With well over seventy entries so far, this weekends MSA British Rallycross in association with the Shannon Group looks set to be one of the most hotly contested of the season so far, and action guaranteed at the home of Rallycross on Bank Holiday Monday when Round Five heads to Kent.

In the MSA Supercar in association with ODYSSEY® battery, Julian Godfrey has a very substantial championship lead in his Ford Fiesta, but will face some stiff opposition come Monday from the likes of Pat Doran, entered this weekend in an RS200, as well as Ollie O’Donovan in the Ford Focus, not to mention regulars such as Steve Harris and Steve Hill in the Ford Focus and Mitsubishi respectively. Harris will be aiming to keep his second overall in the title race, and is just sixteen points ahead of Hill with the last round at Croft still to come. Andy Grant fresh from an appearance at Pembrey on Sunday in the Ford Focus, along with Simon Horton in the Subaru Impreza, will also be aiming to perform well at Lydden too and add to the points tally they have so far this year. Wil Teurlings in the Volvo makes the trip from Holland, while Steve Mundy appears in the Ford Focus. There are strong rumours too, that there may well be one or two more late additions to the Supercars this weekend to add to the nine already entered for this weekend.

In the MSA Supernationals, it will be Championship leader Stuart Emery that will be the man to beat. Kent based Emery still managed to take points at the last round at Pembrey in his Peugeot 206 despite mechanical issues, and has a nineteen-point lead over the Vauxhall Astra of Gary Dixon, heading to Lydden this weekend. Third placed Vince Bristow in the BMW 328, has been consistent all year, and no doubt will be doing the same this weekend, to maintain his challenge for a podium place. The other Supernational contenders are all entered too, and we will see the likes of Guy Corner in the Peugeot 206, Alan Tapscott in Vauxhall Corsa as well as Michael Boak in the Audi TT all aiming to feature well. Mike Howlin cannot be discounted in the Ford Fiesta, nor can Dave Bellerby who makes an appearance in a Lotus Exige, as does his daughter Paige, also Lotus mounted. Slawomir Woloch will have the Ford Fiesta out at Lydden, as well as Gareth Softley in the Citroën Xsara, while Gary Simpson brings the BMW E30 out for a run this weekend, as does Steve Rattue in the MGZR. The battle for the Supernationals could be a very tight and hard fought one this weekend at Lydden. Its difficult to pick a winner from the fourteen entered here.

In the MSA Juniors, it is tight at the top, with Charlie Bean leading Drew Bellerby by just two points in the title race, while Jake Taylor holds third with Jennie Hawkes fourth. Lydden will be just as intense for these drivers this weekend, and predicting a winner here will not be easy.

So far this season, the Hot Hatch has been the domain of Craig Lomax and the Xtreme Motorsport team. Winning the first three rounds of the championship so far this season, the team had a difficult run at Pembrey and will no doubt want to top the podium at Lydden this weekend once again in the Citroën Saxo. Tomasz Marciniak, the Pembrey winner will no doubt push Lomax hard, but will also consider himself very capable of winning, while Tomasz Wielgosz in the Peugeot 106 will be aiming to join them in the battle for victory. Stephen Gaunt will be aiming to push his Saxo into a podium spot, while Lydden sees the return of Paul Maybourne in his Saxo VTS, and he will want to do well at his home circuit. Mariusz Mehlberg in the Citroën Saxo heads to Lydden after a good run at Pembrey, while Andrew Twomey brings his Peugeot 106 over from Ireland to Lydden this weekend as well.

The battle at Pembrey, and the last round for the RX150 Championship, saw Marc Scott take the win, ahead of debutant Tejas Hirani and Jake Harris. Hirani is not competing this weekend, nor is Jake, but brother Brett is, and he along with Kevin Feeney will be aiming to make sure that Scott does not have it all his own way. Larry and Adam Sargent both will be at Lydden and hoping to add points to their title bid, Adam currently fourth and Larry sixth in the standings. Fifth place Richard Moore will also be at Lydden and aiming for a good result this weekend too.

The BMW Mini category sees five Minis entered and it should feature a battle royale between David Bell and the Hudson brothers, Keifer and Kris. Rebecca Ryder has been improving all season, and impressed at Pembrey too at the last round. John Clayton brings his Mini to Lydden this weekend.

Pembrey saw a great battle all the way through the heats for the Suzuki Swift Sport regulars, and there is no reason why Lydden will be any different. Tristan Ovenden heads the Championship by three points from Graham Rodemark, while Chris Mullen sits another three points further back in third. There is no doubt that local man Ovenden will want to do well at Lydden this weekend, but so will local Rob Maynard and “Maud”. Maynard has already finished third at Lydden earlier this year, and will be sure to push to make the podium once again. Behind these four, there are more very capable contenders, ready to join the battle for podium places at Lydden, and Darren Scott is certainly one of them. The Kent man has not contested all the rounds this year, but is very capable of winning.Martin Hawkes joins the Swifts this weekend, and he is certainly a dark horse in the battle for the Swift Sports. Piotr Rudzki, Jack Brown, Dave Ellis and Alex Spencer will also be in action at Lydden and they too are capable of good results. Mitchel Flaherty joins the Swifts for the first time, and it will be good to see how he goes at Lydden.

Super 1600 sees Jack Thorne, Robert Blake and Phil Chicken all head for Lydden in Citroën C2’s, while in the Supernationals (Min 2000cc) will see Lydden have visitors from Holland in the shape of Johan Kwinten in the BMW 320 as well as Cor Kroon in the Opel Kadett GSi. In the Supernationals (Plus 2000cc) Louis de Haas brings his Opel Astra to Lydden.

Retro Rallycross

Crowd favorite Retro Rallycross will be at Lydden, the popular series once again set to entertain the fans and crowds this weekend. Continuously gaining in popularity this weekend sees some of the regulars head to Kent with the emphasis on the word entertain.

Barry Stewart has the magnificent Porsche 911 entered, while Lance Foster, Ian Biagi and Ian Shelley will all appear in Mini’s too. Rob Gibson should have the excellent sounding MG Metro 6R4 out once again, following an engine rebuild; while James Harrold will have the resplendent yellow VW Beetle back to compete as well. Ray Morgan will drive the Ford Escort BDA, and Marc Griffin, also Ford mounted will drive the Haynes of Maidstone Ford Fiesta. Paul Smith will have the VW Polo on hand at Lydden as well.

Whatever happens this weekend, with over seventy entries, and the high possibility of a few more high profile ones too, the action at Lydden Hill on Bank Holiday is sure to be good, and the advise would be….. Not to be missed.

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