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A powerful six-man South African team is in England preparing to race in the prestigious Walter Hayes Formula Ford Trophy this 2 and 3 November weekend. The team comprising three South African Investchem Formula 1600 champions, will race against leading drivers from around the world in the annual international Formula Ford races at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.

Third in last year’s Walter Hayes Final, former South African Formula 1600 champion Andrew Rackstraw has been racing Porsche Carrera Cup GB in England all season and has also raced Formula Ford on several occasions through the year in preparation for the big weekend. Andrew’s eyes are fixed squarely on stepping those two steps up that famous Silverstone podium on Sunday.

The rest of the Ian Schofield-run South African squad is certainly not lacking on talent, either. Reigning multiple South African Touring Car champion and also a many-time former Investchem Formula 1600 champion Robert Wolk swaps his Chemical Logistics BMW M 128 ti for one of the team’s nimble Formula Fords. He has his regular South African Touring Car teammates, another former Investchem Formula 1600 champion, Julian van der Watt, and Andy Schofield at his side.

They will be joined in Walter Hayes Team South Africa by two Walter Hayes rookie young guns, 2024 SA Investchem Formula 1600 runner up KC Ensor Smith and Mikel Bezuidenhout. The world’s biggest Formula Ford 1600 weekend, the Walter Hayes Trophy attracts drivers to Silverstone from across the planet. Over 100 entries will line up in an epic weekend of wheel-to-wheel racing famously subjected to all form of terribly wet and cold November Blighty weather.

Team South African returns to the Walter Hayes Trophy looking to improve on successful campaigns in recent years. Last year, besides Capetonian Andrew Rackstraw clawing his way back to a stunning podium third in the Final, Robert Wolk came from the back of the grid to 11th, while Julian van der Watt ended 17th from the back, that after being bumped off while fighting for the lead early on. The six drivers will also be supported by a largely South African pit crew at Silverstone.

The Walter Hayes action commences with a frantic day of qualifying races on Saturday to pare the field down ahead of Sunday’s knockout rounds. Only 36 cars will qualify the Sunday afternoon Grand Final, the winner of which will lift the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy.