Walter Hayes Trophy, 6 November 2011, Scratch Open Wheel Race

The Walter Hayes Trophy meeting is always a good way to round off the season, with close racing and a variety of cars.

"Mono" Race

Lee Dwyer, who won in a lovely March 782 would probably object to the race being described as "Mono", but more than half of the entry had a Mono connection to my knowledge. Incidentally, we forgot to look closely at the 782 and I can't find the engine maker, but would guess BMW.

After qualifying on pole, Chris Woodhouse in his Lola T90/50 DFR looked to have the race under control, but there were warning signs as more than once he coasted around Brooklands and graunched into gear to get away from Lee Dwyer. He parked up after 16 laps, what a pity the car didn't hold for that last 7 miles.Chris, of course, has had a bit of a sabbatical while he concentrates on his new house, but the fact that the Dallara was being tested on Friday bodes well for Mono in 2012.

Second on the road was Kat Impey, in her F3 Dallara. Kat drove with her usual smooth style, but showed immense determination to just be there as she was on the operating table less than a week ago. Following Kat , and the first lapped runner, was Dave Cameron in father Tim's Jedi Mk4. Initailly he had a bit of a battle with Neil Hunt (F301), but Neil dropped out leaving Kevin Mason to demonstarte that there are several ways to lap around the 59 second mark. Dave drove very conservatively, showing that the stig-style he adopts is only for fun when he has a massive lead. On this occassion he looked to be Jenson, not Lewis. I am told that Tim and Dave were delighted that the relaibility issues which have plagued the car did not recur.

John Rawlings brought the Woodhouse-run Speads into fifth, ahead of a Zetec FF, making up 7 places in the process and going 3 seconds faster than qualifying where he went off on Chris's oil. I'm fairly sure this would make him "Mono Driver of the Day" were this a Mono race. Henry Fryer's Tatuus led in a group of 5 FF2000's (of which only Amnon Needham was a Mono man). Henry did well to improve by 1.5 seconds over his qualifying, and continues to mature as a driver. Look for some surprise results from him in 2012.

Finally, poor Myles Castaldini, an occasional runner in his Formula Renault converted to bike power, had but one lap of pleasure.

As always, the Mono drivers put on a good show and seemed to be having a good, enjoyable, end of year bash.

Walter Hayes

I can't begin to do this race justice, so won't even try, Suffice it to say that after 2 stunning semis, there was a brilliant final with good clean racing, masses of place swapping, and 3 abreast running into Brooklands, with only a few minor bumps. First 3 were Adrian Campfield (Spectrum), Wayne Boyd (Van Diemen JL012K) and Josh Fisher (VD RF05). It was touching that many of the cars carried a tribute to engine builder and long time Classic Formula Ford racer Bernard Baxter who died earlier in the week.

Tony Cotton

Disclaimer: The above represents only the unofficial view of the writer and not of the Monoposto Racing Club in any way whatsover. We are unable to reproduce results due to copyright reasons. Results are based on provisional sheets taken from the circuit and are provisional.