A brief history of the circuit
Lydden was founded in 1955 by Bill Chesson with the help of the Astra Motor Club. From 1957, they promoted stock-car racing and grass-track racing for motorcycles. By 1962, Chesson wanted to progress and laid a tarmac track to promote motor and motorcycle road racing. The original plan was for a 1-mile circuit but this scheme had to be put on hold when the tarmac ran out at what is known as the Devil’s Elbow.
In 1965, tarmac asphalt was laid for hosting car racing up to Formula Three and Lydden became extremely popular.
On February 4 1967, the sport of Rallycross was born at Lydden and since 1973, Lydden Hill has seen rounds of Embassy/ERA European Rallycross Championships and FIA European Championships for Rallycross drivers. To this day, Lydden still hosts British Rallycross Championships.
In 1986, Bill Chesson sold the circuit to Tom Bissett, marking the end of an era, and in March 1991 the Bissetts entered into a joint venture with McLaren. McLaren subsequently became sole owners and leased the track to the British Motorcycle Racing Club (BMCRC). BMCRC were based at Lydden until the end of 2007 and hosted the annual 'Lord of Lydden' and 'Sidecar burnup' races, together with a number of club motorcycle race meetings.
In 2008, Lydden Hill’s current owners took charge with an extensive plan of upgrades and developments for the circuit, including its brand new state-of-the-art Race Control facility.
Head to the race circuit's You Tube channel for more.