Name: Tom Weaver
Home Town: Ludlow
Competition Car: Van Diemen RF91 - Ford
Motorsport History
Tom’s introduction to motorsport came via his Dad Richard, who for many years was a fixture as the recovery vehicle driver at a couple of the Midland hills. As a child Tom went to many Midlands events where the memory of seeing top single seaters flash past cemented that he wanted to have a go himself.
At eighteen years old Tom is a relatively newcomer to the sport. He first drove a competition car at the age of fifteen in a private test at Curborough sprint course, well before he had passed his test to drive a car on the public road!
As motorsport careers go Tom’s did not get off to a particularly auspicious start. He took part in two Winter kart series at his local kart track, Herefordshire Raceway. By his own admission things went “spectacularly badly” with Tom spending most of his races towards the back of the field, mainly due to the fact that he found defensive driving a little alien! The decision to take part in Hillclimbing was therefore an easy one for Tom and Dad Richard to take. You don’t get too many people trying to slide their car up the inside of you as you approach Pardon Hairpin at Prescott after all!!
The only race car that Tom has driven to date is the family Van Diemen RF91 that he shares with his Dad. 2019 saw his competitive debut when he competed in a total of eight events to get his “B” licence. The pandemic limited his 2020 activities to just four events, all of them in the Midlands. Interestingly Tom was showing little in the way of pace. Plans were made for 2021 however to check out exactly how fast he really was, with a full season of competing in the Van Diemen in the BHC Cup presented by Footman James.
Tom’s 2021 pace therefore initially came as a bit of a shock. An early class win at Gurston gave a flicker of what was to come. Tom however really came into his own from Doune onwards when he set consecutive new class records on the second day of the double header weekend. From this point on in the season he really was the man to beat in his class. A total of twelve class wins during the season saw him win not only the Formula Ford class but finish a fantastic 2nd overall in the BHC Cup. A brilliant result. Not bad when you consider that Tom had never even seen more than half of the venues that he competed at! Qualifying for Braga as the highest finishing driver under the age of 25 in the BHC Cup was the cherry on top of the cake!
Post Braga Tom and his Dad are taking their newly acquired OMS 2000M – Kawasaki to compete at Curborough. A new chapter begins in what we hope will be a long and successful career in British Hillclimbing.
Masters Experience
This will be Tom’s first visit to an FIA Hillclimb Masters event. He is looking forward to the whole experience of being part of Team GB in Braga. To be part of the same team as some of his Hillclimbing heroes will make it a weekend to remember for the rest of his life.
Non-motorsport fact
Tom is a brown stripe belt in karate. This is two belts below the hallowed black belt. Don’t argue with Tom!
Braga Fact
Watch out for the Weaver family in Braga. Needless to say, Tom hasn’t competed abroad before. Dad Richard, Mum Helen and Sister Lizzie will all be there cheering him on. Good luck Tom!
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