Chatham based racing driver Guy Pettit will be making his Rallycross debut this weekend at home track Lydden Hill.

He will be racing in the British Rallycross opening round of the 2014 season racing a Peter Gwynne Motorsport prepared Suzuki Swift.

Normally Guy can be seen racing on a track in his XLR Motorsport Seat Leon touring car, he has never competed in Rallycross before and it will be a whole new experience for him.

Speaking about making the decision to enter this season’s opening round at Lydden Hill, Guy said: “It was a bit of a last minute decision for me to enter this weekend. After some recent testing with Pete and the team at Lydden Hill, I was raring to get my teeth into competing and just had to find the budget. Pete, Sarah and the whole team have extensive experience in motor racing, not just Rallycross, and they have made me feel very welcome and comfortable. They also make it affordable for drivers like me to go racing. I am just excited to line up on the grid for the first time.”

Guy will be racing the number 63 Suzuki Swift, a number he has carried with him since his karting days and one he considers a personal and somewhat integral part of his racing.

He added: “I am under no illusions of how competitive the Swift Rallycross Championship is. It is a far cry from the endurance racing I will also be doing this season and with any luck, this will allow me to get my year off to a flying start. With the short heats and the mixture of gravel and tarmac, Rallycross is a very unique challenge. It teaches certain degrees of car control that other motor racing disciplines simply cannot.”

“If I enjoy racing the car just half as much as I enjoyed testing it, I know I will have a great weekend and I hope this could be the start of a long and successful partnership with Peter Gwynne Motorsport.”

Peter who has been out giving Guy some tips and tutelage around the Canterbury based circuit is delighted he has decided to give competitive rallycross a try.

He said: “It is great to have Guy join our team at Lydden.  He has shown an interest in the Swifts for some time and after a recent test, although originally looking at doing the August event he has managed to pull things together to make it out for the opening round.

“During his time out on track he got to grips with the mixed surface circuit well so we look forward to seeing him out there in the mix with the rest of the field now.  It is exciting times in British Rallycross, we have five new drivers joining us in hire cars for this round coming from rallying, autograss and even skateboarding!”

There will be plenty of local interest in the opening round of the season with Tristen Ovenden, Rob Maynard and more all competing this weekend.