Britain’s Daniel Lloyd rejoins the Beechdean Aston Martin Racing team less than a week from now, during round four of the Blancpain Endurance Series, when he makes his maiden appearance in the prestigious Total 24 Hours of Spa at the world famous Belgian track.

Signifying a real career milestone for the 22-year-old from Huddersfield, the twice-round-the-clock encounter – which gets underway on Saturday, 26th July – is set to be a spectacular occasion with no fewer than 60 cars from 11 different manufacturers entered for the blue riband event.

Linking-up with Beechdean team principal and British GT Champion Andrew Howard and Aston Martin Racing factory drivers Jonny Adam and Stefan Mücke in the Pro-Am Class, Daniel aims to grasp the opportunity with both hands and make a big impression.

“I’m really, really excited”, said the MSA Academy driver, “Everything about next weekend will be completely new, I’ve never done a 24 hour race before, never raced in the dark and I’ve never raced at Spa! With such strong team-mates, though, we’ve definitely got a chance of winning Pro-Am and being able to learn from, and compare myself to, factory drivers like Jonny and Stefan is massive.

“There are loads of teams capable of winning it, I can’t even imagine at this stage how tough it’ll be but being run by Prodrive gives you a lot of confidence. I’ve been doing some more cardio work in my training and lots of research regarding the right supplements you need for hydration and things like that. I’ve put a huge amount of work into my preparation so can’t wait for the race now.”

Having impressed on his Endurance Series debut with Beechdean during the second round of the season at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit at the end of May, the West Yorkshireman is relishing the prospect of getting back behind the wheel of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

In keeping with its status as the biggest race of the season, the build-up to the Total 24 Hours of Spa actually begins on Wednesday, 23rd July, where the drivers and teams will be taking part in a variety of promotional events. 

“It really is like a mini Le Mans”, added Daniel, “We’ll be there on Tuesday and then it all starts with the parade and autograph signings in the village. It’s a huge race and technically the biggest of its kind in the world, at Le Mans you’ve got different categories like LMP1, LMP2, GTE – at Spa you’ve got 60 or so GT3 cars all racing together. I can’t wait, I’ve just got to expect the unexpected!”

Free practice, qualifying and night qualifying all take place on Thursday, 24th July, with the final ‘Super Pole’ session following on Friday, 25th July. After morning warm-up on Saturday, 26th July, the race itself will commence at 15.30 (UK time). Live streaming of the full 24 hours will be carried online at www.blancpain-gt-series.com/live

Visit www.daniellloydracing.com for all the latest news and follow him on Twitter @Daniellloyd23