Silverstone Sunday 3rd November 2013
The Spectator hadn't ventured outside of Leicestershire for his motor racing thrills since my last visit to Silverstone on June 2nd, so 5 months later, and for only the 4th time this season it was an early morning trip down the M1 to "The Home of British Motor Racing". The Walter Hayes Trophy is one of my favourite meetings of the year as Formula Ford drivers come from all over the globe to converge on the Silverstone National circuit. The 2012 final that was won in spectacular fashion by Tristan Nunez was my race of the year last year and the simple fact is that the good old 1600cc Kent engined F.Ford still provides some of the best racing around.
Sadly I couldn't make it on the Saturday when 6 heats were held along with HSCC Open and Closed wheel supporting races. Sunday consisted of 8 races, 6 of which were for F.Ford's and an Allcomers race each for Open wheel and Closed wheel cars. The weather on Walter Hayes weekend can be....interesting to say the least! On several occasions in the past the meeting has barely survived but it was a pleasantly dry and sunny day (if a little chilly in the breeze at Copse).
After qualifying sessions for both Allcomers races, 1st race of the day was the Progression race which produced the first of the day's 4 red flags with a multi-car shunt at Copse on the first lap. Winner, when the race restarted, was ex-Formula 3 driver Wayne Boyd who had been disqualified after winning his heat on Saturday (due to technical infringement) and started the Progression race at the rear of the grid. It didn't take long for him to hit the front but his Walter Hayes Trophy ended in the Last Chance race when he tangled with Phil Waldron on the exit of Luffield. This was another race that had to be restated and Adam Higgins won the 4 lap dash to determine the Semi-Final grids.
It's not everyday you get to see a Le Mans prototype in the same race as Mk.1 Toyota MR2 but as the name implies the race is for Allcomers. Mike Roberts elected to start from the back of the grid in his Lola and provided plenty of action scything his way through the field, eventually taking the lead with 5 laps to go. Much comedy was provided by an excursion onto the grass between Brooklands and Luffield by Renault Clio driver Peter Grimes. What started as a small error turned into an attempt to turn as much of the grass into mud with the car slithering this way and that until the car was simply driven into the wall at very low speed.....Marcus Bicknell's Mallock speared into the Luffield wall at much higher speed in the same race illustrating how wet the grass was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK0ec-RgGDM
The open wheel allcomers race wasn't quite as entertaining but it did feature a good battle for the lead between Mark Dwyer's March 742 and Neil Harrison's much newer F3 Dallara F398.
Following the Semi-Finals it was evident that Scott Malvern looked ominously quick as he easily won Semi 1 in his Kevin Mills Racing prepared Spectrum. Semi 2 was an old fashioned bun fight which was another race to be red flagged. The 8 lap restart was eventually won by Irish driver Kevin O'Hara after a great battle with Oliver White.
Race of the day however was the Bernard Baxter Trophy for Historic and Classic FF1600's. The race was won by Richard Tarling, a blast from the past who won the 1999 Formula Palmer Audi championship. I always felt he was one of the most unfortunate of drivers as the 1998 FPA champion, Justin Wilson, won a season in Formula 3000. Sadly for Tarling all he won was effectively another season in Palmer Audi......Tarling's Van Diemen RF80 emerged from a great 4 car scrap for the lead to win by 0.077secs from Sam Mitchell. Another blast from the past, Michael Vergers finished 5th after starting from the back in James Beckett's Van Diemen RF78 and had the race another couple of laps would have fininshed higher still.
The final race of the day and the final race of the year for The Spectator was the Final for the Walter Hayes Trophy. This was another race to be stopped following what was apparently a very heavy shunt at Copse. 13 laps instead of 15 but no matter for Scott Malvern who was never troubled on the restart and romped away to win by over 8 seconds. Oliver White emerged from the scrapping behind Malvern to finish 2nd with Kevin O'Hara 3rd.
Another enjoyable WHT in the books then. The knock out format always provides tension and maybe other forms of motor racing should look to this format instead of messing about with tyre compounds, wing settings, grids drawn out of hats, etc, etc. Admission was £10 on the gate which to be fair to Silverstone is the cheapest admission of all circuits in the UK for club meetings. The programme was over priced though at £3
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