The DAMS team continued to attract bad news over the Monaco weekend, with Pastor Maldonado's long-term suspension adding to the broken ankle suffered by team leader Alx Danielsson at Zolder two weeks previously.
Even Alex Lloyd, who joined the team for the Monaco as a temporary replacement for the injured Swede, could not escape the team's run of misfortune, despite impressing the team with his professionalism throughout the weekend.
The Briton had precious little experience of the car, based on a truncated test at Magny-Cours, and none of the track, but his progression through the weekend was satisfying for all concerned. It was unfortunate, therefore, when, on the final lap of the race, Lloyd lost control of the car and hit the wall in the Swimming Pool chicane. The team is currently investigating possible reasons for the accident, which dropped Lloyd out of a secure 13th place finish on his World Series debut.
The only good news to come from the weekend was that Danielsson had been past fit to race at the next round, in Valencia, on 5 June. No team-mate has been confirmed alongside the Swede following Maldonado's nine-race ban, although Lloyd must stand a reasonable chance of keeping a seat if he can raise the finance necessary.
The Isle of Man native did well to pull together the sponsorship to accept DAMS' offer of a seat for Monaco, and his performance in the principality will have gone some way to persuading the team to keep him on. All it requires now is for his sponsors to feel the same way. Lloyd has talked, however, about possibly pursuing a Champ Car ride from mid-summer, and is also keeping an eye on both the World Series and
GP2 for possible openings, as well as being involved in Britain's A1 Grand Prix operation as one of four possible drivers for the series' inaugural season, which begins in September.
