Simpson Targets Continued Flawless Championship Campaign at Lydden

The OBP Motorsport Retro Rallycross Championship continues this bank holiday Monday 26^th August where the classic Retro category will once again wow crowds at round 5 with epic pieces of race machinery from yesteryear.

Gary Simpson (York) in his BMW E30 is looking to further extend his flawless 2019 championship campaign which he currently leads by 41 points going into the traditional bank holiday Monday visit to the Kent circuit. Another maximum points haul will further strengthen his position from closest rival John Cross (Basingstoke) in his spectacular Lancia Stratos making it almost mathematically Impossible for the York racer to be beaten in the two remaining rounds at Pembrey and Croft later this year.

While Simpson may get complacent, Cross will be pulling out all stops at the Kent venue, a track which he knows extremely well, and he’ll also be challenging hard for the top spoils. However, last time out at Lydden, Cross had a coming together with a course marker which heavily damaged the front of his stunning Stratos and ultimately cost him any chance of a win.

Brian Hardman (St Helens) is also expected to put in a good performance in his Ford Escort MK2. Hardman finished runner up in the two previous rounds at Pembrey.

The larger engined ‘Super Retro’ category will also feature Phil Collard who will be back out in the immaculate Renault 5 that he has been developing during the season. With the gremlins, that has hampered his efforts so far, all fixed he will be another one to watch out for.

Joining the Championship for the first time this year is Escort BDA racer and 3 times Retro Rallycross Champion  Ray Morgan. The Hastings driver is returning from an illness that stalled his 2019 plans for the start of the season. Expect him to be back on full form with his sideways, thrilling driving style, which is always a crowd pleaser.

Meanwhile in the Retro Rallycross Category, Steve Cozens (Devon) has also claimed a flawless clean sweep of maximum points in his ex-Dan Rooke Supernational title winning Citroen AX GT. Going in to round 5 Cozens has his work cut out to maintain the lead with heavy pressure from 2^nd and 3^rd place racers Mark Finch (London) and Simon Hart who are just 24 and 26 points away from Cozens respectively, with just 2 points separating them they are both well placed as they continue in their efforts to stop Cozens getting even further ahead in the Retro Rallycross, under 1600cc class. Paul Smith (VW Polo) and Terry Moore (Mini) will put in their usual appearances in the class which add an even different dimension to the eclectic mix that is found in Retro Rallycross.

The Lydden round will also see a welcome return to Wigan based racer Tony Lynch who, having moved over to join the Retro Championship at the start of the season, took a break to concentrate on improved development of the Toyota MR2 that has seen the old standard 4A-GE engine replaced with a new normally aspirated performance 4A-GE unit. Lynch returns with support from the teams new sponsors Landsail Tyres.

” Lydden Hill is of course most people’s favourite rallycross venue, the Retro Rallycross drivers all look forward to their return visit to Kent,’‘ said Retro Rallycross Promoter Shirley Gibson. ” The August Bank Holiday event is always a celebration showing British rallycross at its very best and where better to do this than at the pinnacle home of the sport. I’m delighted to see the welcome return of Ray Morgan and Tony Lynch both of whom are no strangers to chasing and winning championships, their appearances may shake thing up a bit even more and add to the excitement of the close points situation. For the third year running our overall champion could emerge from either of the Retro categories and with just 3 rounds left to play for I’m expecting another exciting nail-biting finish. As always, I wish them all the very best of luck.”

Entry list can be found here https://www.rallycrossbrx.com/news/entry-list-revealed-for-british-rx-r5-at-lydden-hill

Advance tickets can be purchased at https://lyddenhill.co.uk/events/british-rallycross-championship-2/ or £12 on the gate