British Rallycross R5 - Lydden

[geordiecriag101]

Gutted I cant get down for this one, anyone know were I can the live stream from for todays action?
cheers

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by geordiecriag101

Gutted I cant get down for this one, anyone know were I can the live stream from for todays action?
cheers

There's a link from here:

http://www.amgtv.co.uk/

I can't get down to Lydden today either but I've got the live stream on

Looks heroically wet down there! Good luck everyone.

[Pozi]

I have been to Lydden before in similar conditions so I salute the few hardy spectators there today.

Although that may also explain why I wimped out this time and decided on the live feed which seems to be working quite well.

I noticed Pat didn't make it out for heat 1 in the RS200 though??

[ebby]

Just about dried out after a complete drenching at Lydden today. Have to say I have got used to good quality Euro/World RX so today was a back down to earth. The conditions didn't help but in the first few heats there didn't seem to be much racing, the joker really has changed rallycross at Lydden. No Pat in the RS200, no big deal for me, or Procter's new Fiesta which was a real shame. So much for spending £3 on a programme, what a joke, but I get suckered everytime. Union flag starts (light problems) seemed to go ok for everyone except the supercars. Continued radio and journalistic silence on Liam is not doing rallycross any favours. It seems that if you have sponsorship of the championship you get special treatment. Oh, just like O'Donovan in the Supercar A-Final today, parking up at the chicane causing a red flag and then being allowed to start again from pole and take the win.

[Minicross424]

I went with my little boy and braved the weather and that was some weather.
It made some races that are normally dull quite good, first time I have enjoyed RX150's ever.
It did seem a bit lacking the whole meeting and Julian Godfrey must be livid after the final as it sounds like Olie had no place being there.
I can't shed too much light but im fairly well informed its deffo a 12 months ban for Liam.

[ebby]

Why can't anyone shed any light on the Liam situation?

[Thundersports]

I went along today after saying last year I would never go again. There was no drifting crap this year hence my decision........We braved it out through all the heats to the end getting very wet/cold in the process. I feel the weather made what would have been some very tedious races interesting, agree with Ebby the joker lap has changed the sport and it is a relief with retros and buggys they don't.

I too was shocked O'donovan was allowed to restart the final there seemed to be alot of discussion being relayed between race control and himself; I guess money talks? I recall a similar incident happening with Pat a few years ago too.

[Rallycross!]

From what I understand the red flag 'ruling' you are talking about was binned from British Rallycross about 3/4 years ago - It's now the CoC's call

[ebby]

Would take a strong Clerk of the Course to stand up to the title sponsor or circuit owner. Ollie won't receive such special treatment at Loheac in a few weeks.

[bigdick1977]

Not to mention the 3 jump starts OO had with no penalty. Was totally disappointed in today, fair play to the marshals and mechanics for withstanding the weather, other than that a shambles in my opinion, start light issues similar to the euro round of 2/3 years ago! OO allowed to do what he wants, no wonder the championship isn't what it used to be.

[Thundersports]

Originally Posted by Rallycross!

From what I understand the red flag 'ruling' you are talking about was binned from British Rallycross about 3/4 years ago - It's now the CoC's call

Thank you for clarifying.

[Hickey]

Originally Posted by bigdick1977

Not to mention the 3 jump starts OO had with no penalty. Was totally disappointed in today, fair play to the marshals and mechanics for withstanding the weather, other than that a shambles in my opinion, start light issues similar to the euro round of 2/3 years ago! OO allowed to do what he wants, no wonder the championship isn't what it used to be.

Totally agree that the starting situation was a total farce today. Reminiscent of that event (which was also v wet) a few years ago. It was also a total farce to allow Ollie to race in the final again. Even if it is clerk's decision, the decision should have been no. Not just Julian but Flaherty was also in third. Also the ridiculous inconsistent flag waving (not the flag wavers fault as he was being instructed by the paddock ) caused drivers confusion. And the appalling lack of communication, no one had a clue what was going on. But in defence to Ollie, he didn't jump those lights. The lights were flicking red each time (which is a sometimes the signal to go) and he was the only one reacting. Eventually the whole lot went on the red flicking of lights apart from Tuerlings who then drove against the traffic to complain. Another farce.

But, in all the weather and the disorganization, some really good races, great performanc e
Es , good battles and lots of thrills and spills without much damage. Which was impressive given the conditions, which were the worst I have ever seen. The track held up v well considering.

[chunder]

Doran was at Cadwell Park this weekend

He had a DS3 and an RS200 with him

Covered himself in glory by going out at abotu lunchtim and coving the track with something.

Still no idea what is going on.

Seems awful with some of the stuff happening in British RX right now, not really sure it's in a good place is it.

[Hickey]

It's all hearsay, but the impression I got from speaking to people in the paddock was that the reason for the ban is the same as has been suggested on here. Still, poor form not to say it publicly and maybe, just maybe, apologise... Even if just to show remorse to get the ban reduced!

[tbtstt]

Well after an evening sitting on the radiator I've just about dried out, unbelievably wet conditions!

Shame Procter wasn't there and I was personally gutted that the RS200 didn't make it out onto track. At least the LDM team managed to nail the DS3 back together in time for Mark Flaherty to get out on track.

From what I understand Mark had zero seat time in the DS3, so quite a steep learning curve to have his first drive in a wet heat. He did look to be getting to grips with the car and he actually got a bloody good start in the first running of the Supercar final.

The Supercar re-run did seem a bit of a joke. Perhaps there was more to it, but it seemed like Ollie just sat on the start line until they agreed to run again. Glad to see Ollie on the pace though, I hope this means that Godfrey will have a sustained challenge in 2015.

Has Tuerling always had a 5 cylinder engine in that Volvo? I've never noticed it before, but it sounded superb yesterday!

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Hickey

It's all hearsay, but the impression I got from speaking to people in the paddock was that the reason for the ban is the same as has been suggested on here. Still, poor form not to say it publicly and maybe, just maybe, apologise... Even if just to show remorse to get the ban reduced!

Will be interesting to see if Monster stays with Doran. If it's a 12 month ban he will miss half of the 2015 season.

[FIRE]

BTW why wasn't Proctor there? Is the car still not ready?

[leonidas]

Originally Posted by Hickey

But in defence to Ollie, he didn't jump those lights. The lights were flicking red each time (which is a sometimes the signal to go) and he was the only one reacting. Eventually the whole lot went on the red flicking of lights apart from Tuerlings who then drove against the traffic to complain. Another farce.

And this isn't the first time there have been light problems at Lydden. Makes you wonder if the system is tested before the meeting. Surely having a proper starting light and timing beam isn't rocket science?

If the tech doesn't work, a bloke with a Union flag would be better!

[Hampton Caught]

Wow, that was wet! I think I've dried out now, but Biblical rainstorms for much of the day didn't help the attendance at Lydden. I felt for the guys on the gate, those with concessions (not much by way of ice cream or burgers sold!) but particularly the marshalls on the inside of Paddock bend who got a dousing from below every time someone took the tight line!

I lost count - was it five or six attempts to run Heat 3 of the Supercars? What was going on? Even the Union Flag starts had 'issues'. The Dutch and Irish drivers were going as the flag was raised whilst (most of) the Brits waited for it to fall. Observed this time and time again on Monday!

Mark Flaherty had a difficult day. The car was waiting for a head gasket first thing, so he sat out free practice and thus had to learn the car and its foibles in the heats, under public scrutiny!

Was gutted for him in the Supercar Final (pt 1). Within the first lap, he'd moved up from the last row of the grid to be second behind Julian Godfrey, but sadly bogged down (yet again) on the second start, but did finish, unlike some of the Focus runners. Felt particularly for Andy Grant - was on the pace all day Monday but didn't see the chequered flag in the final!

Mark Flaherty's MG Metro 6R4 ran a 3.8 engine in its final format and to answer an earlier question, Hallmarks was a Mitsubishi dealership, owned by a certain Mr Flaherty!!!

Mark's son, Mitchel, ran for the first time in the Suzuki Swifts.Against old hands like Ovenden and Rodemark, he was never going to be on the pace but he clearly enjoyed himself. Hope both Flahertys make a full season in 2015.

It was wet but still very enjoyable on Monday. I felt the racing wasn't quite as close as it would normally be in drier conditions, but such a shame there were so few people there to enjoy it with me!

Roll on Croft!!! Cheers, Steve

[Hickey]

Second that. I also felt sorry for the organisers and hadn't thought about burger stalls etc but they also suffered hugely from the weather. Such bad luck as Sunday was so lovely. And yes, the weather made a thankless job even more so for the hardy marshals. Oh well, hope for more luck at the next event.

[sihorton]

First things first, I'd like to say a big thanks to the orange army that marshalled at the event, hats off to them guys and girls for standing out there all day in "those" conditions.

I also hope that eveyones now dried out, we were certainly soaked to the skin.
I think everyone who was trackside will agree that it was one of the wettest meets I can remember attending.

From my side, it was another tough lydden event. I've lost count of how many we have visited that circuit and had a terrible weekend! I think the last successful time I raced there was back when I drove my metro in stockhatch.

We struggled right from word go with the handling of the Scooby, which ironically has been its strong point all season. I found the car had very poor stability and turn in during practise , so with adjustments to tyre pressures, tracking and ride hight we tried to correct this. The car wasn't much better in heat 1, so we rolled the dice in heat 2 with a fairly drastic setup change, but we went the wrong direction and compounded the issue further. Finally in heat 3 we lost 3rd gear on the start of the second lap, so I retired from that heat to preserve the gearbox.

With all those issues, we didn't make the A-final.
After the recent run of results and improved performance from the new engine we installed before the last btrda meeting at pembrey (my fastest lap was just 0.1 sec slower than grants fastest in wales), this was definitely a bump back to reality.

So I'm sorry for the poor showing at Lydden, hopefully this sheds a bit of light on the difficulties, However... I will 100% be looking to take the fight back to the rest of the pack at Croft in 6 weeks time, and put in a strong performance on my "local" track.

[Hampton Caught]

Hi Si,

Thanks for the inside story - I'd been wondering where your form was after a great outing at Pembrey. I'd been delighted to see you on the pace there.

Was a sticky meeting for Steve Rattue too. I'd been hoping to see his ZR out on track again (being a dyed-in-the-wool MGR man myself) but noticed he'd left the paddock early. What happened?

Hoping you (both) have a more productive weekend at Kent. I'll pop over and say hello!

Cheers, Steve

[tbtstt]

Uploaded some pictures last night, some of my faves:









Few more here if any of you are interested!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...7646785021717/