Born in
Melbourn,
Cambridgeshire, Hoy supplemented his racing career as a fully qualified chartered surveyor, employed first by Bernard Thorpe and latterly by
DTZ. In late 2002, Hoy suffered an inoperable
brain tumour and died shortly afterwards. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Racing career In 1991, Hoy concentrated on the
BTCC, in the first season of
Super Touring regulations. Although manufacturers including
Vauxhall and
Toyota had factory entries, the established
BMWs were the cars to have initially. Hoy made full use of his opportunity in a car entered by
Vic Lee, building a championship lead nobody was able to overhaul. He also won the
Willhire 24 Hour at
Snetterton in a
BMW M3, partnering
Ray Bellm and
Kurt Luby. For 1992, he was signed by the
Toyota team, went into the final round in a three-way tussle for the championship but was beaten by Tim Harvey's BMW. However, the car was not competitive in subsequent seasons, Toyota won once in 1993 with Julian Bailey at Knockhill. The closest Hoy came was at Silverstone in 1993, when he was punted off onto his roof by team-mate
Julian Bailey, an incident remembered for
Murray Walker's commentary line "the car upside down is a Toyota", a play on the company's advertising slogan of the time (
The car in front is a Toyota). In 1994, Hoy drove a factory-prepared
Toyota Celica in the
RAC Rally, of the
World Rally Championship, but famously crashed into a tree on stage 4 of the rally. He and his co-driver were unhurt in the accident. in the
1996 British Touring Car Championship Despite two largely result-free seasons, Hoy was still an established star, and
Renault hired him alongside
Alain Menu for 1995. The early part of the season was a disaster, with many mechanical failures and crashes, although in the latter part of the season, Hoy moved up to fourth with three race wins, in what was now the fastest car. Hopes of a title push for 1996 was erased by the entry of the 4-wheel drive
Audi of
Frank Biela. Although Menu was again championship runner-up, Hoy slipped back to ninth. in the
1998 British Touring Car Championship The BTCC of this era was dominated by high-investment manufacturer teams, largely made up of overseas former single-seater drivers. Like
Tim Harvey and
Robb Gravett, Hoy was struggling to remain in a competitive car or make use of it. He went to a fading
Ford team for 1997 and 1998. 1997 was somewhat disappointing but 1998 was a much better performance, with Hoy finishing in the top 10 in the championship in one of the least competitive works cars and even picking up a race win at Round 4 at
Silverstone. Hoy raced independently in the BTCC for part of 1999, outperforming the rest of the independents in a half-season campaign using the Arena Motorsport Renault Laguna before entering semi-retirement. He also competed with
Chamberlain Motorsport for two rounds of
1999 FIA GT Championship. His last appearance came at Silverstone in 2000 in a Class B Vic Lee Racing Peugeot 306, securing pole position in class for both races, but retiring from both races with mechanical failures. Hoy was a commentator for the 2002 BTCC season alongside
Ben Edwards in addition to being part of the works Honda BTCC team in a managerial role alongside driver
Andy Priaulx. ==Racing record==