British championship event crucial to Lydden's Euro bid

Bank Holiday Monday's (August 25) Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship event at Lydden is perhaps the most important Rallycross event to take place in the UK for a dozen years or more. The event will be observed by inspectors from motor sport's World governing body the FIA and, if it is judged to be up to standard will pave the way for Lydden to host a round of the 2009 European Rallycross Championship.

Although Rallycross was created at Lydden and the circuit – known as the home of Rallycross – played a key role in the introduction of the European championship, the international series has not appeared at Lydden since 1996, and has been absent from the UK since 1998. Lydden Circuit MD Amy Doran has made he bid to regain the Euopean event a cornerstone of her first year in charge at the track. "The European Rallycross Championship event belongs here, it is part of the circuit's heritage as much as Lydden is a part of the championship's heritage. We have already carried out a lot of improvements to the circuit in readiness for this event," she said.

While the backstage focus will be on completing this observed 'candidate' race successfully, the ongoing battle for the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship will be what draws race fans to the traditional Bank Holiday fixture. Entering this fifth of seven events the championship is led by Lawrence Gibson (Banbridge) who moved after winning round four at Croft last month with a perfectly measured performance in difficult conditions. "I had felt that my chances in the championship were fading a little and my aim at Croft was move up the order a bit. Winning the event and taking the championship lead has given me a renewed enthusiasm for the rest of the year," said Gibson.

Behind Gibson, current champion Ollie O'Donovan (London) lost the series lead when transmission problems his his Peugeot in round four but could regain the position with a good result at Lydden where he has already won this year. Also seeking to make up ground at Lydden is Steve Hill (Aylesbury) who lost the chance to challenge for the championship lead in round four when his Mitsubishi suffered engine problems.

Rejoining the series at Lydden will be Pat Doran (Winkleigh) who missed round four in favour of racing in the Swedish round of the European championship on the same day with his Fiesta ST. Doran's son, Liam, is another hoping for a change of fortune – mechanical problems and a crash have so far prevented him from translating competitive speed into results in his first Supercar season.

Southern racers seek home comfort
A number of south east-based racers feature in this year's Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship. In the Supercar category garage proprietor Chris Langley (Hastings) will return to his local track after achieving a personal best second place finish at Croft in round four.

Meanwhile Midhurst gamekeeper James Bird is enjoying his best ever season and leads the SuperModified category for two-wheel drive cars in his Renault ClioSport V6.

The Stock Hatch class features 22-year-old Canterbury driver Ryan Lawford who has contested just two of the four events run to date but holds fifth in the class points battle having finished in the top three at rounds one and four. A little higher up the Stock Hatch order in second place is Heathfield-based motor sport engineer Julian Godfrey who has won twice already in the 2008 championship and is now just five points behind defending champion Tony Lynch (Wigan) who leads the class.
Junior driver Brad Bailey (Chelmsford) will make his first appearance at Lydden on Bank Holiday Monday. Bailey, son of successful 1980s racer Paul, has driven in three events since turning 14 and being eligible to compete and brings experience from schoolboy motocross with him to Rallycross.

Motors TV features the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship in a regular Friday night broadcast slot in 2008. The standalone shows will air at 10pm on second Friday after each round and will be repeated in the Motors TV schedule after the first airing, the Lydden event will be screened at 10pm on September 5.