World RX: ‘It’s great to be back’ – as World RX returns to its spiritual home of Lydden Hill

Kevin Hansen speaks for many when he says that “it’s great to be back” at Lydden Hill, as the FIA World Rallycross Championship returns to the sport’s spiritual home this weekend (22-23 July) for the first time in six years.

The British track is a significant venue in the history of the sport, as the first ever rallycross race meeting took place there on 4 February 1967.

Tucked away in the ‘Garden of England’ in Kent, Lydden Hill featured on the World RX calendar from 2014 to 2017. Now, the circuit is preparing to host the championship’s latest-generation 500kW (680bhp) all-electric RX1e cars – capable of sprinting to 100km/h from a standing start in just 1.9 seconds – for the very first time in Britain.

“It’s the home of rallycross and personally I’ve had a lot of great memories there,” says Hansen.

“I essentially began my rallycross career at the track and won in both Suzuki Swifts and RX Lites, so for me it’s great to be back.”

Kevin and his brother Timmy Hansen will be driving a pair of Hansen World RX Team Peugeot 208 RX1es and looking for their first win of the 2023 season after several impressive performances of late.

The driver everyone is out to catch is the reigning World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson.

The Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS driver has won all three World RX rounds so far this year and leads the drivers’ standings by 27 points.

Kristoffersson’s team-mate Ole Christian Veiby has been edging closer to the five-time world champion’s pace and will be out for victory this weekend, while fellow Norwegian Sondre Evjen drives the third Volkswagen RX1e.

Niclas Grönholm lies second in the points standings and will be leading the Construction Equipment Dealer Team charge, while team-mate Klara Andersson will be aiming to put her recent experience of Lydden Hill to good use, having raced an RX150 buggy there in April as part of the British Rallycross Championship curtain-raiser.

Sébastian Loeb and Guerlain Chicherit each drive a Special One Racing Lancia Delta Evo RX1e, while on form Timo Scheider is in the ever-improving All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport SEAT Ibiza RX1e.

Isak Sjökvist (#YellowSquad) takes a five-point FIA RX2e Championship lead to Lydden Hill, with Nils Andersson (Kristoffersson Motorsport) and defending champion Viktor Vranckx (VMV Racing) in hot pursuit.

Joining the all-electric field will be Finland’s multiple Supercar Lites champion Tommi Hallman (SET Promotions) who will make his RX2e debut and Latvia’s Roberts Vitols (Ugis Vitols) who returns to the series. Britain’s Catie Munnings will be flying the home nation’s flag in her #YellowSquad machine.

There have been significant changes to the Lydden Hill track – in particular Turn One, which is now banked and considerably wider than it used to be to. It also features a jump on the exit, just after the merge with the all-new joker.

All of the action will be broadcast live on RX+.