to do it, too. Initially Kevin got his thrills by thrashing his road going Clio around Donington Park which, fitted with second hand slicks purloined from TCR, gave him the confidence to try the real thing. Some one-off races in 2002 gave rise to a full season in 2003 which is where I first came across the big man.

Kevin felt enormously privileged to be racing in the Clio series and the respect he showed to his fellow competitors was always reciprocal as the physical effort he put into his racing always exceeded that of his peers. His comment to the oft-asked question in parc ferme about his race performance was nearly always "I'm knackered mate".

Motor racing is an incredibly expensive passion and Kevin was unable to afford to run with TCR this season. But the bug had bitten him deeply and, undeterred, he set up his own outfit by buying a 15-year-old truck complete with awning and talked his long suffering brother Rick into helping him spanner the car. By going faster at every meeting this year and never damaging the car I know Kevin was feeling proud of his performances and despite Rick being severely injured in a motorcycle accident, Kevin, with Rick's encouragement from his hospital bed, was spurred on to keep improving his personal performances. Kevin was learning more and was getting faster, his physical shape was improving as he had lost over three stone in weight with a strict diet and was busy working hard and doing deals to keep the funds flowing to keep him in the game.

On Saturday night we had planned to have a barbecue, sharing our resources (and beer), an evening would have been spent in the most congenial of ways with unforced natural conversation and laughter. I was storing up a story that I know he would have loved and sadly both the telling of story and the barbecue will never happen.

The adjectives for the qualities of the man keep flowing from all sides, the personality, the evenness of his temperament, the reliability, the typical brummie dry wit and humour. None of us could have asked for a better friend who gave us a lot and didn't ask for anything in return: you were always there for us and we never got the chance to thank you.

Kevin, my mate, the best was yet to come. God speed and God bless you.