Walter Hayes Memorial Trophy
21.11.2003 by Ian Snoman
There was controversy in the Cloverleaf Media Heat 3 with Foster and Matt Rivett clashing at Brooklands on the first lap. Foster (Reynard 92FF) had to concede the lead to Rivett's Ray 97 at the start but the pair ran down National Straight side-by-side. Rivett was on the inside trying to retain the lead spun round, clipping the Reynard and sending Foster into the gravel.
Rivett continued in third place, behind Steve St Clair's Swift SC94 and Chris Whittingham's Reynard 89FF, but a pulled a blinding move to pass both into Copse at the start of lap three. Rivett pulled away from the next two, who had Stephen Lane's Lola T200 for constant company.
Down the order, John Pearson claimed fifth and Julian Heap sixth while Foster recovered to snatch seventh from last qualifier Dave Morgan on the final lap.
"I got up the inside of Joey and he didn't leave me an awful lot of room. I spun, we touched and he spun," said Rivett afterwards. Predictably, Foster said he thought there was plenty of room.
With all the big-hitters straight through to the semi-finals Sunday promises to be a great day. Adding to the interest is Foster's position well down the order - the Formula Ford Festival winner has been the quickest driver all weekend and one of just a handful to make it into the 1m 03s bracket.
MSO.net Semi Final One
By common consent this was the trickier semi of the two with the heat results having conspired to leave the grid top-heavy with big names. The biggest of all was Joey Foster, who started back in 11th place after his tangle with Matt Rivett on Saturday.
It was Rivett (Ray 98) that made the best start from the outside of the front row but with Stephen Roberts (Van Diemen RF92) sneaking ahead of Gavin Wills (Van Diemen RF00) on the run to Copse it was the North West driver that took the early lead. Foster's progress was phenomenal, however, Joey springing up to sixth position by the end of the opening lap.
He was up to third by the end of lap three with a pass on Wills at Luffield with Rivett his next target. Both continued round the lap as Richard Misters spun his sixth-placed Swift SC93 into the gravel at Woodcote. Meanwhile, Joey took the outside line into Brooklands for the fourth time and swept past Rivett without contact: now only Roberts stood in his way.
Foster was with Roberts by Becketts on lap five and had little trouble in getting ahead as the rain started to fall. Foster gradually amassed an advantage that reached 3.7-seconds by the time the chequered flag greeted him. Roberts was equally solid in second with Wills taking third despite not being able to maintain his pace in the dampening conditions. He'd got ahead of Rivett when the Stratford-upon-Avon man made a mistake at Becketts, Justin Dawkins (Van Diemen RF90) also taking advantage. Rivett's race ended prematurely with a spectacular engine blow as he went past the pits at the end of lap nine.
Dawkins was fourth, well clear of David Leslie (Royale RP24). The former BTCC star had an epic fight for fifth position with Steve St Clair's Swift SC94. On the back of his form in the repechage Derek Rodgers made it to seventh, eventually putting daylight between himself and eighth position man John Pearson. Neil Hunt and Nathan Freke rounded off the top ten, with that man Jason Minshaw 11th.
Silverstone Racing Club BRDC Walter Hayes Trophy Final
The stage was set in the final for a fantastic fight to the flag between Joey Foster and Peter Daly. The track was wet - much to Peter's liking as his Semi victory and double-win at Mallory Park last weekend showed. Foster was awesome in the dry, but would he be as impressive in the streaming conditions faced by the 33 starters? The answer was an emphatic "yes".
From pole position, Joey led into Copse with Daly following him closely on the way up to Becketts. Good starts were made from Gavin Wills (into third from fifth) and David Leslie (fifth from ninth); a less good one was made by Stephen Roberts (from third to ninth by the end of the first lap).
The gaps were building but the top three were getting away as the race unfolded, but proceedings were interrupted by the caution flags at the start of lap four: Philip Austin was beached in the gravel on the edge of Woodcote corner. Foster's 2.4-second advantage was nullified at a stroke.
When the green flags flew two laps later Daly got a bit of a run on Foster on the way to Copse, with the pair running side-by-side until the 20-year-old Cornishman nosed back ahead towards Becketts. Wills kept a watching brief in third, having a more competitive race than he might have expected given that his converted RF00 isn't the best car in the wet. There was a fight for fourth with Leslie getting the better of Neil Fowler into Copse on lap seven while Justin Dawkins watched on.
Before too much longer the cars were slowing to 50mph once more for another caution period, with the lap between the leading pack of cars and the remaining eight reaching almost two-thirds of a lap by the time racing resumed. This posed problems for Foster, who caught backmarkers at Luffield who hadn't even got as far as the green flag!
Foster had little trouble picking his way through, but Daly had more of an issue. Coming up the National Straight for the 12th time the Leicester man found himself boxed in, giving Wills the chance to pounce. He wasted little time and was ahead by Brooklands, while Daly momentarily lost third to David Leslie on the next lap.
With two laps to go Foster was already set for victory but Wills faced increasing pressure from a resurgent Daly. Ultimately it proved too much, with Wills' Van Diemen arcing gracefully into the Brooklands gravel. That left Daly to clinch second place, 4.4-seconds behind Foster, with Leslie in a fantastic third position on his return to single-seater action.
Fourth position went to Fowler, winner of the Walter Hayes Trophy in 2001 when it was contested only by Historic cars. Considering the calibre of the drivers ahead of him Dawkins did excellently to finish as high as fifth position. Paul Sleeman completed the top six after an extended dice with the likes of Roberts, John Hutchinson and Neville Smyth.
Sadly, Roberts and Smyth both hit problems in the last couple of laps, Smyth joining Wills in the kitty litter at Brooklands just yards from the chequered flag. Hutchinson did make it all the way and came seventh while Nathan Freke in eighth place was one of the surprise packages of the weekend. There was a spirited climb up to ninth place from Jason Minshaw, who finished ahead of Stephen Lane.
Mentions must also go to the other finishers: Steve St Clair, Derek Rodgers, Chris Whittingham, John Goldsmith, Julian Heap, Paul McMorran, John Pearson, Dave Morgan, Matt Green, Greg Thornton, Tristram Chattin, David Wild, John Lowes, Wills (he limped out of the gravel), Steve Mellish and Gareth Hall made it home in that order and all contributed to a great weekend. So did Smyth, Roberts, Steve Pearce, Paul Hubbard, Colin Williams, Austin and Neil Hunt, but they weren't lucky enough to see the chequered flag.
Joey Foster capped a brilliant two months - a period that saw him net wins in the UK Formula Ford Championship, secure the Formula Ford Festival title and shine in the Formula Renault Winter Series - with victory in the Walter Hayes Trophy. He was presented the trophy (which, incidentally, is retained by the BRDC - Joey takes home a replica) by Jackie Stewart and Walter's daughter Harriet in the BRDC club house following the race.
Foster had exactly the right attitude to the weekend - he was out to enjoy it, just like any other club racer. He was genuinely excited to be in the Don Hardman-run car and was delighted with his success. Not one of his competitors will begrudge him this latest success.
There were, meanwhile, other honors to be handed out. Remarkably, the four class winners filled the first four places so Daly, Leslie and Fowler all had extra reason to smile. The Smart Turnout Grand National award went to the Star of the Midlands team of Daly, Dawkins and Wills who, save for Wills' late error had an ultra-consistent weekend. Minshaw, meanwhile, took the Advancer award for making up the most places in the final.
The date for the 2004 BRDC Walter Hayes Trophy is already set for November 6/7. The 2003 event was a great success, there's no reason to believe that next year's won't be even better.