Kent racer Liam Doran will star as Lydden Hill Race Circuit hosts the British round of the FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers on Easter Sunday and Monday.
The highlight of the year at Lydden, the event has this year been branded the Monster Energy International Rallycross Festival and, in addition to the high profile new sponsor, boasts extensive live TV coverage and a full programme of activities to keep the whole family entertained over two days of top class racing.
The Monster Energy International Rallycross Festival is the first round of the ten-event championship that will criss-cross Europe before reaching its conclusion Buxtehude, near Hamburg in Germany, at the end of September. British fans visiting Lydden will have good reason to keep up to date with the championship as it progresses because they have the real prospect of a British driver challenging for the title.
Making the short journey from Sittingbourne to Lydden for the first event of the year, Liam Doran (25) starts his third year in the European championship having spent the winter putting together a team of the best engineers in the sport to prepare and run his new Citroën DS3 Supercar.
Although the new car was not ready for its planned race debut in March, Doran has been able to complete test sessions ahead of the European championship round.
“The European championship has been my goal since I was a kid, I’m sure that I’ve got a winning car and a winning team, so now it’s for me to stamp my authority on it and hard luck to the others who think they can win,” said Doran.
Quality entry
With a week to go before entries for the event close, 68 drivers from 16 different countries are already on the list of starters, including 25 in the headlining Supercar class.
Runner-up in the 2011 championship, American racer Tanner Foust (38), a presenter of Top Gear USA, returns to Europe bidding to add to the two event wins achieved last year and to try and become the first non-European to win the title. The cold war may have thawed, but Rallycross can provide its own version as Russian Timur Timerzyanov (25) will be among the leading rivals to the American star.
Timerzyanov won in Belgium last year and placed third in the championship and one of the younger group of drivers that come to prominence in the last couple of years.
Also in this group are Norwegian Mats Lysen (20) who took one event win last year and Frenchman Davy Jeanney (25), both whom are capable of challenging for the championship.
The two supporting classes are also well supported at the Monster Energy International Rallycross Festival, Super1600 (1600cc front-wheel drive) with 27 starters on the list while at the start of its fourth year as a championship category, TouringCar (two-litre rear-wheel drive) has the largest entry seen in Britain with 16 drivers.
Sussex-based motor sport engineer Julian Godfrey (Heathfield) starts among the favourites in Super1600. Godfrey (47) won in Belgium last August, the first British driver to win in the class, and aims to add a home win this year.
At the circuit and on TV
There is racing on both days of the event, the first qualifying heat being run at 1600 on Sunday while Easter Monday has the main part of the event with the second and third heats followed by the finals.
In a full day of entertainment, Monday will also include an autograph session where fans can meet the leading drivers and an air display featuring the iconic Spitfire.
For the first time in more than 20 years the British round of the FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers will be televised live. Motors TV will feature two live broadcasts from Lydden Hill on Easter Monday, a one-hour show starting at 1300 and a two-hour slot to cover the climax of the event starting at 1600.
Following the event a two-hour highlight show has its first showing on Motors TV at 2100 on April 11.
Event details
Monster Energy International Rallycross Festival The British round of the 2012 FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers Lydden Hill Race Circuit, Nr Canterbury Sunday-Monday April 8-9, on track from 1230 Sunday, 0900 Monday.
Admission Sunday £15, Monday £20, weekend £30, accompanied under 12s free
Lydden Hill Race Circuit 01304 830557 LyddenHill.co.uk Sat Nav: CT4 6ET
2012 FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers
April 8-9, Great Britain
April 28-29, France
May 26-27, Austria
June 2-3, Hungary
June 23-24, Norway
June 30-July 1, Sweden
August 4-5, Belgium
August 11-12, Holland
September 22-23, Finland
September 29-30, Germany