Reports > 2015 Walter Hayes Trophy, Silverstone November 1
A win and podiums for WPR at the WHT
The WPR team once again had a strong presence at the 2015 Walter Hayes Trophy meeting at Silverstone.
In heat one Calum McHale fresh from his Championship winning season at Oulton Park qualified well in his Van Diemen RF89 taking 8th spot on the grid.Calum finished the heat in the same positions as he had started and 8th place was second in the Pre ’90 classification.
Heat Three saw Josh Fisher qualify third in the Richard Hudson-Evans Van Diemen RF99, fitted with a new Neil Barnett engine for the event, against some quality opposition while Rory Smith went well in Father Ray’s Van Diemen RF88 to take 12th spot on the grid and fastest Pre ’90 runner. A storming start saw Josh take the lead which he held to the end ahead of multiple WHT winner Joey Foster and Niall Murray. Rory also went well and finished 12th taking the Pre ’90 class.
Steve Bracegirdle was out in Heat 4 in his Van Diemen RF89 and qualified 17th which improved to 13th in the race.
Steve Bracegirdle ran in midfield in the Last Chance race finishing 24th.
The first semi final saw Josh Fisher up against some strong opposition and after starting on the front row was embroiled in a big batttle for the lead, dropping to fourth at one point but came back strongly to take second place. In the second semi Calum made a poor start and dropped near to the back of the field and despite making up a few places was unable to get any higher than 26th at the end just a couple of places behind Rory Smith.
Both Rory and Calum were joined by Steve Bracegirdle for the Pre ’90 final and with starting positions based on race positions in the main event Rory was able to convert his good starting spot into an excellent third at the end, followed by Calum in 6th and Steve in 21st.
So to the WHT final and, starting from the outside of the second row, Josh Fisher quickly got into second place and a frantic dice for the lead. But a touch at Brooklands when attempting to take the lead saw a number of cars leave the track and a resulting red flag. For the re-start Josh was on pole but was unable to take his place on the grid due to a split brake pipe thus ending a promising run with disappointment.
Finally, in the closed wheel scratch race the team brought along Steve Bracegirdle’s Nemesis RWE98 and, following a satisfactory qualifying to line up mid grid in 15th place, a good run in the race saw Steve finish in a strong 7th place overall ahead of a couple of Radicals.
All photos Richard Hudson-Evans
