Moyers wins wet first Walter Hayes Trophy heat

Photo: Ida Wood

Simon Hadfield Motorsport’s Michael Moyers won the opening Walter Hayes Trophy heat held at a sodden Silverstone.

The eight-lap race began behind the safety car due to the wet conditions, meaning poleman Moyers held the lead unchallenged through the first two laps as he and the rest of the field tried to warm up their tyres in the cold.

Once racing actually began there was not too much overtaking due to the lack of grip off-line, and Moyers put a gap of 0.384s seconds between himself and Swift Cooper’s Luke Cooper on lap three.

That grew by just 0.09s on lap four, and he pulled away slightly on lap five before racing was neutralised by the safety car. It had returned to the pits by the end of lap six, meaning Moyers and Cooper were free to fight again.

Cooper had one look but did not want to take any risks in the spray, having to often pull out of the slipstream just to see where he was going, and he finished 0.69s behind in second.

Ammonite Motorsport’s Hugh Esterson converted third on the grid into third at the finish, while TM Racing’s Felix Fisher passed Don Hardman Racing’s Sam Harrison for fourth place on the first green flag lap and held him off for the rest of the race.

Team Dolan’s Jonathan Kotyk set the fastest lap on the final tour. He passed Team Canada scholar Logan Pacza on lap three for sixth place and then had clear air thereon.

Cooper’s team-mate Sam Street finished eighth, and John Svensson pipped Alex Ames to ninth by just 0.085s.

Drew Cameron retired on the opening lap by pulling into the pits and not rejoining the action.

Race result (8 laps)