Lydden Hill Reignites Rallycross In Assetto Corsa

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Rallycross is heating up in Assetto Corsa
Assetto Corsa is not known for rallycross or rally mods for the most part. However, with a selection of appropriate cars now available and circuits like Lydden Hill starting to appear, the modding community is certainly opening up to the niche of Rallycross.

Rallycross is not an absent genre in the world of sim racing. Dirt Rally and Dirt Rally 2.0 feature the fast and furious discipline, as does Automobilista 2. However, Assetto Corsa has always struggled to capture that side of sim racing. The tide appears to be changing, however.

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SEAT Cordoba Kitcar sideways through 'Chessons Drift'

The History Of Lydden Hill​

Lydden Hill Race Circuit, formerly known as Lydden Circuit, is a famous rallycross track located close to the port town of Dover in Kent, England. The mile-long circuit is used for Rallycross and drifting, however, there have been several saloon car races held at the venue as well as motorbike racing in the past.

Lydden Hill is the shortest road racing circuit in the United Kingdom and it was originally owned by McLaren. The British car manufacturer applied to have the circuit as a private testing venue for their road cars, however, this was turned down by the local council.

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Toyota vs Ford at the hairpin

On 4 February 1967, the sport of Rallycross was created at Lydden Hill. The original idea was thought up by then-TV producer, Robert Reed, and race organiser Bud Smith. Their idea for the race was to combine tarmac and dirt elements into the same race. The inaugural event was won by Vic Elford in his Porsche 911 and since that day, Lydden Circuit has been named as the home of Rallycross.

Fast forward to 2008, and British Rally X Champion and FIA European Rally X Championship runner-up Pat Doran managed to strike a deal and obtained the lease for the circuit from McLaren. He later became the owner of the circuit which he continues to oversee to this day.

Lydden Hill In Assetto Corsa​

This mod for Lydden Hill, brought to OverTake.gg by the creator Luis Barata, is free to download and try out for yourself! What makes this circuit fantastic, not only in the real world but now in Assetto Corsa, is the transfer to a dirt surface from the tarmac and back again. The setup on your car has to be really good to make it work on both surfaces. This is something very new to the world of Assetto Corsa and a welcomed addition.

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SEAT Cordoba taking the joker lap at Lydden Hill

The mod is fantastic quality, the surfaces feel good on both dirt and tarmac, the textures and recreation of the circuit really show the undulation in the landscape and most importantly, it is great fun to race around.

The downsides to the mod are that setting up a simulated rallycross event is impossible currently, the AI can not start on the dirt, nor can they take the joker lap. However, there are still plenty of awesome races to be had. If you have your own Assetto Corsa server, you and others can easily recreate a proper rallycross event!

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Lydden Hill's famous starting line. Image: Luis Barata

Overall, the Lydden Hill circuit is a fantastic addition for rally and rallycross fans to try out their favourite specialist cars with, let us know if you recreate any famous event that have taken place at this iconic venue.

What do you think about the Lydden Hill circuit? Let us know in the comments below!
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Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

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I had some great fun around this circuit in Project Cars 2, which lets you run both tarmac and Rally Cross events there IIRC. I recommend the Lotus 72 for a fun drive.
Nice to see a mod bringing it to AC as it doesn't get a lot of publicity and it's a fun little track.
 
I had some great fun around this circuit in Project Cars 2, which lets you run both tarmac and Rally Cross events there IIRC. I recommend the Lotus 72 for a fun drive.
Nice to see a mod bringing it to AC as it doesn't get a lot of publicity and it's a fun little track.
I will add from my side that Project Cars 2 should be mentioned when it comes to Rally Cross instead of AMS2 in the article. The second one haven't a joker lap for some time (maybe they fix it but I doubt), has 2 tracks and half a car;) Reiza took all the best of PC2 out of the board and now since 2021 or 2022 every year talks something about 'finish the game, a career mode (they literally deleted) and improved physics model':D

Rally Cross is for sure not worth mention in AMS2. Especially when they (if I'm wrong correct me please) hire modders which convert RX tracks from PC2 to AMS2 but at the same time talk about stealing content etc.
Reiza is a joke and I will be glad @Connor Minniss to add Project Cars 2 in your article to the list. AMS2 is not even close. Thank you.
 
I will add from my side that Project Cars 2 should be mentioned when it comes to Rally Cross instead of AMS2 in the article. The second one haven't a joker lap for some time (maybe they fix it but I doubt), has 2 tracks and half a car;) Reiza took all the best of PC2 out of the board and now since 2021 or 2022 every year talks something about 'finish the game, a career mode (they literally deleted) and improved physics model':D

Rally Cross is for sure not worth mention in AMS2. Especially when they (if I'm wrong correct me please) hire modders which convert RX tracks from PC2 to AMS2 but at the same time talk about stealing content etc.
Reiza is a joke and I will be glad @Connor Minniss to add Project Cars 2 in your article to the list. AMS2 is not even close. Thank you.
yeah project cars 2 has awesome content, the mod cars in AMS2 are a joke, even the official cars feel simcade, but the mod cars are worst than Need for speed.
For the RX content, project cars 2 is the best, with Dirt rally 2.0 behind.
 
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yeah project cars 2 has awesome content, the mod cars in AMS2 are a joke, even the official cars feels simcade, but the mod cars are worst than Need for speed.
For the RX content, project cars 2 is the best, with Dirt rally 2.0 behind.
I don't have Dirt Rally 2.0 and don't spent much time in Dirt Rally 1.0 because I playing mainly an offcial WRC games these times so I believe you (some kind of 'trust u bro';)).

For sure PC2 has amazing content when it comes to RX because of most famous tracks (can I use word 'circuits'? Thank for answer in advance!). The only problem was difficulty level (they must be much higher than in normal races but it's well known issue. PC2 had problems but it is masterpiece IMHO at the same time - don't worry I like many racing games then and now).

That's the main reason I bought AMS2 (after dissapointment of PC3) but Reiza don't deliver in my eyes for so many years and in so many aspects that I gave up. BTW Someone who play long enough in PC2 know what difficulty settings sets for certain class races.

But because I turn on offtopic (I'm sorry for it) let's have a look at RX tracks in PC2:

1 - Brands Hatch
2 - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
3 - Daytona International Speedway
4 - Dirtfish Rally School
5 - Hockenheimring
6 - Knockhill Racing Circuit
7 - Lankebanen - Hell
8 - Loheac-Bretagna
9 - Lydden Hill

And nice add-on to this:

10 - Mercedes-Benz Ice Track
--- 11 - East Circuit
--- 12 - North Circuit
--- 13 - South Circuit
--- 14 - West Circuit


AMS2 has literally 5 tracks because 2 of them are exactly the same as in PC2 (two of them are more suitable for rally kart too - Tykki and something else but I don't remember):

1 - Ascurra Dirt Track
2 - Tykki Dirt Track
3- Foz
4 - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (PC2 version)
5 - Hockenheimring (PC2 version)
6 - Nürburgring
7 - Spa-Francorchamps

Now let's be honest and answer dear reader to yourself if you want go on Spa or Tykki or maybe rather Lydden Hill or Dirtfish?

If I missed something just point me a fail statement. Corrections are always welcome.
 
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I don't have Dirt Rally 2.0 and don't spent much time in Dirt Rally 1.0 because I play mainly an offcial WRC games these times so I believe you (some kind of 'trust u bro';)).

For sure PC2 has amazing content when it comes to RX because of most famous tracks (can I use word 'circuits'? Thank for answer in advance!). The only problem was difficulty level (they must be much higher than in normal races but it's well known issue. PC2 had problems but it is masterpiece IMHO at the same time - don't worry I like many racing games then and now).

That's the main reason I bought AMS2 (after dissapointment of PC3) but Reiza don't deliver in my eyes for so years in so many aspects I gave up. BTW Someone play long enough in PC2 know what difficulty settings sets for certain class races.

But because I turn on offtopic (I'm sorry for it) let's have a look at RX tracks in PC2:

1 - Brands Hatch
2 - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
3 - Daytona International Speedway
4 - Dirtfish Rally School
5 - Hockenheimring
6 - Knockhill Racing Circuit
7 - Lankebanen - Hell
8 - Loheac-Bretagna
9 - Lydden Hill

And nice add-on to this:

10 - Mercedes-Benz Ice Track
--- 11 - East Circuit
--- 12 - North Circuit
--- 13 - South Circuit
--- 14 - West Circuit


AMS2 has literally 5 tracks because 2 of them are exactly the same as in PC2 (two of them are more suitable for rally kart too - Tykki and something else but I don't remember):

1 - Ascurra Dirt Track
2 - Tykki Dirt Track
3- Foz
4 - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (PC2 version)
5 - Hockenheimring (PC2 version)
6 - Nürburgring
7 - Spa-Francorchamps

Now let's be honest and answer dear reader to yourself if you want go on Spa or Tykki or Lydden Hill or Dirtfish?

If I missed something just point me a fail statement. Corrections are always welcome.
Project cars 2 has wildcrest and snow
 
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Project cars 2 has wildcrest and snow
Yup! I think ice and snow caused problems with AMS2 improvements so they removed them (probably forever). However they have a mess in a files because you can easily find icons and some other stuff from PC2 in the installation folder.
They literally change what they can, remove what works (like GUI to looks different and don't work well with mouse) and sold to us (or me at least). I was sure it's comes to rights to Madness Engine only but it seems otherwise. I mean they bought full right to the game (except title) and game code, change few things (sometimes for much worse) and sold them.
It was good in 2020 but after 4 years this game is the same but with worst FFB (IMO) and same bugs. It's very dissapointment they earn money for nostalgia and do nothing (even with GUI what is absolutely lazy) for such a long time. I still can't ignore it.

EDIT:
P.S. Don't forget about great PC2 OST composed by: Stephen Baysted (and with 2 or 3 tracks made by Audio Android and Guy Michelmore). Masterpiece.
 
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"This is something very new to the world of Assetto Corsa"

This statement is absolutely false. A number of good quality rallycross tracks have been available for Assetto Corsa for many years.
 
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"This is something very new to the world of Assetto Corsa"

This statement is absolutely false. A number of good quality rallycross tracks have been available for Assetto Corsa for many years.
But you mean mods right? Because I don't remember Kunos created something RX related in AC.
 
"This is something very new to the world of Assetto Corsa"

This statement is absolutely false. A number of good quality rallycross tracks have been available for Assetto Corsa for many years.

Yeah, in every mod article Overtake say that it's the first time something like that appears on the planet. Despite hosting other rallycross mods on this very website.

But it must be said that for some reason RX tracks for AC tend to have glitches, like the car going through the walls. And of course, timing deltas barely work because of the alternative joker-lap route. I'd have some decent fun with the AI if I could just drive the tracks as I do any other, without the joker-laps shenanigans which don't work in single-player anyway. Perhaps doing something about these tracks would reignite the genre better, because some of them like Holjes are considerably more fun than Lydden.

As it stands, the most fun offline rallycross game is Wreckfest — because it has more than a handful of tracks, and the AI can do their thing.
 
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Rallycross in Dirt Rally is not the best experience. It is much better in Project Cars 2, Sebastien Loeab Rally Evo (the usual underated gem) and V Rally 4.
I don't remember how it felt in Dirt 4. There are many games to enjoy the discipline, tjat's why it is not that popular in AC, especially with the not so enjoyable dirt physics (some tracks are better than.others though) and the usual ugly graphics of modded dirt rallycross tracks. With the recent dirt physics enh1ncement and with more quality tracks like this one, Rallycross in AC could be quiet fun, but I still don't see it as a replacement of the games.I've mentionned. But we already got a lot of tracks we shaml.never see in any other game.

Wreckfest is indeed absolutely amazing for Rallyceoss if you play the game that way :D
I must admit that I found surprisingly online clean races qlthough I was expecting crashes everywhere. There are much more online 1st lap crashes in regular sims :D
 
I read your message as having more meaning, if that was not the intention then I apologise! Didn't mean to sound that aggressive.
Don't worry. It's harder to communicate by writing than speaking to each other in real life;) The fact is I played AC on PS4 and I'm not so oriented in mods to this game on PC yet (that's why I mentioned about official RX DLC I never heard of). I missed a part of the article too probably, so your question was right from your point of view in my opinion. I don't want sound like a 'troll' or something then;) I should do more 'research' (probably 3 minutes long) before asking something obvious in the future;)
BTW Thank you for answer and I'm sorry for 'lazy' and irritating question:)
 

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