Benn Tilley drives a a 1968 Titan Mk4 in the Walter Hayes Trophy event at Silverstone

Historic car racer Benn Tilley achieved a coveted grand final place in the world’s biggest Formula Ford event at Silverstone.

The Bourne driver was competing in the Walter Hayes Trophy which attracted more than 100 Formula Ford entries ranging from the late 1960s to brand new examples.

Tilley was driving the oldest car in the event – a 1968 Titan Mk4 – which proved to be an experience that he will never forget.

He commented: “I had never driven the car before so I did a few laps testing on the Friday afternoon just to get used to it and it was awesome.

“The key is to keep the momentum up as much as possible because they have a 1600cc Ford Kent X-Flow engine with around 105bhp. It only weighs 500kg but will out-run a Clio Cup car.

“Every outing on the track was wet but each time the conditions were different so racing lines and set-up were difficult to get right.

“The event consisted of a progression system of heat races, semi-finals and a Grand Final plus a separate race for pre-1993 and pre-1982 cars.

“In my heat I missed out on going straight through to the semi-finals by one position so had to go into a progression race but made it through from that one.

“I missed out again in the semi-final race on the grand final by one position but in the end made it through with a few dropping out.

“It’s an event I have been to every year since I was a child and to even race there was amazing but to make the grand final in the oldest car ever to do so was the icing on the cake really.

“It was such an awesome experience and I would like to say a huge thank you to the cars owner Simon Hadfield, my parents as always plus our friends Ian and Margaret Toon.”