Lydden Hill Race Circuit

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lydden Hill Race Circuit (asphalt course)

The small and completely manageable circuit Lydden Hill Race Circuit (former name Lydden Circuit , respectively Lydden Race Circuit ) is exactly one mile , respectively 1,609 meters in length, the shortest asphalt racetrack in the UK . It is located in Kent , just off the A2 expressway, about halfway between Dover and Canterbury , near the village of Wootton. The race track is mainly used for national and international rallycross races (on the 1,400 m long RX slope) as well as for touring car , sports car and motorcycle competitions at club sport level.

history

Sections of the race track and the paddock in the background

The racetrack was built in 1955 by Bill Chesson († 1999) in collaboration with the Astra Motor Club . For about 10 years only so-called stock car races and grass track races were organized in "Lydden Hill" and it was not until 1965 that the area with the Lydden Circuit was given an asphalt racetrack on which car races up to and including Formula 3 races could be held. The very first rallycross was driven here on February 4, 1967 , after Bill Chesson had prepared some grass and gravel sections next to the asphalt course, which the later Monte Carlo rally winner (1968) and Formula 1 driver (1968–1971) Vic Elford won with a Porsche 911 . Up until 2017, rallycross races were held on the circuit , now known as Lydden Hill Race Circuit , including the FIA World Rallycross Championship ; between 1973 and 1996, a total of 23 rallycross European championship races took place here. On April 25, 2011 (Easter Monday) around 13,500 spectators attended the 26th European Rallycross run in the so-called Home of Rallycross , which enabled the clubsport circuit to announce a new attendance record. In 2018, the World Rallycross Championship switched to the newly constructed track at the Silverstone Circuit .

In 1989 the construction machinery rental company and hobby rallycrosser Tom Bissett bought the system from Bill Chesson, but sold his property to the Formula 1 racing team McLaren as early as 1991 , who wanted to make Lydden their new headquarters with an F1 test track, but subsequently did not have the necessary facilities Received building permits. McLaren later decided on Woking as the location and rented Lydden Race Circuit to the British Motorcycle Racing Club (BMCRC) from 1993 to the end of 2007 , which meant that the circuit could continue to be used for both automobile and motorcycle competitions.

In 2008 the successful rallycross driver Pat Doran (a Brit of Irish descent) took over the race track as a lessee from McLaren for at least five years and plans to further expand the racing operations in addition to some urgently needed modernizations. Amy Doran, Pat Doran's eldest daughter, has taken on the role of Circuit Director.

Course records

  • Asphalt racetrack: Rob Cox (aka Rob Cox-Allison; GB) in 1989 on a Lola LC88 (Larrousse-Calmels- F1 known as Formula Libre ) in 38.3 seconds (1 lap).
  • New rallycross track: Sverre Isachsen (N) in 2009 on a Ford Focus ST T16 4 × 4 in 3: 13.34 minutes (4 ½ laps).

Web links

Commons : Lydden Hill Race Circuit  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 38.6 "  N , 1 ° 11 ′ 58.7"  E