Will Hoy

Will Hoy

Hoy at Brands Hatch in 1995
Nationality United Kingdom British
Born (1952-04-02)2 April 1952
Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, England
Died 19 December 2002(2002-12-19) (aged 50)
Chelsea, London, England
BTCC record
Teams Ford, BMW,
Toyota, Renault,
Arena, VLR
Drivers
championships
1
Wins 9
Podium finishes
Poles 8
Fastest laps 10
Debut season 1987
First win 1991
Best championship position 1st (1991)
Final season (2000) position 15th (Class B)

William Ewing "Will" Hoy (2 April 1952 – 19 December 2002[1]) was an English racing driver and the 1991 British Touring Car Champion, the highlight of a 20-year career in motor racing.

Biography

Born in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire,[1] Hoy did not begin racing until his late 20s and first raced at international level in 1985, taking on the full World Sportscar Championship including Le Mans. Over the next few years, he raced in an assortment of championships and one-off races, the highlight undoubtedly being second overall in the 1988 All Japan Touring Car Championship. Hoy supplemented his racing career as a fully qualified chartered surveyor, employed first by Bernard Thorpe and latterly by DTZ.[2]

BTCC

For 1991 he concentrated on the BTCC, in the first season of Super Touring regulations. Although manufacturers including Vauxhall and Toyota had factory entries, the established BMWs were the car to have initially. Will made full use of his opportunity in a car entered by Vic Lee, building a championship lead nobody was able to overhaul. He also won the Willhire 24 Hour at Snetterton in a BMW M3, partnering Ray Bellm and Kurt Luby. For 1992 he was signed by the Toyota team, went into the final round in a three way tussle for the championship but was beaten by Tim Harvey's BMW. However, the car was not competitive in subsequent seasons, Toyota won once in 1993 with Julian Bailey at Knockhill. The closest Will came was at Silverstone in 1993, when he was punted off onto his roof by team-mate Julian Bailey, an incident remembered for Murray Walker's commentary line "the car upside down is a Toyota", a play on the company's advertising slogan of the time (The car in front is a Toyota).

Despite 2 largely result-free seasons, Will was still an established star, and Renault hired him alongside Alain Menu for 1995. The early part of the season was a disaster, with many mechanical failures and crashes, although in the latter part of the season Will moved up to 4th with 3 race wins, in what was now the fastest car. Hopes of a title push for 1996 was erased by the entry of the 4-wheel drive Audi of Frank Biela. Although Menu was again championship runner-up, Will slipped back to 9th.

The BTCC of this era was dominated by high-investment manufacturer teams, largely made up of overseas former single-seater drivers. Like Tim Harvey and Robb Gravett, Will was struggling to remain in a competitive car or make use of it. He went to a fading Ford team for 1997 and 1998. 1997 was somewhat disappointing but 1998 was a much better performance, with Hoy finishing in the top 10 in the championship in one of the least competitive works cars and even picked up a race win at Round 4 at Silverstone. Hoy raced independently for part of 1999, outperforming the rest of the independents in a half-season campaign in the Arena Motorsport Renault Laguna before entering semi-retirement. His last appearance came at Silverstone in 2000 in a Class B Vic Lee Racing Peugeot 306, securing pole position in class for both races, but retired from both races with mechanical failures. Hoy was a commentator for the 2002 BTCC season alongside Ben Edwards in addition to being part of the works Honda BTCC team in a managerial role alongside driver, Andy Priaulx. In late 2002, Hoy suffered a brain tumour and died shortly afterwards. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 1996 onwards in all races, 1987–1989 and 2000 in class) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 1987–1989 in class) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded 1998 onwards)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Overall
Pos
Overall
Pts
Class
Pos
1987 Chris Hodgetts Motor Sport Toyota Corolla GT D SIL OUL THR THR SIL SIL
14
BRH SNE DON OUL DON SIL NC† 0† NC†
1988 BMW Finance Racing BMW M3 B SIL OUL THR DON
Ret‡
THR SIL SIL BRH
9
SNE
10
BRH BIR DON SIL
8
19th 16 5th
1989 BMW Team Finance BMW M3 B OUL SIL THR DON
6‡
THR SIL SIL BRH 43rd 9 8th
Trakstar Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 A SNE
4
BRH BIR DON SIL 49th 3 19th
1991 BMW Team Listerine BMW M3 SIL
1
SNE
1
DON
Ret
THR
3
SIL
31
BRH
2
SIL
2
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

DNS
OUL
2
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

1
DON
3
THR
Ret
SIL
5
1st 155
1992 Team Securicor ICS Toyota Toyota Carina SIL
4
THR
4
OUL
2
SNE
1
BRH
Ret
DON
1

1
DON
2

2
SIL
2
KNO
1

5
KNO
2

Ret
PEM
5
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

2
DON
4
SIL
5
2nd 149
1993 Team Securicor Toyota Toyota Carina E SIL
4
DON
Ret
SNE
4
DON
6
OUL
Ret
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

14
PEM
2
SIL
Ret
KNO
1

10
KNO
2

3
OUL
Ret
BRH
4
THR
10
DON
1

16
DON
2

16
SIL
3
7th 79
1994 Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Carina E THR
5
BRH
1

9
BRH
2

9
SNE
12
SIL
1

6
SIL
2

6
OUL
Ret
DON
1

10
DON
2

7
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

17
SIL
9
KNO
1

9
KNO
2

8
OUL
11
BRH
1

12
BRH
2

DNS
SIL
1

7
SIL
2

7
DON
1

18
DON
2

7
13th 48
1995 Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna DON
1

6
DON
2

5
BRH
1

9
BRH
2

7
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

Ret
SIL
1

5
SIL
2

15
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

18
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

4
DON
1

12
DON
2

8
SIL
2
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

Ret
BRH
1

1
BRH
2

2
SNE
1

12
SNE
2

1
OUL
1

2
OUL
2

Ret
SIL
1

2
SIL
2

1
4th 195
1996 Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna DON
1

2
DON
2

2
BRH
1

17
BRH
2

DSQ
THR
1

5
THR
2

15
SIL
1

8
SIL
2

Ret
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

6
SNE
1

7
SNE
2

9
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

3
SIL
1

9
SIL
2

6
KNO
1

10
KNO
2

11
OUL
1

4
OUL
2

Ret
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

19
DON
1

5
DON
2

4
BRH
1

8
BRH
2

Ret
9th 92
1997 Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo DON
1

Ret
DON
2

DNS
SIL
1

12
SIL
2

7
THR
1

11
THR
2

12
BRH
1

DSQ
BRH
2

17
OUL
1

DNS
OUL
2

DNS
DON
1

13
DON
2

9
CRO
1

8
CRO
2

Ret
KNO
1

12
KNO
2

14
SNE
1

10
SNE
2

7
THR
1

5
THR
2

9
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

Ret
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

10
15th 27
1998 Ford Mondeo Racing Ford Mondeo THR
1

Ret
THR
2

15
SIL
1

9
SIL
2

1*
DON
1

8
DON
2

16
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

Ret
OUL
1

8
OUL
2

7
DON
1

3
DON
2

Ret
CRO
1

13
CRO
2

9*
SNE
1

8
SNE
2

8
THR
1

10
THR
2

12
KNO
1

6
KNO
2

Ret
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
OUL
1

8
OUL
2

6
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

8
10th 69
1999 Arena International Renault Laguna DON
1
DON
2
SIL
1
SIL
2
THR
1
THR
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
OUL
1
OUL
2
DON
1
DON
2
CRO
1
CRO
2
SNE
1

10
SNE
2

13
THR
1

10
THR
2

8
KNO
1

13
KNO
2

11
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

11
OUL
1

10
OUL
2

11
SIL
1

6
SIL
2

7
15th 15
2000 VIP Touring Car Club Peugeot 306 GTi B BRH
1
BRH
2
DON
1
DON
2
THR
1
THR
2
KNO
1
KNO
2
OUL
1
OUL
2
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

Ret
CRO
1
CRO
2
SNE
1
SNE
2
DON
1
DON
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
OUL
1
OUL
2
SIL
1
SIL
2
15th 2
  1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

† Not eligible for points. ‡ Endurance driver.

Partial Japanese Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 DC Pts
1990 Team Taisan BMW M3 JTC-2 NIS
7
SUG
Ret
SUZ
9
TSU
9
19th 62
BMW M3 Sport Evolution SEN
8
FUJ
Ret

References

  1. 1 2 "Will Hoy". The Times. Times Newspapers Ltd. 7 February 2003. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  2. http://m.crash.net/btcc/news/7449/1/will-hoy-succumbs-to-illness.html
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Will Hoy.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Robb Gravett
British Touring Car Champion
1991
Succeeded by
Tim Harvey
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