Rory Smith resists race-long pressure to win thrilling WHT final

Photo: Ida Wood

B-M Racing’s Rory Smith resisted multiple challenges to win a frenetic Walter Hayes Trophy Grand Final on Silverstone’s National layout.

It’s Smith’s first Walter Hayes triumph,  his previous best result being seventh, and he has now won both of Formula Ford’s showpiece events having been victorious twice at the FFord Festival.

While Smith lined up from pole, there was initially some uncertainy as to who would start alongside him on the front row. KMR Sport’s Andrew Rackstraw, who won the second semi-final, was initially relegated to 26th on the grid for the final due to track limits infringements before reinstated in second just moments before the cars left the assembly area.

The front two maintained their positions at the start, with Smith leading into Copse from Rackstraw, while Team Dolan’s Jason Smyth held onto third. Klayden Ensor-Smith made a slow getaway from the inside of the second row and slipped behind his KMR team-mate Michael Eastwelll and Dolan’s Chris Middlehurst.

Rackstraw weaved about behind Smith as he contemplated a move for the lead into Brooklands for the first time before holding station, but he then drew alongside as the cars commenced lap two and edged ahead after taking the outside line through Copse. Having resisted a further challenge from Middlehurst into Becketts, Smith drove around the outside of Rackstraw into Brooklands before reclaiming the lead on the inside at Luffield.

Smyth and Eastwell closed in the squabbling trio on lap three, while Wayne Poole Racing’s Alex Walker prevailed in three-wide battle with Ensor-Smith and privateer Tom Nippers before making the lead train a six-way affair. Middlehurst’s challenge came to an end on lap five after dramatically slowing on the Wellington Straight due a plug lead coming off, the 2023 Walter Hayes winner then pulling into the pits to retire.

Walker, meanwhile, came out on top in another three-wide battle, this time passing both Smyth and Eastwell into Brooklands for third. Having been unable to find a way by Smith for several laps, Rackstraw almost pulled off a move around the outside at Copse on lap nine only to run off track, and he then lost second place next time around to Walker, who swept past on the outside.

Walker then turned his attentions to Smith, edging ahead into Copse only to run wide and lose momentum, and the resulting bunching up ended up with five cars all trying to contest the lead into Becketts. Smith reclaimed the advantage, while Walker found himself in a three-wide battle with Smyth and Ensor-Smith into Brooklands and Rackstraw was relegated to fifth.  As the race entered its final three laps, the lead train had grown to nine cars.

Having prevailed in the battle for second, Smyth tried pass Smith twice on lap 13 and then he lunged to the inside at Becketts on the penultimate lap but ran deep bofore being challenged by both Walker and Ensor-Smith. It ended it tears one corner later, with Walker tapping Smyth into a spin, the latter then collecting Eastwell before retiring with suspension damage.

Rackstraw avoided the melee to relaim second and, despite one last bid for victory into Becketts on the final lap, came home 0.293 seconds behind Smith at the chequered flag, while Ensor-Smith made it a double podium for KMR in third.

Swift Cooper’s Luke Cooper produced one of the drives of the final, overcoming a grid penalty to climb from 16th to fourth ahead of Walker. Team Dolan’s Jonathan Kotyk was close behind them, the top six covered by less than one second. Nippers was seventh ahead of Eastwell, who went off track and lost ground in the late incident with Smyth. Mann Motorsport’s Charlie Mann was ninth ahead of TM Racing’s Felix Fisher.

Pirate M-Sports Joey Foster ended a trouble-filled meeting by finishing 11th ahead of KMR duo Robert Wolk and Mikel Bezuidenhout. B-M Racing’s Tom McArthur was a top-10 contender early on before retiring, and KMR’s Julian Van der Watt also failed to finish after losing his rear-right wheel late on.

Final result (15 laps)