Mar 19, 20232 min read

Our man Steve Honoured by Motorsport UK

Updated: Mar 20, 2023

At the Motorsport UK Night of Champions, a former motorsport marshal who survived a 100mph Formula One crash was honoured with a lifetime achievement award.

Steve Tarrant, of Kings Stag, Dorset, worked as a race track marshal for 27 years. Steve lost his leg in a horrific crash that killed two men at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 24, 2000. Only two years later, he was back on the track marshalling. Steve continues to pursue his love of motorsport and is a valued contributor to Prescott Motorsport.

Steve said: "I was hit by a Formula One car at 140 miles per hour.

"When I was in hospital I was invited to the revival as a VIP.

"I went on a weekend leave from the hospital, I was testing my nerve to see if I could go back. As soon as I got next to the track, the adrenaline was right back there."

Since returning to the track in 2001, Steve has been "fighting a battle for acceptance" as a disabled marshal.

He said: "The attitudes in the early days were very different to how they are now.

"People would say 'you don't want to be here you'll be in an accident' to which I say I have been in one and the last thing I am going to do is be in another.

"It's this Victorian attitude where you are not seen or heard.

"I had to prove I could do a good job in a valid way and not compromise myself or my colleagues."

In 2017 Steve stepped back from marshalling duties after more than two decades.

Since then he has helped inspire more disabled marshals to take up the role.

Steve said: "In anything in life there has to be a pioneer, someone has to do something that no one has ever seen before.

"Once one person has done it, more people then see it is possible.

"There are plenty of jobs out there that you don't need two arms or two legs for."