Britain’s first ever round of the breathtaking new FIA World Rallycross Championship has been hailed as a massive success by all involved in last weekend’s historic event at the famous Lydden Hill circuit (24-25 June).

The landmark AUTOSPORT World RX of Great Britain attracted a record entry of 38 fearsome Supercars in the headline class for powerful 600bhp machines and drew a massive bank holiday crowd totaling more than 10,000 spectators. Moreover, Lydden’s biggest rallycross attendance in living memory was treated to two memorable days of sensational high-octane entertainment as Norwegian ace Andreas Bakkerud overcame a star-studded field of proven champions to win a dramatic grand final. With impressive ‘wild card’ entry Andrew Jordan also battling his way to podium glory, there was plenty of excitement for the local fans, too.

“It was a truly awesome event of which we are all very, very proud,” said circuit owner Pat Doran. “An incredible amount of work has been done to turn Lydden into a world class venue and all those efforts have clearly been an enormous success. It was fantastic to see so many familiar old faces returning to Lydden and so many new rallycross fans all having such a great time. I can’t thank everyone enough for sharing such a momentous occasion with us and now – like all of them – can’t wait for the world championship’s return in 2015.”

Known as the ‘friendly circuit’, Lydden was the birthplace of rallycross back in the sixties. Now, nearly 50 years later, the sport’s premier series has been promoted to full FIA World Championship status with the backing of IMG International, the renowned global sports and media business.

With all its history, Lydden is determined not only to establish its place on the globetrotting World RX calendar but also to share in rallycross’ spiraling popularity and prominence. To meet these growing challenges, several significant upgrades have already made – most notably the building of a sparkling new Control Tower – and others are planned for the future.

“We must congratulate those at Lydden for what they’ve achieved in the last 12 months,” said Martin Anayi, World RX Managing Director at IMG Motorsport. “The new developments are a big step in the right direction and to see such a large and enthusiastic crowd all really enjoying what was a terrific weekend of world class action further endorses what we are all trying to achieve.”

To deal with the escalating demands required to stage a full FIA World Championship event, Lydden also secured the services of International Motor Sports Limited, the UK’s leading motor sport event organiser. IMS is the commercial arm of the Motor Sports Association, the governing body of motor sport in the UK. It is the organiser of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix and is both the organiser and promoter of Wales Rally GB.

“It’s vitally important as a governing body that we do whatever we can to grow all areas of UK motor sport,” said Ben Taylor, IMS Managing Director. “Rallycross has all the ingredients to become great proposition and, perhaps more importantly, it has the potential to introduce motor sport to new, younger audiences. We were delighted to play a small part in helping the promotion of the event, but the real credit goes to Lydden Hill, IMG, the competitors and marshals who have put on such a successful event.”

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