Walter Hayes Trophy

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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.

Contents

History

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] From 2002, the race became (and still is) a stand-alone event. The events held between 2002 and 2006 were sanctioned by the BRDC, with this role being taken by the HSCC (Historic Sports Car Club) from 2007. 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. Drivers from the United States must user a Ford Kent engine, as the Honda L15A7, which has dominated domestic Formula Ford racing in Sports Car Club of America sanctioned competition since being legalised in 2010 for Kent-based Formula Ford racing, is prohibited in this event.

Winners

YearDriverTeamCar
2001 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Neil FowlerNeil Fowler Lola T200
2002 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gavin Wills Team West-Tec Swift SC92
2003 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Joey Foster Marque Cars Reynard 92FF
2004 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Joey Foster Marque Cars Reynard 89FF
2005 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Joey Foster Marque Cars Reynard 89FF
2006 Flag of Ireland.svg Peter Dempsey Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GRS06
2007 Flag of Ireland.svg Peter Dempsey Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GRS05
2008 Flag of the United States.svg Conor Daly Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GRS07/08
2009 Flag of the United States.svg Connor De Phillippi Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GRS08
2010 Flag of Ireland.svg Peter Dempsey Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GRS05
2011 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Adrian CampfieldKevin Mills Racing Spectrum 011C
2012 Flag of the United States.svg Tristan Nunez Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GRS08
2013 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Scott Malvern Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum
2014 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Wayne Boyd Medina Motorsport Van Diemen MS13
2015 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham CarrollBM Racing Van Diemen JL13
2016 Flag of Ireland.svg Niall MurrayBernard Dolan Racing Van Diemen RF99
2017 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Michael MoyersKevin Mills RacingSpectrum 011C
2018 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Michael MoyersKevin Mills RacingSpectrum 011C
2019 Flag of Ireland.svg Jordan DempseyKevin Mills RacingSpectrum 011C
2020 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver WhiteSouley Motorsport Van Diemen JL015K
2021 Flag of the United States.svg Max Esterson Low Dempsey Racing Ray GR18
2022 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Joey Foster [5] Don Hardman RacingFirman RFR20
2023 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chris MiddlehurstTeam Dolan Van Diemen LA10
2024 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rory SmithB-M RacingMedina Sport JL18

References

  1. "The Father of the DFV. GrandPrix.com, January 26th 20001 – Walter Hayes CBE".
  2. "Walter Hayes Trophy (2001-to date)". Motorsport Winners.
  3. "Walter Hayes and the best investment in F1". Walter Hayes. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. "Alumni". Team USA Scholarship. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. "Joey Foster confirmed as 2022 Walter Hayes winner after court decision". 13 December 2022.