lydden winter series

[jonbryant]

Oh I dunno Eddy. I was snowbound in Florence because Gatwick was shut...

[ebby]

Lydden Hill revs up for round 2!

The 2009 Lydden Hill Motor Club 'Winter Series' will stage its second and final round of the mini-championship with an all-star line up expected to make the start line, this Saturday 7th February. The event has attracted a forty-strong list of competition from far and wide who will not only be battling for honours in the freshly ressurected LHMC organised Winter Series but also taking the chance to gain experience on the restructured 'Euro friendly' Circuit.



In the Supercar category, Euro competitor Koen Pauwels returns with his Ford Focus ST, but will be facing even stiffer competition this time around, up against Circuit tenant and Ex- British title winner, Pat Doran who is returning after a four month absence from the sport with his spectacular Ford RS200, meanwhile, son Liam Doran who won the opening round on January 3rd will be competing again in his Fiesta ST with high hopes of another victory.
MSA British Championship regular and 2008 2nd placed Steve Hill will be throwing a spanner in the works with his Mitsubishi Evolution 9, whilst Belgian and Dutch Rallycross ace - Edwin Geraerts will also be shaking down his Ford Focus Supercar.



The Supermodified category remains strong with no fewer than fifteen competitors battling for honours. Round one winner Julian Godfrey will return with his all-new Euro spec' Ford Fiesta, joined by 2nd placed Stuart Emery (Peugeot 306), both of whom have a fair chance of taking the title - subject to victory.
Strong competition comes in the form of Luc Maris with his impressive Volvo 242, Ex-British Champ Mike Turpin (Vauxhall VX220), John Smith with his recently acquired 'ex Dave Bellerby' Lotus Exige, Johan Jacobs (Ford Mondeo) and regular Euro competitor Jos Sterkens will be pushing his 'Supercup' Fiesta to the limit along with fellow competitor, Michael De Keersmaecker (BMW), both will utilise the event as a warm-up for the start of the European Championship which takes place at Lydden Hill on Easter Sunday 12th April and Easter Monday 13th.



Ryan Lawford will return his Peugeot 205 to the Stock Hatch class where he enjoyed victory at round one. Also battling for honours in the entry level category will be Bob Ward (Peugeot 205) and Darren Clark (Peugeot 106). British Championship regular and 2006 Junior graduate, Joe Cunningham (Bedale) will also be testing his impressive Peugeot 106 GTI after destroying his previous car at the MSA Championship round at Lydden last August in a spectacular barrel-role.

The RX150 Category will not only be well turned out in high numbers but also expect to see some European and British Supercar regulars piloting the impressive buggies. 2007 overall MSA British Champ Ollie O'Donovan (London) will be competing against 2006 overall MSA British Champ - Christopher Evans (Wicklow, Dublin). Northallerton based European regular and top Rally man Kevin Procter will also be testing his skills in the increasingly popular support class.

The round 2 event will, once again be utilising the new Rallycross circuit layout which has been modified to fit in with European regulations. The 'Joker' lap will also be included and as demonstrated at Round 1, this give drivers the opportunity to be more tactical with their racing and will highlight more excitement for Spectators.
Gates open at 8.00am, followed by practice at 9.00am with the first heats scheduled to start at 10.00am - The full entry list is available on the Lydden Hill website along with further information.

Admission is reduced for the winter event to £12, accompanied children under 12 are free.

[Benny1664]

Admission is reduced to £12.. what is it normally? Surely Lydden doesnt charge anymore than that does it?

[ebby]

I guess it means the Euro event will be more, but that is to be expected I think. Just like you would pay more to watch a Champions League match rather than Coca cola League 1.

[westfieldbend]

Originally Posted by Benny1664

Admission is reduced to £12.. what is it normally? Surely Lydden doesnt charge anymore than that does it?

yeap £12 is the least it is, even for a national sprint....

[Rod Birley]

Prices for club racing events (last year) were £12, British rallycross £15. European is shown as £20.

[ebby]

Liam Doran wins supercars

Luc Maris in the awesome Volvo first in modified, will his car be eligible in the ERC though?

I have some photos and video will upload later.

[jonbryant]

Just getting my shots off the memory card but out for beers and a curry to warm up tonight. My word that was chilly!

[snowen250]

Nope his Volvo isnt eligable, unfortunately
Simon

[Audi S1]

Results From Lydden Today:
Supercars
1st Liam Doran 2nd Koen Pauwels 3rd Pat Doran 4th Edwin Geraerts 5th Steve Hill DNF

Super Mods A final
1st Luc Maris 2nd Marco Martens 3rd Julian Godfrey 4th Gary Pusey 5th Jos Sterkens 6th Allan Tapscott

Super Mods B Final
1st Marco Martens 2nd Paul Coney 3rd Michael De Keersmaecher 4th Stuart Emery 5th Martin Page 6th Jiri Galiska

Super Mods C Final
1st Jiri Galuska 2nd Johan Jacobs 3rd Brian Jukes 4th Tudor Davies DNF No Other Starters

Stockhatch
1st Darren Clarke 2nd Ryan Lawford

RX150
1st Joe Shrimpton

[BOY BLUNDER]

Just starting to thaw out,another good day,well done young joe shrimpton,1st victory for him,unluckiest driver phil the power chicken,and the driver with the biggest smile on his face should go to martin in the mk2,i bet he loved it today,roll on the start of the season,and well done lydden hill.

BB....

[Audi S1]

Good days racing if a little cold at times, glad to see that back of the snow and the sun even came out. Some good racing expecially in supercars between Liam and Koen and in Super Mods.

As said above neither of the Volvo's are eligible for ERC, they are only legal in our brc and domestic championships. He will only be seen at ERC events if the organisers have a 4th invitational class for supernational cars.

Good to see the new ERC legal cars from Julian, Sterkens new Focus and De Keersmaecker BMW going well.

European interest was good with a driver all the way from Czech republic Jiri Galuska in his older Div 2 Fiesta, soon to be moving to Div 1 also in a Fiesta, came to test on the track.

Paul Coney made a good return to the sport putting in some good races, especially in the Supermodified B final where he just held off European Champion Michael De Keermaecker, to finish 2nd.

Roll on Easter Weekend!

[MiniMadness]

You sure Paul Coney finished 2nd, it definately look like the BMW got the verdict although on the grass.

I bet Paul felt an idiot spinning into the gravel, while attempting to warm his tyres

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by BOY BLUNDER

... the driver with the biggest smile on his face should go to martin in the mk2,i bet he loved it today...

I think it's fair to say he had fun

Winning a heat was far more than he expected and the car performed well all day too - good day all in all for the Mk2

[chunder]

Does anyone know if there will be support for ERC r is it just the three classes?

[Rod Birley]

Admission charges for ERC at Easter confirmed today as £15 for the Sunday, £20 for Monday, children under 12 go free.

[Benny1664]

I havent been to Rallycross for years, since they stopped running it at Brands and decided to use a day off work to go along today and check out how it is nowdays. Whats with this joker lap thing, that never used to be around and in my view all it does it confuse the spectator who is where in the race?

Also, when I used to watch, I remember them banning the 6R4s and RS200s so how come they have been allowed back in the last few years?

I thought the supercars and the super modifieds were great but got really bored with the heats for the stock hatch and the RX150s as when its a race of 3 or 4 cars they get so spread out. The RX final was good as there were 6 much more evenly spaced but with heats of 3 cars at a time, I was falling asleep!

And one final note of thanks to everyone who marshalled today, you cant much colder a day so well done to all in orange.

[brands hatch]

Another great days racing...roll on easter weekend!

[leonidas]

Originally Posted by Benny1664

I havent been to Rallycross for years, since they stopped running it at Brands and decided to use a day off work to go along today and check out how it is nowdays. Whats with this joker lap thing, that never used to be around and in my view all it does it confuse the spectator who is where in the race?

Hope you come back for the European championship round Ben. Saturday was a good event but it was really only a clubman meeting and they'll be a lot more modern machinery on display at the ERC round.

The joker lap was introduced at the behest of the ERC and was trialled in this series. You will not see it in British championship events.

[Benny1664]

Dont think I can make the ERC as Im racing at Combe that day. Is it a multi day meeting though or just one day as if its on the Sunday as well I may come down then?

Though I was wondering how on earth they are going to get in a possible 30,000 people (as the Lydden commentator said)? Most people would be coming from the North so will have to overshoot and come back on themselves at the lights and then that many people dealing with the little entry road? And where do they put that many people and cars?

[baldtom]

THe meets on the Sunday 12th April form noon and all day on the Bank Holiday Monday 13th Arpil.

Yes it was cold as a marshall but some excellent racing partic in the super mods and the super-cars.

I think Pat Doran would have done better but he kept doing the joker lap early and then getting held upbehind other cars......

It was noticeable that they had made the joker section much tighter than 3rd January and there was a noticeable time difference this time round

[brands hatch]

out of interest...did anyone get any pics of Tudor davies crash?
And unlucky to jos sterkens when his wheel came off!

[BOY BLUNDER]

You wont see a blade of green grass on any of the fields,there will be alot of europeans coming over,and yes there will be a lot queing cars coming into the circut,so if your coming you nneed to come in early.

BB....

[elspethhardie]

any camping areas?

[schanche]

Well folks had a bloody cold day at Lydden snow in the morning when we arrived but did warm up a bit later,with the entry as it was i wasn't expecting much? but just really going to see what changes have been made to the circuit before the big event and what can i say the racing and the upgrades to the track made for a great days racing! top marks to all the racers for fantastic heats and finals.Biggest surprise for me was Liam in the Fiesta, Pat should be proud did a great job all day even when Pauwels dished out a bit of the european style of leaning on your oppenant to make your move definatly a rising star for the future is liam. Hopefully he will stay and not move on like Mr Jordon has, and with Pats knowledge who knows a future british champion in the making.Jos sterkens focus was one of the best i have seen in a long time well prepared great colour scheme nearly schanche colours ,JDK had various spins and offs with the BMW but valuable experiance gained no doubt a shame steve hill ran into problems though.All the saftey features were a great Improvement although i think some spectators might be upset with the fencing round hairpin bend but if thats what it takes to get Lydden up to spec tough luck.
Paddock bend and cars straying over on to the start line might raise a few concerns for the officials but hopefully measures are in place to resolve this.
So when does Lydden lose its provisional rating and when can we expect an official announcment or has this alreay been confirmed?
Definatly the home of Rallycross.........................