The memorial trophy for Formula Ford racer and engineer Paul Simms will be presented for the third time during the Historic Sports Car Club’s Silverstone Finals meeting (14-15 October).
The Paul Simms Memorial Trophy will be presented to the leading Historic FF1600 driver on aggregate from the final two races for this year’s Historic Formula Ford Championship.
Paul, father of multiple HFF champion Benn, died in April 2020 at the age of 74 after contracting the Covid virus. Paul raced in Pre ’74 Formula Ford in the 1990s and was soon followed into racing by his son. At one point, they ran a pair of Merlyn Mk20s.
In later times, Paul concentrated on the preparation of Benn’s cars and was ever present at race meetings. He was a hugely popular figure in the HSCC paddock and was a fine engineer, a successful businessman and, most of all, a great family man. They enjoyed great success in Historic FF1600, FF2000 and Classic F3, winning seven HSCC titles across 20 years.
Paul’s memory is now honoured with a superb trophy that will be presented to the leading Historic FF1600 racer at Silverstone. Tom McArthur was the inaugural winner in 2021 while in 2022 the winner was Samuel Harrison.
Benn Simms said: “Dad loved Historic FF1600 more than any other race category, so this is a fitting tribute. He would have been very humbled by it.”