The Walter Hayes Trophy is a non-championship Formula Ford race. Sanctioned by the Historic Sports Car Club and created by James Beckett the race has grown into the most prestigious Formula Ford race worldwide. The race is held annually in November at the Silverstone Circuit.
History
[edit]The first Walter Hayes Trophy was held at Silverstone between 26 and 28 August 2001 after being created by James Beckett. It is named after Walter Hayes who was a Ford Motor Company public relations executive. As a public relations executive Hayes was very much involved with racing and was instrumental in the creation of the famous Cosworth DFV engine.[1] Hayes died on 26 December 2000, aged 76 and since, his name has carried on in this event.
Neil Fowler won the inaugural race in a classic Lola T200 beating 48 competitors.[2] The 2001 race was the only Trophy held in August as part of the Silverstone Historic Festival in which the race was sanctioned by the BRDC (British Racing Drivers club).[3] As of 2002 the race was and still is a stand-alone event, now sanctioned by the HSCC (Historic Sports Car Club). Gavin Wills won the 2002 edition and after that, Joey Foster won three races consecutively in 2003, 2004 and 2005 in a Reynard chassis. He is the most successful competitor after winning the race 4 times, once more in 2022 with Don Hardman Racing in a Firman RFR20 chassis. Four Team USA Scholarship racers have won the race, Conor Daly in 2008, Connor De Phillippi in 2009, Tristan Nunez in 2012 and Max Esterson in 2021. Fellow Team USA Scholarship drivers have finished highly in the event such as Oliver Askew, who finished second in 2016[4] to Niall Murray.
Winners
[edit]Year | Driver | Team | Car |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | ![]() |
Neil Fowler | Lola T200 |
2002 | ![]() |
Team West-Tec | Swift SC92 |
2003 | ![]() |
Marque Cars | Reynard 92FF |
2004 | ![]() |
Marque Cars | Reynard 89FF |
2005 | ![]() |
Marque Cars | Reynard 89FF |
2006 | ![]() |
Cliff Dempsey Racing | Ray GRS06 |
2007 | ![]() |
Cliff Dempsey Racing | Ray GRS05 |
2008 | ![]() |
Cliff Dempsey Racing | Ray GRS07/08 |
2009 | ![]() |
Cliff Dempsey Racing | Ray GRS08 |
2010 | ![]() |
Cliff Dempsey Racing | Ray GRS05 |
2011 | ![]() |
Kevin Mills Racing | Spectrum 011C |
2012 | ![]() |
Cliff Dempsey Racing | Ray GRS08 |
2013 | ![]() |
Kevin Mills Racing | Spectrum |
2014 | ![]() |
Medina Motorsport | Van Diemen MS13 |
2015 | ![]() |
BM Racing | Van Diemen JL13 |
2016 | ![]() |
Bernard Dolan Racing | Van Diemen RF99 |
2017 | ![]() |
Kevin Mills Racing | Spectrum 011C |
2018 | ![]() |
Kevin Mills Racing | Spectrum 011C |
2019 | ![]() |
Kevin Mills Racing | Spectrum 011C |
2020 | ![]() |
Souley Motorsport | Van Diemen JL015K |
2021 | ![]() |
Low Dempsey Racing | Ray GR18 |
2022 | ![]() |
Don Hardman Racing | Firman RFR20 |
2023 | ![]() |
Team Dolan | Van Diemen LA10 |
References
[edit]- ^ https://walterhayes.co.uk/motorsport-article/the-father-of-the-dfv-grandprix-com-january-26th-20001/
- ^ "Walter Hayes Trophy (2001-to date)". Motorsport Winners.
- ^ "Walter Hayes and the best investment in F1". Walter Hayes. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Alumni". Team USA Scholarship. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Joey Foster confirmed as 2022 Walter Hayes winner after court decision". 13 December 2022.