Walter Hayes Trophy 

Silverstone

6th - 7th November 2021

David Harbey reports on the Saturday Qualifying and Heats plus support races

Dry and overcast but not too chilly out of the breeze - can’t be Silverstone in November can it?  It was an early start on Saturday to make the half hour journey to Britain’s F1 and MotoGP venue for the Heats starting at 9am.

The PistonClick Circuit Guide shows there are places to get good shots either through, over, or around the fences at Silverstone and so I started at Copse, inspired by the work of Johnny Henchman who’s photo of Valentino Rossi hangs on my office wall.

Get close to the fence, open the aperture wide and try to shoot perpendicular to the fence. It also helps if the sun is not shining on the silver grey fence from behind you (look for the matt black paint on the fence).

I tried to slow the shutter speed as well to get a really blurry background. Not everyone gets it right at Copse - Chris Acton the contrarian here in #59 - no damage or injury although his heart might have been beating a little faster afterwards!

The Walter Hayes Trophy is for Formula Fords, but the organisers add in a couple of all-comers races. The NP-01 Evo 2000 of Ed Worthington was a new one on even the experienced Ian Titchmarsh on the PA, while the Porsche Cayman GT4 was a more familiar sight. This time we are shooting through the fence at Brooklands.

Probably my favourite location at Silverstone is looking back from Luffield to Brooklands. You need a step and extra tall monopod to accompany your 200-500mm super zoom to maximise the opportunity here otherwise you are shooting through two layers of fence.

Not everyone gets it right at Brooklands and Luffield.

The final location is the exit of Luffield where you can get very close to the fence to minimise the impact on your shot. 

Events conspired to mean that I could only get to the early action on Sunday morning but I briefly returned to the inside of Copse where I snapped Will Cox in his Van Diemen entered in the Monoposto race though the heavy fence. I rather like this one !

RPW Photography - Walter Hayes Trophy - Sunday

The home of British Motor Sport has many different track configurations, but it was the 1.6-mile Silverstone National Circuit that would see swarms of Formula Fords battle it out for the right to be crowned The Walter Hayes Trophy Champion 2021. This annual race hosts the most Formula Ford 1600s doing battle you will see all year. 

The ‘Hayes’ or WHT is a trophy to commemorate an ex journalist and executive who worked for the Ford motor company and celebrate the "Formula" Ford and his legacy. Hayes was instrumental in starting what was at the time a junior racing category, Formula Ford, the breeding ground for motor racing's future stars.

Formula Ford has now been established for over 50 years and due in no small part to Hayes. His foresight has enabled many up and coming race car drivers to fulfil their dreams of becoming a professional race car driver. 

These days Formula Ford still helps develop those young drivers with aspirations to become the next F1 world champion. However, the WHT is not just a race, it’s a celebration of the class and sees drivers young and old compete over the weekend for the number one spot.

Fifty years ago I don’t think Mr. Hayes would have had a clue that the formula he helped develop would still be going, and be supported so well by the old guard and the young guns.

The new generation of racer is a quite different to the racers of old, and go about gaining racing experience in a rather different way.  The winner of the WHT Max Esterson is a prime example.

Max started his racing career on computer simulations racing in the i-Racing e-sports leagues. The whole e-sports simulation gaming scene is now massive, with competitors playing all over the world.

 A lot of people will dismiss e-sports as a fad, but it’s here to stay and growing all the time, and if it draws new blood into racing it can’t be a bad thing. With an annual cash prize of half a million dollars it’s definitely going to continue to attract young racers. 

Team USA Scholarship driver #22 Max Esterson's route to the top of the podium was not all simulation, though. He has done his apprenticeship via karts and a season or two of Formula Ford.

In the Low Dempsey Racing Ray GR18, Esterson was at the front for most of the race, crossing the line to be the first American to win the WHT since Tristan Nunez in 2012.

The story of the race was not Esterson's win, but rather the battle behind him between Michael Moyers and last year's Formula Ford Festival winner Rory Smith.

The front runners were engaged in  close battle with multiple cars trying to fit onto the racing line, four abreast down the Wellington straight, coming into the Brooklands complex into Luffield is a sight to behold.

It all came to a head on lap 5, when Moyers and Smith had a coming together. As you can see from the pictures, Rory Smith in the #45 Medina Sport was unable to continue and #25 Michael Moyers in the Reynard 89FF lost a lot of ground, eventually crossing the line ten laps later in 29th place. 

Last year's winner Oliver White, sporting the number 1 plate, would come in second followed by #80 Ben Mitchell in the Medina JL17 to take the last podium for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend's racing.

Thanks to RPW Photography and David Harbey for helping out on this report. You can share this article with your friends on Social Media.