The glory days of rallycross were celebrated at the sport’s spiritual home in July as the Lydden Legend Festival tapped into a rich well of nostalgia. The event followed the return in 2023 of the World Rallycross Championship to the Kent venue – which, alas, was cancelled due to a battery fire that destroyed the Delta tribute cars of the Special One WRX team. This new festival gathered a wonderful array of classic rallycross-related machinery and was devised in collaboration with organisers of a similar event held in Lohéac, France.

Inevitably, 1980s Group B and 4WD monsters proved the biggest draw as crowds flocked back to Lydden, while a cast of great names – including cult World Rally hero François Delecour, multiple European Rallycross champion Kenneth Hansen and British fan favourite Will Gollop – returned to the bowl-shaped venue that has changed little through the decades.

A range of rallycross ‘demonstration races’ were held – drivers strained to hold back their enthusiasm! – along with doses of action from the Junior and Supercar ranks, while Lydden’s cosy paddock was open to the public to allow fans to get up close and personal.

Philippe Tollemer, the concept creator of the Lohéac Legend Festival, ran the event with help from the French venue’s Patrick Germain and his team.

“Being passionate about historic rally and rallycross cars, the idea of bringing together all these universes and creating a festival for passionate drivers and a connoisseur audience came to me naturally,” said Tollemer. “The concept was to create a European event with 50% rally cars and 50% rallycross cars, each category having its own set of rules, and the outcome was a real-life museum, comprising of 90 racing cars ranging from the 1970s up to the 2000s.

“It was quite natural that we turned to the most beautiful rallycross circuit in France, Lohéac, for the first event in May 2023. It was an immediate success with 15,000 spectators and 90 exceptional cars from all over Europe. Everyone present had the feeling of having experienced an event of a new kind. In Lohéac, we decided to organise that event every other year to keep it exceptional, so it will return in May 2025. But my secret dream was for this concept to be exported to other countries, so I was immediately excited about the plans for the Lydden Legend Festival.”

It shouldn’t be a one-off. Plans are brewing for a second festival to run in 2026, but we hope it becomes an annual fixture, at a venue that’s an overlooked gem.