The result sheets state that Jason Smyth became just the third driver to win the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy in the same year. But the Team Dolan driver’s two victories could not have been more different.
While Smyth was virtually unstoppable at Brands Hatch, utterly dominating the final, his path to success in the special 25th anniversary edition of the Hayes at Silverstone last weekend was far less straightforward.
When Smyth was handed a 10-place grid penalty for clashing with namesake Rory Smith (last year’s Hayes victor) and Anthony Amato as they ran three-abreast out of Brooklands in the first semi-final, it left him starting 13th for the final. And he nearly did not bother even contesting the decider.
But the Van Diemen RF00/JL12 pilot was unstoppable at a sunny Silverstone. He was up to sixth by the end of the first lap and was second after four tours.
“Going out there, I was just in demon mode,” he admitted. “I was like, ‘If I have a huge accident, I have a huge accident, I’m going for that win no matter what’. I did [think it was possible] – I knew I had the pace. I knew if the lads were battling ahead [he would have a chance], but I caught them so quick they didn’t even get to have a break.”
Those demonic moves meant it was not long before he was challenging the leader, his Dolan team-mate Niall Murray. The 2016 victor had jumped polesitter Andrew Rackstraw (KMR Spectrum) off the line, but had not been able to pull clear from the pack. Murray was fighting a troublesome issue with his Van Diemen BD26 all weekend that appeared to restrict his power out of the corners and said this was “even worse” from lap four of the 15-tour final. Sure enough, Smyth drew alongside at Becketts but Murray was able to cling on.
However, he had no answer next time around and Smyth completed a remarkable rise into the lead. Murray was then embroiled in a battle with another Irishman, B-M Racing’s Jordan Dempsey – the pair having earlier tussled in the heats when a brilliant last-lap Brooklands move from Dempsey counted for nought after subsequent track-limits penalties.
Once Dempsey moved ahead at Becketts at mid-distance, he began challenging Smyth but, as the top 12 circulated virtually as one, Smyth was able to stay just ahead. Then Dempsey made one desperate final attempt on the last lap at Brooklands, coming from miles back. There was inevitable contact, but Smyth was able to continue to take the flag while Dempsey spun back to 10th. “I had to go for it!” he said. “I knew it probably wasn’t going to pay off but I had to try something like that.”
Dempsey’s unsuccessful bid instead left Smyth celebrating the most remarkable of triumphs. “After making mistakes in the heats and the semi, when I should’ve won both really, and then getting a penalty and Dad storming out saying, ‘We’re not doing the final!’, it’s like a story tale,” enthused the winner. “It was an unbelievable drive – I just made the right calls every single time. And then all the defending and I didn’t even know it was the last lap. I didn’t know Jordan was up the inside until he hit me! To take the clean sweep [Festival and United Formula Ford championship] is just unreal.”
Murray was classified second across the line, but fell to 15th because of track-limits sanctions and it was therefore Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Andrew Rackstraw who finished second. The KMR driver was targeting an improvement on last year’s runner-up spot and was a heat and semi-final winner, but a slow start amid clutch woes left him with a little too much to do. “I’ve had to work so hard to get the Porsche championship, so it’s nice to come here with some old friends and have a fun weekend,” said Rackstraw. “This event’s a bit of a lottery. It just went his [Smyth's] way in the final but it was a lot of fun.”
Another South African-piloted Spectrum rounded out the podium with KC Ensor Smith after a chaotic final lap where Jacob Tofts and Tom Nippers also tangled, while Luke Cooper’s quest for that elusive WHT podium was again unsuccessful as the Swift SC20 driver had to make do with fourth. However, it was Smyth who was making all the headlines as the Hayes celebrated its anniversary in style.
Historic finals also provide plenty of entertainment
The Walter Hayes Trophy grand final was a classic and the two historic Formula Ford showdowns were also thrillers that both went down to the last lap.
Joe Ahrens led the majority of the Carl Hamer Trophy final for the oldest machinery in his Royale RP26 as he somehow kept Benn Simms, Tom Gadd and Mark McKenna at bay with four different marques ferociously doing battle. That was until the 10th of the 12 laps when McKenna found a way through in his Crossle 35F on the inside of Brooklands, but it was only a lap before Ahrens was back ahead.
Multiple FF1600 champion Simms then attempted a manoeuvre on the inside in his Jomo at Brooklands on the final tour, but succeeded in only banging wheels with Ahrens, which opened the door to McKenna. Ahrens fell to fourth with Gadd’s Van Diemen RF81 taking third.
The Janet Cesar Trophy final also featured a quartet of key contenders with Alex Ames’ RF88 initially leading from pole. But two-time winner Callum Grant then dived ahead in his RF91 with a great move on the inside of Brooklands on lap three. Next to lead was James Clarke’s RF90 and he proceeded to have a brilliant battle with Grant for the remainder, with Clarke eventually taking the flag by just 0.071 seconds over Grant. A track-limits penalty for Dave Parks’ Reynard meant it was Samuel Street’s RF88 that completed the Van Diemen podium lockout following a late off for Ames at Becketts.
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