But for a steely determination, Wayne Boyd’s motor racing career could have been over a decade ago after he was chewed up and spat out by the money-churning world of single-seaters.
The Northern Irishman had burst onto the wider world’s radar in Formula Ford 1600 as a painfully shy teenager. In 2008, he stepped onto the British Formula Ford Championship stage and smashed the opposition with 13 wins from the 25 races in his Jamun Racing Services-run Mygale. He snatched the blue-riband Formula Ford Festival spoils to boot.
He moved quick smart into British F3 in 2009, but even he admits now that maybe it was a step too far too quickly. He struggled in his maiden season and when the funds ran dry, the reality of a racing future loomed large. He looked to the States but again the winning momentum he built up failed to gain traction.
For many drivers, that might have been the end of things but for Boyd, the pure passion of simply racing cars was too strong to walk away. His heart had been taken by Formula Ford 1600 and he continued to enter the end-of-season showpiece events, which was all his budget would allow at the time.
At the last count, he has taken part in five Formula Ford Festivals and six Walter Hayes Trophies. They have produced three wins – two at Brands Hatch and one at Silverstone.
He was still scouting around for a drive and those performances in the Kentengined single-seater class eventually opened a door at the then newly formed United Autosports in 2016.
He has been a mainstay of its LMP3 driving strength since and has taken titles in Asia and Europe in the class, as well as making his Le Mans debut in the LMP2 division. He certainly isn’t slowing down, and this interview was conducted last week, shortly before the ever-humble racer was about to jet off to Road America to compete.
But don’t think for a moment that Boyd has become a prima donna. You can see from this interview that his feet are very much still on the ground and he is just gutted that his racing schedule in 2023 will preclude him from another appearance at the Formula Ford Festival. Sportscar racing’s gain is the UK fans’ loss.
Question: What got you into motorsport in the first place? Did the passion come from your family?
James Hilton
Via email
Wayne Boyd: “It all came through my dad Raymond. He had always been into motorbikes – he used to race them. He did a couple of road races, but mainly on the circuits. Motorsport was always something that was around me as I was growing up.
“When I was about three years old, dad got me a quadbike which I used to pound around on. I ended up getting bigger and bigger ones and more powerful ones. After that, we tried me out on a scrambling
