Historic champs to Walter Hayes Trophy
Multiple Historic Formula Ford champions Callum Grant and Cam Jackson are both set to contest the Walter Hayes Trophy this weekend in contemporaryclass machinery with B-M Racing.
The Hayes will be Grant’s only Formula Ford 1600 outing of the year, as he has been concentrating on Formula Ford 2000 and Formula Atlantic. It will also be his first outing in a modern Formula Ford, although he raced a 1991 Van Diemen at the same event in 2019.
Joining him in the main draw will be Jackson, who prepared for the event with a run in the National
FF1600 championship at Silverstone earlier this month.
Grant and Jackson have competed extensively against each other, but have never been team-mates. “It’ll be good to get back out against Cameron,” said Grant, who will drive a Van Diemen RF99.
“If I was ever going to do the Hayes, get back out there and see if I can beat them all again, it’s this year.”
Jackson says he found the National outing useful after taking a best result of 13th in the Van Diemen JL15 he will race this weekend. “The Silverstone race was a warm-up, fact-finding exercise, which I’m really glad I did,” he said. “I learned a lot and about how sensitive the cars are to any set-up changes.”
Jackson, who won the Formula Junior and Classic Formula Ford crowns this year, but failed in his quest to claim the Historic title in three different cars in three years, says beating Grant won’t be his main focus.
“Me and Callum get on well and it will be interesting to see how he fares in it,” said Jackson.
“You can’t drop the ball even slightly as there’s really strong competition. It’s a one-off race, a bit of a lottery, and I’m taking it very seriously. I don’t really have any expectations and just want to be as quick as I can be. The B-M guys just won the Festival [with Rory Smith], so they know what they’re doing!”
As well as the Historic champions, a bunch of Castle Combe frontrunners are on the entry list, many of whom have not raced in FF1600 yet this year. Michael Moyers will be seeking a third win with Kevin Mills Racing, while past Combe champions Roger Orgee, Josh Fisher, Adam Higgins and Rob Hall are all due to race.
A total of 92 entries had been received as Autosport closed for press, with more still arriving – a significant increase compared to the 50 at last weekend’s Festival.