World Rallycross Championship R4 2016 – Lydden Hill

[tbtstt]

Just a fortnight after round 3 in Belgium and I was down at Lydden for more World Rallycross (you’d think I like rallycross or something).

Photos were (predictably) taken, here are my faves…











Petter Solberg was absolutely flying during the qualifying races. He won both races on Saturday and the third qualifier on Sunday morning. Petter fell just short of a perfect qualification score, coming second in the fourth qualifying race.





The Retro Rallycross Championship had organised a significant Group B gathering for Lydden. As well as a static display in the paddock, the Group B cars also took to the track for some demo runs.





Pat Doran’s RS200 was my pick of the bunch, though it was the ex-Will Gollop 6R4’s that were the biggest attraction for most. Gollop’s bi-turbo 6R4 has been out of the public eye for a lot of years and I’m not sure how a deal was struck, but it was great to see it out of storage and back on track again.







Mixed in with the racing were a handful of drift demos, including Baggsy in his (now V8 powered) S13.





Ken Block has had a bit of a mixed start to the year. A podium at round 2 was followed by a disastrous weekend at round 3, where his car seemed to be plagued with issues. Block fared better at Lydden, narrowly missing out on a semi-final position.





Blocks team mate Andreas Bakkerud seems to be really getting to grips with the Hoonigan Racing Focus. The car looked to be running a very soft setup…



…which was especially noticeable in the chicane, but it was working for Bakkerud and he qualified for the back row of the final. Unfortunately the car had issues on the start line, but it was still a great result for Bakkerud and the team.







Thomas Bryntesson has won both of the RX Lite rounds this year, so he was the man the pack were chasing.



After issues in the qualifiers Thomas eventually made it to the final, but it was Cyril Raymond who took the chequered flag in the Lites.





After a dominant performance in qualification, Petter Solberg absolutely blitzed the field in the first Supercar semi-final, sliding his way to a comfortable victory and earning the pole spot for the final.









Liam Doran never seems to have much luck at the Lydden round of the World Championship and this year was no exception. Although JRM had finally got a 2.0L engine installed in the MINI, the package was untested and the weekend ended up more like a shakedown session than a competitive drive.





Tanner Foust made his first European rallycross appearance of 2016 at Lydden. Foust has won here in the past, but he suffered technical issues last year and failed to make the semi-finals. Problems struck again this year and after two races on Saturday, Foust’s Polo didn’t leave the garage on Sunday morning.



Mario Barbosa led the Super 1600 Championship and he was consistent again at Lydden.



Ulrik Linnemann was the man to watch though and victory looked like a strong possibility for him, especially after Barbosa flipped on the first corner early in the final. Incredibly Linnemann made the same mistake just a few laps later, rolling his Peugeot on top of the Saxo of Barbosa!















Guy Wilks made the final at Lydden last year and he was back for another guest drive in 2016, this time at the wheel of an OMSE Fiesta. Wilks did increase his pace over the two days, but sadly not enough to challenge the front runners.



Reigning British Supercar Champion Julian Godfrey also struggled against the competition. After a high-speed encounter with a barrier on Saturday, Godfrey pushed hard on Sunday but couldn’t place in the top 12 and so, like Wilks, failed to make the semi-finals.





Iceman facing off against a line of media: Loeb was on the pace again at Lydden, though he had an issue in the semi-final and so failed to make the final: I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t win a race before the end of the year though!





With Ulrik Linnemann and Mario Barbosa both wiping out in the final, it was Krisztian Szabo who took first in the Super 1600 class.













Current Championship leader Mattias Ekstrom was conspicuous by his absence from the top row of the timesheets during qualifying. Some thought that Solberg’s pace was too much for Ekstrom to match, but Mattias is smart and I suspected he was saving himself (or rather his tyres) for the final.



After winning his semi-final, Ekstrom lined up alongside Solberg for the final. While Mattias dived off for an early joker, Solberg led the field. Petter was fast but, based on the smoke coming off his tyres, it was clear he was rapidly running out of rubber.



Sure enough, when Petter went for his joker it was Ekstrom who took the lead. Solberg pushed to the flag but it wasn’t enough and Mattias took his third win in a row with Petter in second.

Solberg and Ekstrom finished the weekend separated by just four points: brilliant to see things so close at this stage of the Championship, I hope it continues for the rest of the season!

[urabusMY94]

Some great photos there

Bakkerud was epic in Round 4 yesterday in Hell. The Audi's obviously didn't suit the circuit, but the first clean sweep on his home event reflects Bakkerud's dominance.

Had thought that the teams running harder setups were getting the most mileage out of their tyres this season (as you said, Solberg used up all his tyres before the final at Lydden, and his car leans like no one else's....) but the Focus looks more like Solberg's car through the corners; admittedly the Focus looks huge in comparison to the Fiesta and Polo (and even the Audi) so that may be a bit deceiving....

Glad the Discovery Channel are using Quest for the coverage, as it's then shown when they say it will be, unlike British Eurosport....

Old enough to remember the old days with Martin Schanche and Gollop pre Group B days and then Group B once they were all thrown out of the WRC so really good to see it so strong again - Loeb, Block, Faust and Solberg are all big names which will help raise the profile, but the youngsters coming through the junior series are also strong.

[alfa male]

Wow!! I wish I had your talent, these are the best pictures I've seen posted. Wow.
Great write up also

[Rdlangy1]

As above - amazing talent with a camera you have there

Great pics and interesting read

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by urabusMY94

Some great photos there

Bakkerud was epic in Round 4 yesterday in Hell. The Audi's obviously didn't suit the circuit, but the first clean sweep on his home event reflects Bakkerud's dominance.

Yeah, fantastic drive from Bakkerud and great to see the Focus competitive. When I saw that Bakkerud had gone TQ I was waiting for him to run out of tyres in the finals, but he had the pace right up to the last lap of the weekend: very impressive!

Originally Posted by urabusMY94

Had thought that the teams running harder setups were getting the most mileage out of their tyres this season (as you said, Solberg used up all his tyres before the final at Lydden, and his car leans like no one else's....) but the Focus looks more like Solberg's car through the corners; admittedly the Focus looks huge in comparison to the Fiesta and Polo (and even the Audi) so that may be a bit deceiving....

Yeah, the Focus did look to be rolling around a lot but, as you say, it's size makes it harder to directly compare with the other cars.

I was surprised by how soft the OMSE Fiestas were. They didn't look at all stable, which surprised me as OMSE have more experience at Lydden than the majority of the teams.

Solberg has definitely firmed his car up since his first year in the DS3, but it still moves around a hell of a lot! I assume he started with a gravel rally setup and then moved on from there: I wonder if M-Sport have done the same with the Focus which is why it looks so soft?

Originally Posted by alfa male

Wow!! I wish I had your talent, these are the best pictures I've seen posted. Wow.
Great write up also

Have a look at the images from ERC24: the two photographers from the site (especially JKR) are ridiculously good!

Originally Posted by Rdlangy1

As above - amazing talent with a camera you have there

Great pics and interesting read

Cheers for the kind words!