Silverstone Saturday/Sunday 5th/6th November 2016
I don't get to both days of 2 day meetings a lot these days but do try and go to both days of the WHT. Saturday morning saw qualifying for the 6 Heats of the WHT along with a couple of support races for Pre '70 Historics and Post '69 Historics. With just 10 minutes allocated to each Heat for qualifying, there was no hanging about by drivers eager to set a time. None of the expected front runners hit problems during qualifying though and the only incident to cause a red flag was during qualifying for Heat 5. This was a very bizarre incident, a Marshal required medical attention at Becketts and the Medical Car sped out of the pit lane just as the session was stopped. As I walked up to Becketts to see what was happening I was greeted by the sight of the Medical Car being lifted onto the back of the flat bed recovery truck!! Apparently the engine had blown in the medical car on the way to Becketts and the marshal who required assistance walked into the ambulance....
The Heats of the WHT can be quite cagey at times as drivers don't want to risk too much and put themselves into the lottery that are the Progression & Last Chance but Heat 1,that took place before the lunch break, saw front row qualifiers, Ben Norton & Kyle Kirkwood collide and Luke Cooper drop to 6th after a spin. Irish driver Jordan Dempsey winning...So much for caution!
Heat 1 set the scene as all the days Heats saw some fantastic action. Heat 2 saw an epic battle for the lead between WHT stalwarts Rob Hall & Stuart Gough. Gough had the faster car but Hall's racecraft saw him take the flag first just 0.121 secs ahead.
Heat 3 saw the battle of the big hitters...Wayne Boyd and Formula Ford Festival winner Niall Murray. Murray had won very dominantly at Brands Hatch 2 weeks previously and was the pre-event favourite. Murray initially pulled away early in the race but Boyd reeled him back in and pipped Murray on the line to win by 0.093 secs...Interesting to note that Boyd was driving a new Medina chassis and to win first time out was an impressive achievement for John Loebell's team. In the post race interview Murray said he'd suffered from a gear lever problem and wasn't unduly concerned by finishing 2nd....
Heat 4 was the best race I've seen in quite a while. A superb 6 car scrap for the lead that saw Chase Owen lead over the line on lap 6 but by the finish on lap 8 was hustled down to 6th. Just 1.433 seconds covering the top 6 in a race won by 2003,2004 & 2005 WHT winner Joey Foster. Breathless stuff and this was followed by a a 5 car lead train in Heat 5. FF1600 veteran Ed Moore capitalising on some frantic action around him to win..Just 1.072 secs covering the top 5 on this occasion.
The days dominant Heat winner came in Heat 6. The race had to be red-flagged following an oil spillage at Becketts that saw front runners, Stephen Daly & James Raven crash. The Team USA Scholarship winner Oliver Askew finishing a whopping 8 seconds ahead of last years WHT Trophy, Graham Carroll who had recovered from a spin whilst battling with Chris Middlehurst at Brooklands. Carroll was driving a new Firman chassis and it's good to see that contemporary chassis like the Medina and Firman are still being made for the Kent engined class. Askew was very impressive and his form in his heat made him the overnight favourite to win the trophy as dusk descended on Silverstone.
Of the two Historic races the Pre'70 was a cracker. After early leader Charles Angrave's Zink Mk3 had retired there was a fascinating battle for the lead between the Merlyn of George Daws and the mighty 5.7 litre Chevrolet Camaro of Chas Mallard. Sadly Mallard retired on the last lap, expiring in a haze of smoke on the Wellington Straight. The Post '69 was less entertaining...Poleman Andrew Schryver started from the pit lane in his Chevron B26 in a bid to make it more entertaining but he romped through the field very quickly to win with ease.
Action on Saturday finished just before 4.30pm and as I headed home there appeared to be a large amount of people coming into the circuit to see Fireworks and a Bonfire..Apparently it was Bonfire Night...a tradition that even as a child I found completely baffling and disliked immensely! Whether it's the complete waste of money that Fireworks are, the standing about in the freezing cold night or the Catholic in me but I just don't do Bonfire Night.....!! What can be said is that there were definitely more people inside the circuit for the Fireworks than there were all day for the Motor racing. After a superb days action, more fool them I say....
Sunday dawned bright and sunny but bitterly cold. Frost in the hedgerows early in the morning...Winter had definitely arrived. I came so very close to being wiped out by an elderly driver on the A5 on the way to Silverstone too so was counting my lucky stars that I'd arrived in one piece!!
The Progression race kicked the day off at 9.00am and saw the other Team USA Scholarship winner Kyle Kirkwood stroll to the win ahead of Ben Norton, Scott Andrews, Stephen Daly, James Raven & Jamie Thorburn all of whom were quick drivers who had suffered problems in the Heats the day before.
It's not very often that you get a race where 6 of the top 8 finishers started on the back 3 rows of a 36 car grid but that's exactly what happened in the Last Chance Race! The 6 drivers mentioned above from the Progression race advanced further into the Semi-Finals. Australian Scott Andrews making the better start from the rear and battling through the hordes to emerge ahead of Stephen Daly & Kyle Kirkwood. Adam Higgins in 5th just ahead of his dad Bob Higgins in 6th.
The 2 Semi-Finals were thrillers...Niall Murray avenging his defeat by Wayne Boyd in their Heat by beating Boyd to the flag by 0.199 secs in Semi 1. Semi 2 won by the increasingly impressive Oliver Askew just 0.097 secs ahead of Michael Moyers with Joey Foster in 3rd.
Rain was forecast to arrive in the early afternoon and unusually for the forecasters they got it right! Heavy rain hit Silverstone just before the start of the Non Historic Consolation race. After 2 unbelievably slow green flag laps, poleman Thomas Cappezone must have had a plan as he then went on to win. The Historic Consolation race saw the rain begin to ease and poleman Neil Tofts winning easily. These consolation races are a very good idea and both featured capacity grids. A new concept and one where it gives a driver the chance to race at least 3 times over the weekend.
It also gives less time for support races to happen. Support races at the WHT have always taken second place to the Formula Ford action and Sundays Closed wheel and Open wheel were a mixed bag. The Open wheel race saw poleman Cian Carey's F3 Dallara have a problem on the first lap and drop to 8th but then battle his way back in the 20 lapper to finish just 1 second behind the F5000 March of Jamie Brashaw.
The Closed wheel 20 lapper went the way of the always fast Jon-Paul Ivey's Radical. Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton finished first and second in this seasons Ginetta Junior championship and it was good to see them both race in both the Open Wheel and Closed Wheel races. Both gaining important race experience in widely different machinery.
So to the Grand Final of the 2016 Walter Hayes Trophy....With the rain just about stopped it was on a greasy circuit that saw Niall Murray on pole with Oliver Askew along side him on the front row. Murray went on to dominate the races 15 laps finishing 8.5 secs ahead of Askew. Murray's lines were immaculate around Brooklands and Luffield and he made it look very easy. Askew was always nearby without getting close and after he went wide at Brooklands towards the end of the race the Trophy was Murray's. It was the battle for the final place on the podium that held the attention. From 19th on the grid following a spin in his Semi, Josh Fisher emerged to grab 3rd from Kyle Kirkwood in 4th. Kirkwood had started 23rd on the grid and he must have been kicking himself for his collision with Ben Norton in Heat 1 that put him on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.
After a few years where the Final's have been epics this years didn't quite set the world alight but as an event there isn't much better than the Walter Hayes Trophy.
After 2 very cold but enjoyable days it was time to head home and look forward to the 2017 version! Admission on the gate was £10 on both days and a very good programme was purchased for £5. With lots of articles written by event guru James Beckett it made for a good read. The fact that it wasn't sold on the gate but on an interior access road in the middle of the circuit was somewhat bizarre but that's Silverstone....They don't want spectators to have it too easy!!
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