The long-awaited return of World Rallycross and Valentino Rossi's second appearance in Kent will be among the highlights of the county's motorsport season.

Circuit bosses at Lydden Hill and Brands Hatch have confirmed their 2023 calendars, with both tracks holding their first headline events in April.

The FIA World Rallycross Championship will head to Lydden for the first time since 2017 on July 22-23, while May 13-14 will see MotoGP legend Rossi return to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix loop in his second full year of sportscar racing.

Now featuring electric-powered Supercars, drivers in the World RX series will tackle Lydden's new-look rallycross circuit, featuring a huge tabletop jump and banked Chesson's Drift.

The changes were brought in for last year's Nitro Rallycross event, but the US-based series will not return to the one-mile circuit in 2023.

The headline Supercar class in the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy will support World RX, with Tristan Ovenden, of Adisham near Canterbury, and Sittingbourne's Mike Sellar both set to compete in their Citroen DS3s.

The British series will also be at Lydden on Easter weekend, with racing held on Saturday and Monday (April 8 and 10), and on November 4-5 for its season finale which will feature a fireworks display on the Saturday.

Other highlights include Historics on the Hill on June 25, which is due to feature one-make Pre-66 Mini races for the first time, and the Lord of Lydden motorbike event on October 21-22.

In north-west Kent, the British Truck Racing Championship will bookend the calendar of headline events at Brands Hatch, first visiting on April 8-9 before returning on November 4-5 for its fireworks finale.

Having switched from two wheels to four, Rossi will appear on May 13-14 for the GT World Challenge Europe event, handling a BMW M4 GT3 in place of the Audi R8 he drove last year.

A week earlier, the first of two visits from the British Touring Car Championship will be held on May 6-7, with Platts Heath charger Jake Hill targeting the title in his West Surrey Racing-run BMW.

The 28-year-old enjoyed his best-ever season in the category last year, guiding his 330e model to three victories and 10 other podiums on his way to third in the standings.

The tin-top finale will be held on October 7-8 – one week before the curtain-closer of the British Superbike Championship, which will appear at Brands on July 21-23 and October 13-15.

Click here for the full Lydden Hill calendar; or here for Brands Hatch.