Lydden Hill Race Circuit


Lydden Hill Race Circuit is a motorsport venue in Denton with Wootton, about half-way between Canterbury and Dover in Kent, England. The mile-long circuit is mainly used for Rallycross, Drift, Saloon and Sports car racing as well as Motorcycle racing.
It is the shortest road racing circuit in the United Kingdom. The track, previously owned by the McLaren Group, has undergone changes to make it the hub of Kentish motorsport. The track is one of two motor racing circuits in the county of Kent, along with Brands Hatch.

History

Lydden was founded in 1955 by Bill Chesson with the help of the Astra Motor Club. From 1957, they promoted stock-car racing and grass-track racing for motorcycles – the land on which this took place was owned by Barry Skinner, who sold it to Chesson. By 1962, Chesson wanted to progress and laid a tarmac track in order to promote motor and motorcycle road racing. The original plan was for a 1-mile circuit but this scheme had to be put on hold when the tarmac ran out at what is known as the Devil’s Elbow; the result was the short circuit, which is sometimes used by Legends and Hot Rods.
In 1965, tarmac asphalt was laid for hosting car racing up to Formula Three. Lydden became extremely popular, to the point that, in 1967, a meeting featuring Formula Three was televised and included up and coming drivers such as Andy Sutcliffe, Roger Williamson and Tom Walkinshaw.
On 4 February 1967, the sport of Rallycross was born at Lydden, thought up by TV producer Robert Reed and race organiser Bud Smith in co-operation with Chesson. Combining tarmac and non-tarmac elements, the inaugural race was won by Vic Elford in a Porsche 911. Since 1973, Lydden Circuit has seen rounds of Embassy/ERA European Rallycross Championships and FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers, the first 23 all organised by the Thames Estuary Automobile Club. To this day, Lydden, as the so-called "Home of Rallycross", still holds British Rallycross Championship racing, especially with its popular Easter Monday meeting.
On 9 September 1968, then-unknown English driver James Hunt recorded his first race win driving a Russell-Alexis Mk14 Formula Ford car. Hunt would return on 5 May 1969, this time driving a Motor Racing Enterprises entered Merlyn Mk11A, and recorded his second ever win.
By 1986, the RAC MSA was pressurising Bill Chesson to erect Armco barriers, but he steadfastly refused to do so, on the grounds that they would be dangerous to the motorcycle-racing fraternity. When RAC MAS threatened to refuse him a new circuit permit, and fearing that his two sons, well known at Lydden as successful racers, would fall out running the track once Bill died, he put it up for sale. Tom Bissett bought the circuit for the asking price of well over a million pounds.
In March 1991, Mr and Mrs Bissett entered into a joint venture with McLaren. McLaren then subsequently acquired the Bissett’s shares in Lydden and became sole owners, McLaren then entered plans for industrial buildings and for the track itself to be extended. If the planning permission would have been granted to McLaren, The McLaren technology complex wouldn’t have been built at Woking, it would have been at Lydden Hill, The plans were to build on the land adjacent to the paddock area. There may have also been circuit extensions and other test facilities built on that area of the site. While all the applications were being considered. They bought the track and leased it to the British Motorcycle Racing Club from 1993 on, thus allowing both cars and bikes to have full use of the track. BMCRC were based at Lydden until the end of 2007, and it formed their home track, playing host to the annual 'Lord of Lydden' and 'Sidecar burnup' races, together with a number of club motorcycle race meetings. Another piece in the history of Lydden came in 2003, when McLaren had an application turned down for Lydden to become a private testing venue.
From 2008 on, the new lease holder of the circuit will be, for at least five years, the Waste Recycling Consultant, MSA British Rallycross Champion and FIA European Rallycross Championship runner-up Pat Doran. Doran, from Thorverton in Devon, is planning several improvements for the venue as well as an extension of the racing programme and his daughter, Amy Doran, has been appointed as director for day-to-day running of the circuit.
On 24–25 May 2014, Lydden Hill played host to the newly formed FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was run under similar principles to the FIA European Rallycross Championship in the previous few years, but with the likes of Petter Solberg and Liam Doran being notable drivers competing in the championship, as well as Andrew Jordan and Tanner Foust as the famous "wildcard" entries, record crowds were predicted for the weekend at the end of May.

European rallycross returns

The opening round of the 2009 FIA European Rallycross Championship brought top flight Rallycross back to Lydden Hill. The last European Rallycross event at Lydden Hill Race Circuit was hosted in 1996. As all kind of things can change over a period of 12 years time, at least one thing didn't change ... After being declared winner of the 1996 European event at Lydden in the main Division, multiple champion Kenneth Hansen cruised to victory again in Division 1 on Easter Monday.
When ERC returned at the end of May 2010, Norwegian Sverre Isachsen, celebrated his first victory in the European Championship as he beat multiple champion Kenneth Hansen and local guy Liam Doran in the Division 1 'A' final.
About 13,500 people spent Easter 2011 at Wootton, attending the opening round of the 2011 ERC. Specially for the Norwegian fans among them it was a great weekend as the victories in all of the three racing categories went to Norway. Sverre Isachsen was on the highest step of the SuperCars podium on Monday afternoon. Before already Andreas Bakkerud and Lars Øivind Enerberg did the same in the Super1600 and Touring Cars classes.
There were no first qualifying heats on day 1 of the opening round of the 2012 ERC as problems with the start systems made the Clerk of the Course decide to run the first heat on Monday. Therefore, the 2012 championship started in a similar way as previous year's championship ended when at Sosnová in the Czech Republic during the final round the first heats also had to be postponed until the other day. With the absence of defending champion Sverre Isachsen the door is now open for last year's runner-up Tanner Foust to start the season with a victory.
The opening round of the 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship was held over the Easter holiday, at Lydden Hill, with victory going to the American Tanner Foust in his Ford Fiesta for the second year running, only after reigning ERC champion Timur Timerzyanov for dropped back with a punctured tyre.

World Rallycross Championship

In 2014, the FIA World Rallycross Championship arrived in Kent for Round Two. Ford Olsbergs MSE driver Andreas Bakkerud won, after a near perfect run. Robin Larsson claimed the runner’s-up spot in his Audi A1 Supercar, with Britain’s Andrew Jordan ending the event third in front of his home crowd.

Rallycross track records

Major events

European rallycross

YearRaceDriverCar
1973ERC Rd. 5 Frank WurzVW 1302 S 2.2
ERC Rd. 7 Jan de RooyDAF 55 Coupé
1974ERC Rd. 7 Stig BlomqvistSaab 96 V4 1.9
ERC Rd. 8 Tom AireyBMC Mini Cooper S 1.4
1975ERC Rd. 7 Tom AireyBMC Mini Cooper S 1.4
1976ERC Rd. 8 Dick RiefelPorsche Carrera
ERC Rd. 10 John TaylorFord Escort RS1800 BDA
1978ERC Rd. 8 GT Division Andy BentzaLancia Stratos
1979ERC Rd. 8 GT Division Olle ArnessonPorsche Carrera
1980ERC Rd. 9 GT Division Olle ArnessonPorsche 911 SC
1981ERC Rd. 9 GT Division Matti AlamäkiPorsche SC Carrera
1982ERC Rd. 8 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord Escort RS1800 Turbo
1983ERC Rd. 8 Division 2 Rolf NilssonPorsche SC Carrera
1984ERC Rd. 7 Division 2 Seppo NiittymäkiPorsche BiTurbo 4x4
1985ERC Rd. 7 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord Escort XR3 T16 4x4
1986ERC Rd. 7 Division 2 Seppo NiittymäkiFord Escort XR3 T16 4x4
1987ERC Rd. 10 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord RS200 E2
1988ERC Rd. 10 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord RS200 E2
1989ERC Rd. 10 Division 2 Matti AlamäkiPeugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2
1990ERC Rd. 10 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord RS200 E2
1991ERC Rd. 1 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord RS200 E2
1992ERC Rd. 1 Division 2 Martin SchancheFord RS200 E2
1996ERC Rd. 6 Division 2 + Kenneth HansenCitroën ZX T16 4x4
2009ERC Rd. 1 Division 1 Kenneth HansenCitroën C4 T16 4x4
2010ERC Rd. 1 Division 1 Sverre IsachsenFord Focus ST T16 4x4
2011ERC Rd. 1 Division 1 Sverre IsachsenFord Focus Mk2 T16 4x4
2012ERC Rd. 1 Division 1 Tanner FoustFord Fiesta Mk7 T16 4x4
2013ERC Rd. 1 Division 1 Tanner FoustFord Fiesta Mk7 T16 4x4

+ ran in conjunction with the British Rallycross Grand Prix

FIA World Rallycross

YearClassDriverCar
2014Supercar Andreas BakkerudFord Fiesta ST
2015Supercar Petter SolbergCitroën DS3
2016Supercar Mattias EkströmAudi S1
2017Supercar Petter SolbergVolkswagen Polo GTI