British Rallycross R6 - Lydden Hill

[dex92]

Originally Posted by Spectator

Well, well well.........echo's of last year.....why do you all sound so surprised!!!!!
Amy is a great fan of drifting , so no wonder that it is included, also it appeals to the yoof of today. I can appreciate the skill involved but leave it for drift events not RX.

As those of you who know me, I have complained long and often about a one day event being spread over two( no sorry 1.5 days) so that an extra days gate money can be picked from your pocket.

As someone who has been a RX fan since it's conception in the 60's I am sorry to say that I have agree with Bert MK 2, I been to my last RX meeting at Lydden (that was March for the Belgian weekend) after last August I didn't bother.
Having read Arthur Debs book earlier this year I wonder what he would have made of RX now.

silver bullet.....are you getting the hang of the car now???

If in Amy you mean Doran its definitely not as she no longer running the track as she practically burnt down every bridge to the motorsport clubs like Bemsee and a few others.
I cannot believe how popular that BHP show is, now surely if Lydden had advertised this event as well then it would surely be similar size crowd. (Excude the horrible instagram picture but Its all I could find)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

[chunder]

This gives an insight into maybe why this stuff was put with the rallycross

If the Dorans feel that this BHP stuff makes them money and gets a crowd in, it would obviously explain why they are trying to dilute rallycross with it.

The two are not a million miles apart at the top Xgames level I guess, but at clubman level they are nothing like the same, and I guess that is most peoples issue. And UK rallycross now at every level other than a few supercars is a clubman sport.

Again I reiterate, I don't mind this, I have been shown a few new things, learned a bit about something new and will carry that on, doesn't make me want to go and watch it, but I am quite interested in this whole modified scene, it is burgeoning, and unlike motorsport, growing and any way you can keep people like this involved in any kind of motorsport is good.

Remember a few of these guys had a go and really enjoyed it, who knows if they are loaded and see a SUpercar for sale they might have a go in somehting that compares spectacle wise to their own cars.

[stuart107]

Originally Posted by Spectator

Well, well well.........echo's of last year.....why do you all sound so surprised!!!!!
Amy is a great fan of drifting , so no wonder that it is included, also it appeals to the yoof of today. I can appreciate the skill involved but leave it for drift events not RX.

As those of you who know me, I have complained long and often about a one day event being spread over two( no sorry 1.5 days) so that an extra days gate money can be picked from your pocket.

Amy has no involvement in the circuit now, so the inclusion of drifting was nothing to do with her.

LHMC are trying to diversify and appeal to a wider audience and perhaps bring new people into Rallycross from the Drifting scene and vice versa, be that drivers or spectators, so we can't really knock them for that. I personally don't get drifting and like many comments on here, I understand there's a lot of skill involved, but I love racing.... getting round a track as fast as you can and drifting just doesn't do it for me.

With regards to the event being run over two days, all I will say is that my friends and family that came to watch had a lot of waiting around on Monday!

[BertMk2]

Top result for you in the final though Stuart - the 206 has certainly got some grunt hasn't it? It seemed to be pulling really well up the hill.

[stuart107]

Cheers Bert, yep it certainly all came together this weekend, i'm over the moon! We finally seem to be getting on top of the reliability now, so I'm hoping for more of the same. Just a bit too late to challenge for this year though, I think.

[Spectator]

Ok guys I hold my hands up ....Amy might not be involved in Lydden any more but I was told a while ago that she was very into drifting,
If I am wrong I apologise.

Still doesn't explain why a one day event is stretched into two and padded out with non rx events.

What other events are now held at lydden?

Semsec seem to struggling to run full grids, other saloon car series seem to be missing apart from a weekend truck festival, very few bike meetings.

It seems to be all track days and drifting

gripe over I just hope RX will survive and flourish

[dex92]

Originally Posted by Spectator

Ok guys I hold my hands up ....Amy might not be involved in Lydden any more but I was told a while ago that she was very into drifting,
If I am wrong I apologise.

Still doesn't explain why a one day event is stretched into two and padded out with non rx events.

What other events are now held at lydden?

Semsec seem to struggling to run full grids, other saloon car series seem to be missing apart from a weekend truck festival, very few bike meetings.

It seems to be all track days and drifting

gripe over I just hope RX will survive and flourish

Which refers back to my post that all bridges got burnt whilst Amy was in charge .
List of the top of my head of this years events
Rally cross test day British and European rally cross
Car and bike track day
Drift track days
Vintage motorcycle club
Sidecar test day
BHP
Semsec
Anyway fingers crossed Lord of Lydden maybe returning this year or definitely next year as Pat is very interested in getting it back on the calendar.

The only reason that it is stretched to two days is as someone else pointed out that the circuit gets double the money plus food sales and camping charge so it all ends up in the end and as you can see above any money that Lydden can get is a bonus.
In reality we are lucky to have it as If Mclarean had got there way and the noise restrictions were not in place the circuit would of more than likely been closed and just used as an private test track for them.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Spectator

As those of you who know me, I have complained long and often about a one day event being spread over two( no sorry 1.5 days) so that an extra days gate money can be picked from your pocket.

But how many people visit both days?

I mean running a 2 day event costs also extra money. I can imagine at the end a 1 day event brings more money.

[Brosef]

Hi Guys,


I found this thread while looking up post mayhem photos/chat etc online. Some of your comments are interesting to read. Seems to be quite a lot of political stuff going on in your series – alas it always seems to get in the way of a good event. Just thought id share a weekends perspective on the weekend events from a first time mayhem driver from the drift championship.


Ive been a huge fan of rally cross for years and watched it on TV. I was really looking forward to the weekend being able to do a little driving and get to see some Rally Cross.



As in most motor sports normally there is always a practice/qualification element. Which is never as exciting as the main event. Its easy to flame the Drifting qualification around lunch time – im sure in all of our eyes (as drivers) this was a waste of time on the Monday. We agree this was boring. However no offence but some of the rally cross on the Saturday was very similar – a lot of sessions having 3 cars well spread out on track. – Maybe if our qualification had been held on the Saturday and had more of the Rallycross finals on the Sunday it would have made for a better Monday spectacle. And maybe the Mayhem should be billed more of a Monday event?


Who knows either way in my opinion weather you/me or anyone else likes it more then likely “Rally X” and “drifting’ for the short term look like they could be intertwined at this event anyway. From a low class driver point of view I think that it would be very short sighted to write a duel event weekend off after 2 events. I think that the time table and organisation could probably be improved. Finding a way to keep both sets of fans (and drivers) entertained at the same time might be the answer to one hell of an event.


Also for reference, just like in all motorsports there are always stereotypes, not all people in drifting are tattoo clad, saggy pants drug addicts. A lot of the guys are hard working, Single/Driver/Crews and just as committed as any other club/national level race series.

[leonidas]

Originally Posted by Brosef

Also for reference, just like in all motorsports there are always stereotypes, not all people in drifting are tattoo clad, saggy pants drug addicts.

Interesting to get your perspective. I just question whether drifting and rallycross is a natural 'fit' for a meeting. Rallycross with autocross - yes. Rallycross with autograss - yes. Rallycross with hot rods - maybe, its been done in the past. But not drifting... I just don't think most rallycross people 'get' it. Its like expecting people who watch horse racing to watch dressage - its not the same thing.

But each to his own - and good luck to you if you enjoy your drifting.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by leonidas

Interesting to get your perspective. I just question whether drifting and rallycross is a natural 'fit' for a meeting.

It's good to get a drifters perspective on the meeting (and I'm glad to see you're a rallycross fan too ). I'd agree with leonidas though - rallycross and drifting aren't a good combination - there's no common ground at all. Drifting and Time Attack I can see makes sense (as run at Brands 'Modified Live' meetings?) but not drifting and rallycross. If it had been wet what would have happened? The circuit cleanup between rallycross and drifting wouldn't have worked if it was mud rather than dust and stones - so would the drifters have run?

[chunder]

As a sense of perspective I have been toa Time Attack meeting and really enjoyed it.

the cars were incredible and far, far more similar to the big power, huge turbo stuff we are used to in rallycross.

Troube is, obviously, they need a clean track to run on and ca't really be expected to run at the same time as rallycross, at least with drift you can at most tracks, find some areas where you can run easily without getting onto the dirt.

But if you are a power fan and like seeing big power and tech, I would recommend time attack. It is well presented, the cars look great and though not a patch on the Japanese and Oz stuff they are pretty quick, plus there are grids for fwd and lower budget cars.

AS I say I very much enjoyed it and would go again, but I would never go to a pure drift event. When I went to time attack Mad Mike and Asabo were there and I had no interest in watching them I am afraid despite the fact they are perhaps in the elite group.

Go on Speedhunters site, its an awesome site with lods of cool stuff, but very much based around drifting.

At the weekend D Mac was there, in his car then in that Starlet, he is in the elite group too, did watching him make you wann go again? I doubt it I am afraid

It is a SCENE, not a sport or racing, and time attack lends itself far more to rallycross.

For me, if you wanted something with rallycross you would use the infield and have a small quad track or something, maybe some demo's of stuff.

Its tough with the space at Lydden

[Brosef]

im glad finding another point of view was interesting, having to clean track is a pain and was boring however with some cleaver scheduling (as an example) first on track on Monday drift - then Rally x till lunch, track cleaned at lunch then Drifting, then rally x. or something along those lines. leaving minimal down time - could have put us on early on monday when some of the fans were still arriving.

I agree in some respects as to what your saying they are not perfectly suited but FMX/BMX/RallyX/drifting all come under this adopted "extreme sports" and are really all your going to be able to get in a single weekend. I dont mean any offence by this but from what you guys were saying it looks like its hard to fill a weekend on your entry sizes or gird numbers. maybe having the round as an extreme sport weekend kind of benefits all parties as well as the track owners. If the weekend was better advertised and a a little more polished i think it would be a good event with lots of versatility in events (more then getting the closest thing possible to rally cross. that's all i ment to say.

[chunder]

Rallycross has only recently been drafted into what you might call extreme sports, and it has been done against the wishes of many involved fans and drivers especially at the club level.

When you get sponsors like Rockstar, Monster and Red Bull involved in the States it has become clear that they wanted this. The rallying thing they tried with McRae and Pastrana never worked and they have managed to manipulate rallycross to be their 4 wheeled event in Xgames. therefore Pastrana, Foust, Deegan et al and their sponsors now have someeher to promote their products in an arena and in the biggest event of its kind in the world, they didn't have this before

You are right, grids for UK rallycross are poor, have been for years. But guess what it was little to do with the drivers.

Imagine right now, someone else setups up a rival drift championship to D1GP in Japan against the wishes of many fans and drivers, then you start losing venues to race at, you get a tv deal, but then so does the other series. The racing doesn't work on tv, looks poor but you are sold on the idea.

Three years later, both series are struggling for numbers, one folds and the other is left to try and gather itself together. That is what has happened in UK rallycross and why the classes are all over the place and there are poor grids

In all honesty, we could do everything in one day on the Monday, but clearly money needs to be made so a 2 day meet is required, which is there you come in!

[chunder]

Forgive me for being dumb

But just tried to watch the C4 rallycross from Lydden and the first half was all about sodding drifting!

Now I KNOW what they were upto, seems I shant be going to that dump again, what an utter disgrace for all the people involved in the sport that a tv company is allowed to do this.

I didn't see ANY rallycross before the break and turned off straightaway, never seen anything like it I am afraid.

Utter garbage

[chasing cars]

Have to agree with Chunder on this. On Motors the first hour programme was fine with all classes except supercars, the 2nd half hour programme which I guess is what C4 showed was a complete joke. How the hell does this promote rallycross, and did the drifters pay for this coverage?
The interview with Liam told us all we needed to know that Mayhem is a brand something the Dorans along with Monster are trying to build for the benefit of rallycross and other extreme sports in the Europe. Rallycross is NOT an extreme sport and nor should it be promoted as one. Monster might have brought in some money for the few (have other drivers benefited at all?) but what gives them the right to change the sports image to fit their brand?

For those who stuck with it for the supercars looked like Pat was far to aggressive off the start line in final heats which immediately took out 3 cars from the rest of the meeting but funnily enough no exclusion for him. In the paddock it certainly didn't seem like Mad mark was best amused.

[Mad Mark Watson]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

Have to agree with Chunder on this. On Motors the first hour programme was fine with all classes except supercars, the 2nd half hour programme which I guess is what C4 showed was a complete joke. How the hell does this promote rallycross, and did the drifters pay for this coverage?
The interview with Liam told us all we needed to know that Mayhem is a brand something the Dorans along with Monster are trying to build for the benefit of rallycross and other extreme sports in the Europe. Rallycross is NOT an extreme sport and nor should it be promoted as one. Monster might have brought in some money for the few (have other drivers benefited at all?) but what gives them the right to change the sports image to fit their brand?

For those who stuck with it for the supercars looked like Pat was far to aggressive off the start line in final heats which immediately took out 3 cars from the rest of the meeting but funnily enough no exclusion for him. In the paddock it certainly didn't seem like Mad mark was best amused.

i wasnt that was an understatement !! and everyone ekse got blamed

[leonidas]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

For those who stuck with it for the supercars looked like Pat was far to aggressive off the start line in final heats which immediately took out 3 cars from the rest of the meeting but funnily enough no exclusion for him..

Yeah - how strange! I should think if Mr Meeke watches this he will be scratching his head about rallycross 'rules'...

[tbtstt]

I was standing at the approach to Chessons and, although we saw Pat in the air after the initial contact, the rest of the mess did seem to be caused by others.

Channel 4 coverage is up on You Tube for anyone who missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb7khm_LZN0
(Supercar coverage starts at 12:55)

Have to concur with regards to the TV coverage; give the drifting a mention, but dedicating over half the programme to it seemed a bit much.

Glad to see the full hour programme on Motors was all rallycross!

[rodus-maxus]

1

[bhpshow]

Just wanted to put my two pence in here, BHP Show is nothing to do with Lydden, just me

[QUOTE=tbtstt;3295089] and the BHP Show is their budget Gatebil.

Thanks guy, thats a huge complement, not budget just toned down because of UK rules.

[QUOTE=dex92;3295401]

I don't understand Lydden and how they promote there events as the only two that seem to get advertising is the European rally cross and the BHP show.

Thanks again I do all my advertising so glad it gets out there.

And a quick thank you to people that come, biggest event at Lydden for the last 3 years running, thanks everyone.

[AmyBHP]

Originally Posted by Spectator

Well, well well.........echo's of last year.....why do you all sound so surprised!!!!!
Amy is a great fan of drifting , so no wonder that it is included, also it appeals to the yoof of today. I can appreciate the skill involved but leave it for drift events not RX.

Hey everybody, Was just informed of my little name mentioned here (As a Doran I sort of expect to be in the firing line as always, but you get used to it)

A few pointers -

- I left Lydden & British Rallyx 2 years ago now, BUT am a big part of the BHP PERFORMANCE SHOW with my Partner Jay, so I am flattered that some of you say its well promoted as that is my contribution to the event! Stick to what your good at I say!
- The comment on the fast that I burnt bridges with clubs whilst at Lydden, well some would agree and some would disagree there i am afraid, sorry to disappoint...Personally I didn't like clubs visiting that treated it like a pikey camp (not to mention any club names) so I made it very obvious that they were not welcome back. And I stand by the decisions I made. No one can ever say that I lacked the care and heart that it took to run my dads track the best I could. I just hope that new management do the best they can with it for my dads sake.
- I am NOTHING to do with Mayhem, helped out a bit in the first year but now others have taken it on
- I am most certainly NOT a drift fan, Great entertainment in short sharp bursts but to me thats about it in my personal opinion.

Obviously I am still a lover of the sport of Rallycross and thrilled that it has grown to what it has even though i'm not directly involved anymore, it is in my blood as so to speak, and I am proud of what my dad and brother have achieved. Over the years I have seen all sorts of comments against my family name but to be honest it just goes over our heads as for as many haters there are masses more fans and supporters (sorry to disappoint some of you)

Remember that constructive criticism is always accepted, Just make sure your direct it at the right people and it is constructive.

Anyways, just thought I would clear a few things up

Amy