Vehicle Transport to Lydden Hill Circuit
Lydden Hill is not a circuit you can describe to someone who has only done a flat airfield. It sits in a grassy bowl in the North Downs, a few miles off the A2 between Canterbury and Dover, and the lap is short, undulating and deceptively hard on a car. It is most famous as the home of British rallycross, and it still runs the big rallycross weekends that bring the fastest mixed-surface cars in the country onto a blend of tarmac and loose going. On top of that you have drift days, circuit racing and track days, so the same paddock that holds a WRX round one weekend can be full of drift cars the next. The geography matters more here than at most circuits, because Lydden is right on the route continental teams take into the UK. Dover's ferry port and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone are both within half an hour, which means European rallycross and drift crews regularly land in Kent and then need their cars moved, collected or held. We have met plenty of trailers at the port and taken the car the rest of the way. From Devon, Lydden is a long but straightforward run east, and the last stretch through Canterbury or down the A260 gets tight and fiddly with a loaded trailer. It is not the sort of place to arrive late and hope for room, because the paddock slopes and fills quickly on rallycross weekends. We get the car there the day before, parked where the team wants it, so the driver turns up and goes straight to sign-on. That is the pattern we know works at Lydden: collect in Devon, run it east, deliver to the paddock before the gates get busy, and reverse it all on Sunday evening when the car is muddy and tired.
Rallycross cars
Rallycross cars are built for loose surface and tarmac in the same lap, and they are rarely road legal. Knobbly or cut tyres, locked diffs and no lights make them a trailer job every time. We carry them fully loaded, fuelled and ready to run, so the only thing you do at Lydden is sign on and get to the grid. No spares in the cab of a van, no messing about.
Drift cars and drift days
Lydden runs regular drift days and drift competitions, and drift cars are as far from road legal as it gets. Wide arches, welded diffs, no handbrake cable left intact. We winch them up a ramp and strap them down low, so a car that sits millimetres off the deck arrives without a scraped splitter. You turn up, unload, and go straight to the pad.
Continental teams at Dover and Folkestone
Lydden is the closest major circuit to the Channel crossings, and a lot of European rallycross and drift crews land at Dover or Folkestone and need their cars moved the last stretch into Kent. We meet trailers at the port or tunnel, load the car, and deliver it to the paddock, then do the same in reverse when the team heads back to the boat.
Circuit race and track-day cars
On the weekends when Lydden runs circuit racing rather than rallycross, the paddock fills with the usual mix of race and track-day cars that are not taxed or MOT'd. We move them the same way we move everything else: on a trailer, covered, delivered to your garage spot in the paddock. The run east from Devon is long, so we time it to miss the M25 at its worst.
Paddock-to-paddock from Devon
We are based in Exeter, and Lydden is one of the longer hauls we do on a regular basis. We know the route east and the tight final miles down the A260 or through Canterbury, where a long trailer wants care. We collect your car from its garage in Devon and put it in the Lydden paddock the day before your event, so the drive and the driving are two separate jobs.
Non-runners and muddy recoveries
Rallycross and drift weekends leave cars broken and filthy, and that is when getting one home gets difficult. We collect non-runners with a winch, mud and all, and we do not need the engine to turn over or the wheels to spin straight. If a car has lunched its gearbox in the final, we still get it back to Devon, often with half the track still stuck to it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lydden Hill only for rallycross, or do you move cars for other events there?
Rallycross is what Lydden is famous for, but the venue runs a busy mix of circuit racing, drift days, drift competition and track days across the year. We move cars for all of them, and the job is the same regardless: collect from your door in Devon, carry it east, and put it in the paddock before the day starts. Rallycross and drift cars are usually the least road legal, so those are the ones we see most often.
I am coming over from mainland Europe with my rallycross car. Can you meet me at Dover or Folkestone?
Yes, we do that regularly. Tell us which ferry or tunnel you are booked on and when you land, and we will be at the port to take the car off your trailer and carry it to Lydden. The circuit is only about half an hour from both Dover and Folkestone, so the handover is quick. We can do the same in reverse when you head back to the boat, which saves you fighting the A2 with a loaded trailer.
My drift car has no tax, no MOT and sits very low. Can you actually load it?
That is what we deal with all the time. We use a long ramp and a winch, so ride height is not a problem, and the car gets strapped down at the wheels so the suspension does not bounce it loose. Low splitters, wide arches and locked diffs are all fine on a trailer. We do not need the car to run or roll, and we do not need you to do anything except hand over the keys.
How long does it take to get a car from Devon to Lydden Hill?
It is a long run, the best part of a day on the road, so we usually collect the day before your event and deliver to the paddock that evening. That way the car is there and settled before sign-on the next morning. We plan the route to dodge the M25 and the Dover traffic at its worst, and we do not promise same-day delivery for an early-morning start because it is not honest to.
Can you move a whole team of cars to a Lydden rallycross meeting?
Yes. If two or three of you are sharing a transporter, or you are running a couple of cars in one class, we can move the lot in a single run rather than making you book separate trailers. One collection point, one drop-off, and we coordinate with whoever is driving the support van so everything lands in the paddock together and you are not missing a set of wheels at sign-on.
What if my car gets broken or written off in the final and I need it home from Lydden?
We recover non-runners from Lydden the same way we deliver them. Ring us with what happened and where the car is, and we will winch it onto the trailer, running or not, and get it back to Devon. You do not need to stay at the circuit. If you have already gone home or need to catch a ferry yourself, we can collect keys and paperwork from your team and sort the rest.