What is Rallycross

Rallycross comprises of up to 8 cars racing on both tarmac and gravel surfaces, with over 60 races per day and over 80 competitors. Each race lasts a maximum of 3 minutes making Rallycross the ideal motor sport for competitors, spectators and sponsors.

Recognised as an official Championship by the MSA who are the governing body of Motorsport in Great Britain, the 2011 season came to an exhilerating finale with Julian godfrey claiming his first title victory in the Supercar category.

2011 champions include:

MSA Supercar Championship

Julian Godfrey
MSA Supernational Championship

James Bird
Swift Sport Championship

Dave Bellerby
Hot Hatch Championship

Micheal Duke
RX150 Championship

Ollie O'Donovan
BMW Mini Championship

Kris Hudson
MSA Junior Rallycross Championship (Suzuki Swifts)

Aidan Hills

Supercars

Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship
0-60Mph in 1.9 seconds!

Supercars is the top level of the sport and is where you will find the four-wheel drive cars for which Rallycross is best known. These are serious race cars; faster than a F1 to 60mph, the general rule of thumb is that if you need to ask how much it costs you probably can't afford it! Minimum National 'A' licence.
Click here for technical and championship regulations

Supernationals

MSA Supernational Rallycross Championship

Supernational is for two-wheel drive cars. There are few restrictions to how far these cars can be modified and tuned. There is a minimum weight limit of 800kg (including driver) and the engine must have the same number cylinders as the original car and remain in the original position. Minimum National '˜A' licence.
Click here for technical and championship regulations

Supernationals

Super 1600

Popular right across Europe, Super1600 is what it says on the can; 1600cc front-wheel drive saloons. Introduced to the BRC for the 2012 season, the class offers a viable stepping stone from the entry-point classes to pure racecars and opens the door to competing in International events.
An upgraded Hot Hatch could be the perfect way to enter Super1600. Minimum National 'B' licence.
Click here for technical and championship regulations

Junior and Senior Swifts

Swift Sport Rallycross Championship
MSA Junior Rallycross Championship

Perfect starting block for Rallycross, the very popular Suzuki Swift one-make saloon class runs alongside the MSA British rallycross championship. Based on the three-door Suzuki Swift, cars in the new series use a 160bhp, 1600cc/16v engine that has tightly controlled regulations so that the cars are equal and it is driver ability that shows through. Junior racers are able to compete between the ages of 14-17. The main benefit of the junior swift car is the ability to make the transition to seniors once the maximum age of the junior driver has been reached by making a straight forward engine change from the 1300 to 1600 engine. Minimum National '˜B' licence. For more information please visit www.petergwynne.com.
Click here for technical and championship regulations

Hot Hatch

Hot Hatch Rallycross Championship

One of the new classes joining The British Championship in 2011. The Hot Hatch category is for 1600cc 16V production cars with model restricted to not more than 10 years old.
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RX150

RX150 Rallycross Championship

The British Championship package also includes the RX150 'off-road buggies'. With 150bhp and weighing less than 600kg, these 1000cc Honda-engined rear-wheel drive racers are fast! Minimum National '˜B' licence. For more information please visit www.rxracing.co.uk.
Click here for technical and championship regulations

BMW Mini

BMW Mini Rallycross Championship

A new class for 2011, the one make 'BMW Mini Challenge' is a superb class that runs alongside the British Championship. Minimum National 'B' licence.
Click here for technical and championship regulations

Retro Rallycross

New for 2012, the Retro Rallycross Challenge will consist of 2 Rallycross Categories; Pre 1982 and 1982-1987. Permitted cars will be those that have, or of a type that have, been used in Rallycross in the relevant periods i.e. a genuine old Rallycross car or a replica built to period specification, which takes us back to the Historic cars that entertained with thrills and spills over 4 decades ago, and will allow for Group B Machinery. In addition a Historic Rally Car class is also catered for. More details from retrorallycross@aol.com
Click here for technical and championship regulations

Rallycross History

The first Rallycross event was organised at Lydden circuit, near Canterbury in Kent, on Saturday, February 4, 1967.

Originally intended as a one off conceived by Robert Reed, a producer on ABC TV's World of Sport programme and organised for the broadcaster by the Tunbridge Wells centre of the 750 Motor Club under the leadership of Bud Smith, the event was such a huge success that more TV specials soon followed. And it wasn't long before 'clubmans' events were being run for autocross, race and rally drivers who'd become captivated by the new sport.

The first event was won by Vic Elford - already a successful rally driver and someone who would go on to drive in F1 and have great success as a sports car racer - driving a Porsche 911 owned by AFN, at that time the official Porsche importer for Great Britain.

It is claimed that the foot and mouth outbreak of 1967, which caused the cancellation of that year's RAC Rally, gave rise to Rallycross. However, Rallycross had been born in February of '67 and the November foot and mouth disease actually prevented some drivers attending the first Rallycross event to be staged at Croft, near Darlington in County Durham, on December 30, 1967.

There is a link to the abandoned RAC Rally of 1967. A televised Rallycross had been organised to take place following the rally. However, following its cancellation, most of the foreign drivers and teams left Britain and the Rallycross lost many of its expected star entries. The event still took place and was won by Rootes Group driver Andrew Cowan.

With the bit firmly between its teeth, ITV ran a championship season through the winter of 1967 - '68, the winner of which, and the first man ever to win a Rallycross championship was Welshman Tony Chappell.

ITV's monopoly on the sport, its man Reed had thought up, was lost in August of 1968 when the BBC struck a deal with Lydden owner Bill Chesson giving them virtually exclusive access to events at the Kentish track. ITV moved North, basing itself at Croft and later added events at Cadwell Park, near Louth in Lincolnshire.

The television companies first fought over Rallycross then ignored it. ITV was gone by the middle '70s and BBC's coverage had declined to one or two events a year by the time it dropped the British round of the European Rallycross Championship from its roster a decade later. The British Rallycross Grand Prix was the last event to be shown by the national broadcaster but that too ended after the 1994 event - the last to be run at Brands Hatch and in the event's traditional winter slot.

Rallycross spread to Europe within a couple of years of its creation and in 1973 the 'Embassy European Trophy' was won by Scotsman John Taylor in an Escort RS1600. The first officially sanctioned European Rallycross Championship followed in 1976 - won by Austria's Franz Wurz in a Lancia Stratos - the same year that Britain got its official British Rallycross Championship, won by Trevor Hopkins in an Escort RS1800.

For more information please visit http://www.retrorallycross.com.