Each year in November, the Silverstone circuit in the UK sees the largest grid of Kent-engined Formula Ford’s gather to compete in the most prestigious event for the category in the world, the Walter Hayes Trophy. It leads to the question, who was Walter Hayes?
Remember the Ford Cortina and Ford Zodiac? It was in 1962 that the UK Ford public relations department made the push into motor racing in order to develop the Ford image, taking it from a stayed, drab and reliable image to one of excitement, speed, power and good old 60s’ sex-appeal.
The initial push was very successful and the person behind this was Walter Hayes. Hayes had entered the world of motorsport through Fleet Street. Working his way through the newspaper industry, at the age of 32 years-old, Hayes found himself the associate editor of the Daily Mail.
Ford was to offer him the position of the head of their public relations department where he started in January 1962. The early sixties saw a revival of the Ford rally program and the signing of a relatively unknown Jackie Stewart to promote the brand. So, began a relationship that would last for another forty-years.
While at the Daily Mail, Hayes was introduced to Lotus Cars owner Colin Chapman, who became an occasional contributor and commentator. This relationship would prove to be pivotal for Ford’s future involvement in Formula One.
With F1 engine capacity moving from 1.5 to 3.0 litre in 1966, Chapman had approached the Cosworth engine company to develop such a power unit but needed funding. Initially rejected by the Ford Motor Company, Chapman approached Hayes, by now the head of Ford’s public relations department. He was able to set up the right meetings for Chapman and a plan was hatched. (Main picture shows Cosworth founders Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth with Walter Hayes and the Ford Cosworth DFV engine)
The Cosworth DFV 3.0 litre V8 was launched by Hayes in Detroit at the end of 1965. The engine wasn’t ready for racing until the third Grand Prix in 1967 at Zandvoort in Holland. Graham Hill put his Ford DFV powered Lotus 49 on pole, but it was his team mate Jim Clark who won after Hill retired with gearbox issues. Hence began the golden age as the engine became the standard F1 power plant for most teams for many seasons ahead.
His relationship with Henry Ford II would see Hayes involved in the establishment of Ford of Europe, a merger of the British, German and Irish divisions of the Ford Motor Company.
He became vice-president of Ford of Europe and and later vice-chairman, eventually retiring in 1989. He passed away on 26 December 2000 aged 76.
And so the first Walter Hayes Trophy was first held at Silverstone in the UK between 26 and 28 August 2001 as a non-championship Kent-engined Formula Ford race sanctioned by the Historic Sports Car Club. The race was initiated by James Beckett and has since grown into the most prestigious Formula Ford race worldwide.
The race is now a stand-alone event held annually on the first weekend of November at the Silverstone Circuit in England.
The knockout competition sees professional drivers to the amateur racer, battling through a series of heats on the opening day of the event, to reach Sunday’s all-important knockout phase. Each race sees more drivers packing up and going home until after two semi-finals, the top thirty-six driver’s line-up for the Grand Final. The winner of this race will win the Walter Hayes Trophy, and join a growing list of distinguished drivers to have done so.
In 2019 it attracted over 100 entries.
Walter Hayes Trophy winners (year, driver, team, chassis)
2001 Neil Fowler, Neil Fowler, Lola T200
2002 Gavin Wills, Team West-Tec, Swift SC92
2003 Joey Foster, Marque Cars, Reynard 92FF
2004 Joey Foster, Marque Cars, Reynard 89FF
2005 Joey Foster, Marque Cars, Reynard 89FF
2006 Peter Dempsey, Cliff Dempsey Racing, Ray GRS06
2007 Peter Dempsey, Cliff Dempsey Racing, Ray GRS05
2008 Conor Daly, Cliff Dempsey Racing, Ray GRS07/08
2009 Connor De Phillippi, Cliff Dempsey Racing, Ray GRS08
2010 Peter Dempsey, Cliff Dempsey Racing, Ray GRS05
2011 Adrian Campfield, Kevin Mills Racing, Spectrum 011C
2012 Tristan Nunez, Cliff Dempsey Racing, Ray GRS08
2013 Scott Malvern, Kevin Mills Racing, Spectrum
2014 Wayne Boyd, Medina Motorsport, Van Diemen MS13
2015 Graham Carroll, BM Racing, Van Diemen JL13
2016 Niall Murray, Bernard Dolan Racing, Van Diemen RF99
2017 Michael Moyers, Kevin Mills Racing, Spectrum 011C
2018 Michael Moyers, Kevin Mills Racing, Spectrum 011C
2019 Jordan Dempsey, Kevin Mills Racing, Spectrum 011C
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