British Rallycross at Lydden Hill Bank Holiday

[Lydden PR]

Hello

Its our first post here, and this one is to say a massive THANK YOU to all those who turned up to the British Rallycross held at Lydden over the Bank Holiday weekend.

We really do hope that you enjoyed your time at the circuit, and the various entertainment on offer.

We had good, safe and competitive racing on both days and thankfully the weather held up for all of us.

We aim to continue to improve the facilities at the track, and hope that you continue to support us.

Once again, everyone THANK YOU FOR COMING.

Lydden Hill Racing Circuit.

[Ex User]

I thought it was a fantasic weekend. Well done to the organisers. There was brilliant racing all weekend, the fmx was amazing to watch, drifting is not really my cup of tea but it was still good.

can't wait till the next one

[chasing cars]

Alot of self congratulating going on here!

As I said in another post probably the worst bank holiday Monday of rallycross seen at Lydden for many years. What a shame the tie up with the Belgiums hasnt continued, would have made a far better meeting.

No doubt some did enjoy the event and the other "attractions" but the lack of a decent programme, a lack of a timetable, a poor entry, an age to get in, £25 pound for a weekend ticket when everything could have been put on 1 day, a lack of marshals which bordered on dangerous, oh and to top it off it confusion over who won, and if it was Junior then the rules were conveniently forgotten. Anyway at least a certain family got to add to their trophy cabinet and that now seems to be the point of British rallycross.

[Rallycross!]

I personally thought the 'sideshow' entertainment was pretty good and complimented the Rallycross very well indeed - Very impressed with the FMX guys, likely made better with how close we could get to the action, anyway...

Originally Posted by chasing cars

Anyway at least a certain family got to add to their trophy cabinet and that now seems to be the point of British rallycross.

Out of curiosity, would you rather that the Circuit owners did not compete? Also, is it not better to see SuperCars at the current highest spec which sets the benchmark for other competitors to follow?

I think it's good that Lydden are trying different things and this event worked for me, making it more of a show with lots of things going on - After visiting the BTCC a couple of months ago (with the family), I was pretty bored and so were the kids. The event at Lydden impressed the kids, in fact they loved it!

[chasing cars]

Originally Posted by Rallycross!

Out of curiosity, would you rather that the Circuit owners did not compete? Also, is it not better to see SuperCars at the current highest spec which sets the benchmark for other competitors to follow?

I think it's good that Lydden are trying different things and this event worked for me, making it more of a show with lots of things going on - After visiting the BTCC a couple of months ago (with the family), I was pretty bored and so were the kids. The event at Lydden impressed the kids, in fact they loved it!

The problem is the Dorans have far bigger budgets than anyone else can ever dream about, yes its good to see those cars but from a racing point of view all they are doing is making the racing predictable and processional and possibly frightening off others who would like to compete but know they dont stand a chance, not just on the track but also with the decision makers, (good job it was only dad who was denied the victory).

As far as the weekend was concerned and your kids enjoying that to me is the whole point, its suppose to be a round of the premier domestic rallycross championship not a "fun for all the family" with bouncy castle thrown in event! Maybe if the rallycross had seen a better quality entry and better racing and a more informative and knowledgable commentator then I would a enjoyed it more than I did. I just feel that before they start putting on extra thing and extending the meeting to 2 days they need to get the main product right first. Anyway glad you and your kids enjoyed it, maybe I should start visiting more french domestic rallycross rounds where its all about the rallycross and where you get a proper well supported structured championship and a full weekend of racing and where everyone is treated as an equal.

[Ex User]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

The problem is the Dorans have far bigger budgets than anyone else can ever dream about, yes its good to see those cars but from a racing point of view all they are doing is making the racing predictable and processional and possibly frightening off others who would like to compete but know they dont stand a chance, not just on the track but also with the decision makers, (good job it was only dad who was denied the victory).

As far as the weekend was concerned and your kids enjoying that to me is the whole point, its suppose to be a round of the premier domestic rallycross championship not a "fun for all the family" with bouncy castle thrown in event! Maybe if the rallycross had seen a better quality entry and better racing and a more informative and knowledgable commentator then I would a enjoyed it more than I did. I just feel that before they start putting on extra thing and extending the meeting to 2 days they need to get the main product right first. Anyway glad you and your kids enjoyed it, maybe I should start visiting more french domestic rallycross rounds where its all about the rallycross and where you get a proper well supported structured championship and a full weekend of racing and where everyone is treated as an equal.

Whats wrong with a couple of bouncy castles for the kids? motorsport is family orientated. I was there the from Saturday till Monday and most of the teams that turned up had their children with them. If it wasn't for the support of the familys most of the drivers wouldn't be there.

I'm sorry but so what if the dorans have a massive budget if it wasn't for them there wouldn't have been a event.

Even murrey walker makes mistakes commentators aren't robots

[Thundersports]

"Without the Doran there wouldn't haver been an event"
Really?! Can you explain? I know they own the lease on the circuit if they didn't someone else would and I agree with Chasing cars that they do put off other drivers entering.

[WJM]

Originally Posted by Rallycross!

Out of curiosity, would you rather that the Circuit owners did not compete? Also, is it not better to see SuperCars at the current highest spec which sets the benchmark for other competitors to follow?

If you are going to drive in your own championship on your own track that's sponsored by your own sponsors. Well, then people are always going to complain, justified or not.

[King Arthur]

Can somebody please confirm he result

[Ex User]

Originally Posted by Thundersports

"Without the Doran there wouldn't haver been an event"
Really?! Can you explain? I know they own the lease on the circuit if they didn't someone else would and I agree with Chasing cars that they do put off other drivers entering.

Well the British rallycross championship is run under the lhmc, lydden hill is owned by the dorans. The main sponser of the brc is monster energy who sponser the dorans.

who else is going to be able to run an event under the lhmc and monster?

[bigdick1977]

"Without the Doran there wouldn't haver been an event"
Really?! Can you explain? I know they own the lease on the circuit if they didn't someone else would and I agree with Chasing cars that they do put off other drivers entering.
They now own the circuit as well.

[schanche]

This thread is going very well PMSL

[ClintonRX]

[QUOTE: maybe I should start visiting more french domestic rallycross rounds where its all about the rallycross and where you get a proper well supported structured championship and a full weekend of racing and where everyone is treated as an equal.[/QUOTE]

Having been fortunate enough to watch the Faleyras round of the French Championship in May, they do seem to know how to do things over there. Assuming no last minute hitches, I will be at Mayenne in a fortnight to watch the Chatillon-sur-Colmont round, so looking forward to more of the same. Has anyone been to the circuit? Any advice to make the day go well?

[chunder]

No advice, but if you fancy some company!!!

[chasing cars]

[QUOTE=ClintonRX;3128906.
Having been fortunate enough to watch the Faleyras round of the French Championship in May, they do seem to know how to do things over there. Assuming no last minute hitches, I will be at Mayenne in a fortnight to watch the Chatillon-sur-Colmont round, so looking forward to more of the same. Has anyone been to the circuit? Any advice to make the day go well?[/QUOTE]
I did the ERC round there in 2006, nice circuit and we could certainly learn alot from the French championship. Ive sent you a pm with more details about Mayenne.

[Thundersports]

Originally Posted by H Dolphin

Well the British rallycross championship is run under the lhmc, lydden hill is owned by the dorans. The main sponser of the brc is monster energy who sponser the dorans.

who else is going to be able to run an event under the lhmc and monster?

This what is what I think is putting competitors off. I feel they need to take a step back maybe by not running in the British Championship themselves and putting the sponsorship in to an up and coming driver or prize money. Someone else would have run the series perhaps get it back to it's roots.

[Ex User]

Originally Posted by Thundersports

This what is what I think is putting competitors off. I feel they need to take a step back maybe by not running in the British Championship themselves and putting the sponsorship in to an up and coming driver or prize money. Someone else would have run the series perhaps get it back to it's roots.

That's a fair comment but isn't lydden hill the roots of rallycross? and personally i cannot see how it is effecting drivers entering the I.

There is other sponsers but monster energy is the main sponser, ngk sponser the super1600 class and as far as I am aware they don't have to pay entry fees this year ( correct me if I am wrong but that is what I believe)

[Thundersports]

When I said get it back to it's roots I mean't a simple class structure and affordable to the clubman drivers.

[tbtstt]

With regards to the event alone I thought it was well organised in that the extras were added without detracting from the rallycross. It still felt like a rallycross meeting with some extra bit, rather than rallycross being tacked on to something else.

I was also pleased to see that all the extras hadn't resulted in the ticket price getting bumped up either.

The situation with the Supercar final was a bit of a joke though and, like others have said, the multiple classes did seem a bit silly at times. The latter is really a concern with the overall championship though rather than the Lydden event specifically.

The former - and be it coincidence or deliberate - seems like yet another occasion where the goal posts have seemingly been moved for Liam when he's racing at Lydden.

[Hickey]

I think that a lot of the criticism on here is unfair, and that it was a well-run event, the other attractions added to it and made it much more family-friendly, which is really important because without it being marketable to the whole family, we'd lose a lot of spectators.

I would suggest two things though, in case LyddenPR is still reading...
- PLEASE allow BTRDA back into your events. You'd have got another 20 cars out there over the weekend and it's the ideal place for people to start (especially after securing the best TV advertising the sport has received in Top Gear).

- PLEASE amalgomate the 1600cc classes - i think we had 4 separate classes with 1600cc engines - that is madness. All other class divides in the sport make sense.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Hickey

the other attractions added to it and made it much more family-friendly, which is really important because without it being marketable to the whole family, we'd lose a lot of spectators.

If they're going for the family friendly angle then one of the first things they need to do is improve the toilet facilities - even if that means hiring in a load of protable units. Given that the Dorans own the circuit now rather than just the lease on it this surely has to be the next area of investment? The paddock has been greatly improved and the race control building and medical centre in the paddock is a massive step forward from what was there before - this now needs to be followed up with improvements to the other facilities. I know it can't all be done at once but this is an area that needs looking at urgently.

[Hickey]

It's odd cos at previous events there has been many portaloos that werent there this year round. I think the toilets in the paddock are decent, especially the newer block. The ones over by the car park are, and always have been, ones to avoid!!

[chunder]

Its funny, its always the simplest things

I go to a lot of stick car meetings, and there really are some venues that no matter how many people are there the toilets are a disgrace!

You just use them and hope for the best!

I would imagine at a palce like Lydden the situaiton is simple. Surely you could build a decent block where the one in the field already is? Would you need plannning?

As Bert says though, a lod of porta's should be fine, they used to do it years back for Bank Holiday and the first few ERC rounds of the new era?

It has improved definately, but simple things are surely just as simple to fix.

In their defence though, the last two times I went to ERC round, there were attendants cleaning etc every time I used the paddock loo.

But it did leak I recall!!! All over Kuypers!!!

[Ex User]

Originally Posted by Hickey

I think that a lot of the criticism on here is unfair, and that it was a well-run event, the other attractions added to it and made it much more family-friendly, which is really important because without it being marketable to the whole family, we'd lose a lot of spectators. .

Finally someone who has the same view on it being a family orientated sport. I totally agree that a lot of the comments about the weekend are unfair.

[Hickey]

The only reason that my brother and I are into rallycross is cos we were taken to it when we were about 3 or 4 years old, so it's definitely a family event and it has led to my two brothers (and dad) competing in a few events - until they (that's the organisers at Lydden) decided they didnt want BTRDA at any events that they were in charge of, which just so happened to be the whole series....