Will Hoy

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

Biography Born in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, Hoy supplemented his racing career as a fully qualified chartered surveyor, employed first by Bernard Thorpe and latterly by DTZ. In late 2002, Hoy suffered an inoperable brain tumour and died shortly afterwards. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Racing career In 1991, Hoy 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 cars to have initially. Hoy 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 Hoy 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). In 1994, Hoy drove a factory-prepared Toyota Celica in the RAC Rally, of the World Rally Championship, but famously crashed into a tree on stage 4 of the rally. He and his co-driver were unhurt in the accident.

Despite two largely result-free seasons, Hoy 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, Hoy moved up to fourth with three 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, Hoy slipped back to ninth.

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, Hoy 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-ten in the championship in one of the least competitive works cars and even picking up a race win at Round 4 at Silverstone. Hoy raced independently in the BTCC for part of 1999, outperforming the rest of the independents in a half-season campaign using the Arena Motorsport Renault Laguna before entering semi-retirement. He also competed with Chamberlain Motorsport for two rounds of 1999 FIA GT Championship. 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 retiring 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.

Racing record

Complete World Sportscar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 OverallPos OverallPts ClassPos 1987 Chris Hodgetts Motor Sport Toyota Corolla GT SIL OUL THR THR SIL SILovr:14cls:3 BRH SNE DON OUL DON SIL NC† 0† NC† 1988 BMW Finance Racing BMW M3 SIL OUL THR DON THR SIL SIL BRHovr:9cls:3 SNEovr:10cls:2 BRH BIR DON SILovr:8cls:2 19th 16 5th 1989 BMW Team Finance BMW M3 OUL SIL THR DONovr:6‡cls:1‡ THR SIL SIL BRH 43rd 9 8th Trakstar Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 SNEovr:4cls:4 BRH BIR DON SIL 49th 3 19th 1991 BMW Team Listerine BMW M3 SIL SNE DON THR SIL BRH SIL DON1 DON2 OUL BRH1 BRH2 DON THR SIL 1st 155 1992 Team Securicor ICS Toyota Toyota Carina SIL THR OUL SNE BRH DON1 DON2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 PEM BRH1 BRH2 DON SIL 2nd 149 1993 Team Securicor Toyota Toyota Carina E SIL DON SNE DON OUL BRH1 BRH2 PEM SIL KNO1 KNO2 OUL BRH THR DON1 DON2 SIL 7th 79 1994 Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Carina E THR BRH1 BRH2 SNE SIL1 SIL2 OUL DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 OUL BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 DON1 DON2 13th 48 1995 Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 OUL1 OUL2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 SNE1 SNE2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 4th 195 1996 Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 OUL1 OUL2 SNE1 SNE2 BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 KNO1 KNO2 OUL1 OUL2 THR1 THR2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 9th 92 1997 Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo DON1 DON2 SIL1 SIL2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 KNO1 KNO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 15th 27 1998 Ford Mondeo Racing Ford Mondeo THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 10th 69 1999 Arena International Renault Laguna DON1 DON2 SIL1 SIL2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 15th 15 2000 Touring Car V.I.P. Club Peugeot 306 GTi BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 N/A 2 15th – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded. † Not eligible for points. ‡ Endurance driver.

Complete 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 Class 1988 Autotech Racing Team BMW M3JTC-2 SUZNISSENTSUSUGFUJ 2nd 144 1st 1990 Team Taisan BMW M3 JTC-2 NIS SUG SUZ TSU 19th 62 5th BMW M3 Sport Evolution SEN FUJ

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Pts 1988 BMW Finance Racing BMW M3 MNZ DON3† EST JAR DIJ VAL NÜR SPA ZOL SIL13/Ret NOG NC 0 † Not eligible for points.

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 DC Points 1988 Autotech Racing Team BMW M3 BAT WEL PUK FJI8 NC 0

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts 1995 Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna MIS1 MIS2 BIN1 BIN2 MNZ1 MNZ2 IMO1 IMO2 MAG1 MAG2 MUG1 MUG2 MIS1 MIS2 PER1 PER2 VAR1 VAR2 VAL15‡ VAL24‡ NC‡ 0‡

‡ Guest driver – not eligible for points

Complete FIA GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts 1999 Chamberlain Motorsport Chrysler Viper GTS-R MNZ SIL HOC HUN ZOL OSC DON HOM GLN ZHU NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1993 Toyota UK Julian Bailey Eric van de Poele Toyota Carina E Class 2 271 23rd 3rd 1994 Toyota Racing Pierre-Alain Thibaut Renaud Verreydt Toyota Carina E ? DNF DNF

Complete WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points 1994 Will Hoy Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185 MON POR KEN FRA GRC ARG NZL FIN ITA GBRRet NC 0 1998 Ford Motor Co. Ltd. Ford Escort Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN ITA AUS GBR53 NC 0