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Primarily a motorcycle venue, Lydden Hill brought rallycross to the world in 1967, and continues to host stages of the British Rallycross Championship.

Tim Forster reports
Transcript
00:03Racing fans were in for a weekend of thrills and spills as the Lyddon Hill race circuit
00:08played host to the Lyddon Legends festival. Held in conjunction with the French Loillac
00:12circuit, the Lyddon Legends event allows spectators to witness the full excitement
00:16of historic racing up close. This year marks only the second time the event has been run
00:21here and the number of spectators has doubled, something marketing manager Corinne Banham
00:26attributes to the accessible nature of the festival. I think it's so important to the
00:30community, to the southeast motorsport community, to have big events like this
00:34that people can attend. Not everyone's able to travel that little bit further and
00:39it's reminding people that there's motorsport outside of things like Formula
00:42One takes place once a year and Silverstone. It's good to remind people
00:46that there is this motorsport you know atmosphere and community in the
00:51southeast as well and it's really good to be able to play a part in that. The Lyddon
00:55Hill race circuit was formed in 1955 and was initially famous for its motorcycle
01:00racing. However in 1967 there came the invention that would put Lyddon Hill on
01:05the map, Rallycross. Television producer Robert Reid and race organiser Bud Smith worked
01:12with the 750 motor club to design a sport which would combine both autocross and
01:17rallying in a way that would appeal to television audiences. Hence Rallycross was born.
01:22It was the first motorcycle track and actually the circuit's more known for
01:28Lord of Lyddon and motorcycling than it is for Rallycross. Rallycross is new
01:33history. We've already proved it in two years. We've doubled our gate in the two years. We've doubled our people.
01:40The amount of people coming. It's been extraordinary. It's always going to work. People like to see these rare cars.
01:48We're putting on a show which, well there isn't one, for rallying Rallycross.
01:52In the sport of rallycross, it's important to keep the cars as light as possible by removing all non-essential
01:57parts. However some drivers take this a bit too far.
02:02After some urgent track maintenance, the racing could continue. Though as the cars became more difficult to control, some entrants
02:09were all too happy to see the checkered flag finally waved.
02:13Tim Forster for KMTV at Lyddon Hill.
02:16Tim Forster for KMTV at Lyddon Hill
02:16Tim Forster for KMTV at Lyddon Hill
02:16Tim Forster for KMTV at Lyddon Hill
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