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Engineering

Autosport Plus

General News

Remembering a racing pioneer and deal-maker

By:

James Newbold

Mar 30, 2018, 11:27 AM

We pay tribute to Richard Lloyd, who had a huge impact on motorsport prior to his premature death on this day in 2008

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It's the dawn of a new age for international sportscar racing. One manufacturer stands head and shoulders above the rest in the top class and decides to capitalise on its hegemony by setting up a customer programme. All goes to plan at first, until one of the customers turns up with extensive modifications and begins upstaging the works team at its own game...

No, you haven't missed a new chapter in the history of the World Endurance Championship. Instead, rewind 35 years to 1983, when the World Sportscar Championship's celebrated Group C era was just starting to build momentum and Porsche's 956 was the car to have.

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James Newbold Autosport Plus Editor

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James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.