British Rallycross Championship R1 & R2 2023 – Lydden Hill
 

I spent a couple of hours at the Winter Stages rally at Brands at the start of the year, but my first proper motorsport weekend of the year was at the opening rounds of the British Rallycross (5 Nations) Championship.

There was a decent entry in most of the classes and some great racing. Weather was a bit scattershot; round one (Saturday) was overcast but dry…

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c874ec61_b.jpg

…round two (Monday) got a bit damp!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e4e6a1a5_b.jpg

2022 Champion Patrick O'Donovan has a new car for this year - an ex-Hansen Peugeot 208 - and, even with minimal seat time, he was very rapid.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...538e1684_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f7ea7d93_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...06de1a38_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...659f72ea_b.jpg

There was a great entry for the Super Retro class and the drivers did well to battle on through the miserable conditions first thing on Monday.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...32905200_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...318269fb_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...447d5d22_b.jpg

Jack Thorne has only been out in his 208 once before (at the end of 2021) but has managed to secure a budget to at least start this season. Despite having little recent seat time he was quicker than most of the Championship regulars from the outset.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...be237ca1_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...32dfb184_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3753fd83_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dd95d506_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...80d2672f_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6e5776a2_b.jpg

Viktor Vranckx drove his RX2e (electric) car in the Supercar class. Despite being down on power Vranckx was right in the mix and really entertaining to watch

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7914cb6e_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...97a77b0b_b.jpg

SH Racing made the competition debut of their electric rallycross Supercar. The Countryman looked very fast in a straight line, but the team looked to be chasing a better setup for the car throughout the weekend as it looked very nervous in the corners.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c57ed336_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d366395b_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...922276ff_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...824ff830_b.jpg

Oliver Bennett joined the action on Monday, but his day ended late in the morning when he reverse parked his Mini in a tyre wall…

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...045b6672_b.jpg

…that left Patrick O’Donovan to make it two-from-two as he won the final on both days of racing.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bbb8fd64_b.jpg

Aside from getting my camera very wet on Monday morning (big thanks to Graham for lending me a lens for the afternoon!) it was a great weekend. Looking forward to seeing the World Championship back at Lydden later in the year.

More pictures here:

Flickr - 5 Nations Rallycross R1 & R2 2023

If anyone is interested!

Great stuff mate. That does look rather muddy! :D

As usual nice set of pictures.

It was rather! I do like it when you get a bit of rain though, feels more "proper" when you have spray everywhere and cars caked in mud.

Cheers! French Championship kicks off this weekend (at Lessay), looks to be another strong season for them.