25 Years of Rallycross - (1992)
As long as enthusiasts enthuse there will always be prolonged debate on the birth of rallycross. Opinion is divided about the first rallycross meeting; some say it took place at Brands Hatch in 1963, others that Lydden was the venue in 1967. The Brands Hatch event was conceived to help the BBC TV Grandstand production team, a one-off meeting designed to fill the void caused by the cancellation of numerous horse racing events because of heavy snow and reoccurring sharp frosts.
Raymond Baxter was charged with conjuring up something exciting – and hey presto! The Monte Carlo Rally had just taken place and so there was an abundance of cars and drivers who were readily available. Bulldozers cut a series of swathes through the deep snow in the car parks at Brands in order to set up a series of special stages and one bitterly cold Saturday a surprisingly large crowd of spectators turned up to watch their own ‘mini-Monte’.
Vic Elford in the AFN Porsche 911 won the first 'Motor Rally-Cross' at Lydden 1967There was a superb entry and Eric Carlsson (Saab), Paddy Hopkirk (Cooper S) and Vic Elford (Vitesse) were all very impressive. But the stars of the show were unboubtedly Timo Makinen and one of the BMC team’s charismatic Austin-Healey 3000 models. The ‘Flying Finn’ thrilled the crowd with his verve and aggression as he hurled the big Healey through the snow drifts and bounced it between the snow banks on his way to victory. The event was called ‘Rallysprint’ and cars started one at a time as there was no room to pass.
Four years passed before Bill Chesson thought of attracting the Monte Carlo rally competitors to his recently completed circuit at Lydden. A promoter in the true sense of the word, Chesson had organised a variety of successful grass-track events at the venue and had laid a tarmac surface just a few months before. He had intended to make it one mile long but a temporary cash-flow problem meant that he had to turn back at the bottom of Hairy Hill to complete the circuit before he ran out of money. The North Bend hairpin loop was added later.
There were two grass tracks at Lydden. One was at the top of the hill behind the current paddock and was called Lydden Hill, while the other was on the same site as the existing circuit and was known as Lydden Autosports track. It seems ironic that certain sections of the motoring press, including Autosport correspondents, failed to understand the difference and until recently persisted in referring to the existing circuit as Lydden Hill.
The organisation of that first rallycross meeting at Lydden was entrusted to the Tunbridge Wells Centre of the 750 Motor Club and coverage by the World of Sport Programme (ABC TV at that time) guaranteed a first-class entry.
Significantly, almost a third of the competitors were driving factory team cars. BMC was represented by Tony Fall and Bob Freeborough in 1275 Cooper S models. For the Rootes Group Peter Harper and Eric Hassell drove Sunbeam Imp specials and there were factory Fords for Roger Clark and Brian Melia. Standard-Triumph relied on Roy Fidler’s Triumph 2000, while Porsche loaned Vic Elford a car through AFN.
Prominent private entrants in twin-cam Lotus Cortinas included Alan Allard, Rod Mansfield, who made his name in circuit racing with an Anglia, Rod Chapman, one of the sports’ first stars and Mike Butler, owner of a motor accessory business in Rochester.
Former British saloon car champion Ray Calcutt had somewhat ambitiously rescued an ageing Sunbeam Rapier from Alan Fraser’s garage, where he worked as a salesman after resigning from his previous job as a patrol car driver for the Kent County Constabulary. Other unlikely entries included John Sprinzel’s MG Midget and a Fiat Abarth for John Aley.
But the most consistently successful car was undoubtedly the Mini in its various forms and in the hands of drivers like Hugh Wheldon, ‘Jumping’ Jeff Williamson, David Preece, Brian Chatfield, Tony Skelton, George Jackson and Don Gilham, the little front-wheel drive machines were well to the fore in the formative years of rallycross. Later on drivers such as Tom Airey, Nick Jesty, Keith Ripp, Mike Bird and David Angel ensured the continuing success of the Mini.
Meanwhile a certain young man from Whistable with a mustard-coloured Mini was beginning to win Autocross events in the area. His name was Will Gollop.
The Full Article continued here:-
http://classiccarmag.net/25-years-of-rallycross/
...........your second photo looks like the startline at Lydden Hill in Kent
I used to love watching it on the telly on a Saturday as a kid.