Luke Cooper - Blog

2018 Walter Hayes Trophy

11/6/2018

Very mixed emotions from the 2018 Walter Hayes Trophy. I was really struggling with a down on power engine, but I tried so hard to get the result the car deserved.
We had so much pace in the car but was not able to show the full potential. It was so difficult to race as I was never really close enough to overtake anybody at the end of the straights and I had to absolutely nail every single corner to stand a chance of keeping other drivers behind.
A wet track on Sunday allowed me to race nearer the front than I would have been in the dry, but a straight line deficit made it pretty much impossible to overtake as I was never really close enough to make a move.
After Friday testing I was thinking that just making the final was going to be a real challenge, but I never gave up. I started 12th for the final and fought hard to stay as far up as possible and took advantage of the tricky conditions in the final to come a way with an incredible 6th place just 3.8 seconds off 1st.
I was thinking that 6th place in the heat was going to be the best I would be able to get, but I somehow managed to get a 2nd place finish and keep myself in with a chance. I have uploaded the heat to YouTube.
I have to say a massive thank you to Future Inns for sponsoring me this year, which without I would not have been able to race. A massive thank you also to Alan Slater for loaning me the engine, even though it wasn't able to compete against the top engines, I would not have been able to race without it.
Swift Cooper provided a car that deserved to win the Walter Hayes Trophy and I'm sorry I was not able to make that possible.
All in all a 6th place finish out of over 100 cars exceeded all expectations after testing, but it is very a much a case of what if...
Had I had a different engine.

Win at Donington Park!

10/14/2018

Great way to end the National Championship with a 2nd and a 1st and two fastest laps!

I qualified 2nd in a wet qualifying session, but had my work cut out in a frantic race in the dry. I dropped as low as 7th before fighting my way back up into 2nd place, taking the fastest lap in the process.

I started the final race of the year from pole position and it was horrendous weather, extremely wet, but I was in the best place out in front. After making a good start I was able to maintain the lead and keep a safe gap to 2nd to take a win in the final round of the national championship!

You can watch the video from the live stream on Youtube.

Castle Combe Formula Ford Champion!

8/27/2018

2018 Castle Combe Formula Ford Champion!!

What a season! I won 6 races to wrap up the Championship with a couple of races to spare!

Thank you so much to everybody who has supported me over the years and especially to Swift Cooper for providing me with a race winning car and of course to Future Inns for supporting me and making this all possible!

Best Race of My life, Win at Silverstone!

4/1/2018

I had an Amazing first weekend of the year racing at Silverstone in the first round of the National Formula Ford Championship. In what was the most competitive field of Formula Fords in over 20 years I qualified 9th in a tricky qualifying session. The first race was difficult to make progress with it being a dry line and wet offline, but I managed to make progress and got up to 6th in Race 1.

Race 2 was the best race of my life so far, it was the first live streamed event (Check the video) and I managed to pick my moments perfectly to move my way through from 6th to take the lead on the penultimate lap. Absolutely incredible race with the top 9 cars covered by just 1.5 seconds at the finish.

The reverse grid race followed, with number 8 being pulled out of the hat. I had a solid race from 8th on the grid up into 3rd place at the finish. After a great first weekend we ended up coming away from Silverstone 2nd in the Championship. A great start to the year!

Victory at Anglesey, 3rd in National Championship

9/24/2017

We were at Anglesey Circuit for the final 3 rounds of the 2017 Britcover/Avon Tyres BRSCC Formula Ford 1600 Championship. Heading into the final 3 races I had a very slim chance of taking 2nd in the overall Championship.

It got off to an incredible start on Saturday after I put it on pole and then managed to take a lights to flag victory and get the fastest lap as well. Couldn't of gone any better, the car and engine were absolutely brilliant.

Unfortunately rain came for Sunday and we still haven't quite got the car right in the wet yet, however we have made massive improvements and after a cautious first lap dropping to 3rd, I was able to keep a fairly decent pace and took a brilliant 3rd place only 5 tenths off the fastest lap.

Amazingly I had managed to take the battle for 2nd in the Championship down to the final race, the reverse grid race. I had to start in 6th and had a brilliant first two laps moving up into 3rd place. Unfortunately I made a small mistake locking up and running slightly wide. I hit a cone and unbelievably it got perfectly wedged in the sidepod and under my front wheel. I couldn't slow down or turn... and then got stuck on the grass ending my race. Annoyingly I was in a position to take 2nd in the Championship at the time.

So we ended up 3rd in the British Championship, taking 3 wins, 7 Podiums and 6 fastest Laps. (More Fastest Laps than anybody else)
Massive thank you to Swift Cooper for a brilliant car, Barnett Racing Engines for an incredible engine and of course my sponsors Future Inns for supporting me this season.

I have 3 race meetings left this year, the Castle Combe Carnival, Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone.

Silverstone Win!

8/20/2017

A good qualifying led to a 2nd place start, I made a great start to convert the front row into the lead of the race. I lost the lead on the second lap but was able to work together to pull away from the rest of the field. The last 3 laps we exchanged places a couple of times, but I had to settle for 2nd place, but did take the fastest lap.

The second race went very similar where I took the lead off the start and dropped to 2nd but we were again able to work together and pull out a big gap over the battle for 3rd. I pulled off a move to take the lead on the penultimate lap and defended for the last lap to take a brilliant win! Also taking the fastest lap again.

Massive thank you to Barnett Racing Engines for supplying a great engine, Swift Cooper for the amazing car and Future Inns for sponsoring me.

Starting the year with a win!

4/9/2017

I had a difficult first weekend of the 2017 National Formula Ford 1600 Championship at Brands Hatch. In what is the most competitive championship since formula ford 1600's hayday.

I had my work cut out struggling with the engine, but I managed to qualify 5th and had a difficult first couple of races. I finished the first race in a disappointing 7th place and then progressed to a slightly better 6th place in the the second race of the weekend. The third race of the weekend was the reverse grid race, where I started 3rd. It was extremely eventful and after a number of incidents over the first few laps, I found myself leading the way. I was under a lot of pressure at the end of the race, but managed to hold it together and come away with the win!

It's a great way to start the year and hopefully we can build on this for the remainder of the year!

Future Inns Sponsorship!

3/1/2016

I am delighted to announce that Future Inns Hotels and Conference Centres will be supporting me in my racing career! Future Inns are a hotel chain with 3 hotels in the UK, in Cardiff, Plymouth and Bristol, with plans to open many more.

This is an amazing opportunity for me and gives me the ability to Compete in Formula Ford in a new car! I will be developing a brand new Swift provided by Swift Cooper and over the next few years hope to turn it into a race winning car!

For more information on Future Inns, check out their website here: https://www.futureinns.co.uk/

Bernard Baxter Trophy Winner

11/2/2014

Another driver being unable to race opened the door for me to put in a very last minute entry into the Walter Hayes Trophy. With no testing a driving, in a 25 year old car that was in the Historic class.

Qualifying was wet and I amazingly managed to put the car on the front row of the grid for the heat! It was a Brilliant start to the event! Unfortunately it dried up for the race and I was no where near as competitive, but I still comfortably got through into the Semi-Finals finishing 8th in the heat.

The Semi-Finals were wet again, which was great news for me! I was starting right down in 24th and managed to charge my way up through the field into 10th place, safely making it through into the grand final and was the only driver in the historic class to do so! Which meant I was awarded the Bernard Baxter Trophy

Victory at Castle Combe in the Rain!

6/16/2013

What an amazing day, I qualified 4th on a dry track, but rain began to fall and by the time the race came the track was very wet.

I had an absolutely amazing start, jumping up into 2nd place and managed to take the lead before the first lap was up. I put my head down and pulled out an absolutely massive gap on the chasing field, which finished at over 11 seconds!!

Brilliant race, brilliant win and to top it all off I was awarded the driver of the day award! Brilliant day!