Heroic Harvey -- para-sports champ from Louth joins all-disabled motor-racing team
A talented para-sports champion from Louth has been signed up by the world’s only competitive team of all-disabled racing drivers.
Harvey Phillips, 21, is a quadruple amputee who had parts of his arms and legs amputated after contracting meningitis as a baby.
But that hasn’t stopped him excelling at sport, most notably as a swimmer, setting British records, winning national titles and scooping gold medals.
Now he has switched his sights to motor racing, having been an avid motorsport fan since childhood. And he has just been named the rookie driver for the pioneering Team BRIT, with an exciting developmental year of training ahead of him.
In partnership with Brit Insurance, the outfit has already rewritten the history books of motor racing, competing against teams of able-bodied drivers on a totally level playing field.
And it has a long-term goal of becoming the first-ever all-disabled team to compete in the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race.
Having finished his swimming career, Harvey got in touch with Team BRIT last year and went to meet officials at its West Sussex headquarters.
He explained: “I’ve always had a big love of motorsport, growing up only a couple of minutes away from the Cadwell Park circuit at Louth.
"I used to go nearly every weekend as a kid, watching bikes and cars. I just loved it.
“I never really thought that motor racing was something I’d be able to do. But when I saw what Team BRIT was doing, I fancied a bit of that!
“I’ve enjoyed my spell with the team so far, spending time with drivers and attending events. I want to work my way up through the ranks and push towards a full season of racing before developing even further.”
Team BRIT, which marked its tenth anniversary last year, started off with one car in 2015 but now has three. Its story is one of growth, impact and positive change.
Aside from the action on the track, the outfit is working to create a sustainable ladder of racing opportunities for disabled people, giving them the chance to progress from grassroots racing and track day experiences to the most competitive levels.
Team BRIT has created innovative hand-control technology which enables its drivers with disabilities, such as paraplegia, to compete against able-bodied drivers.
Now it is to begin work with partners to explore adaptations that will enable Harvey to race, and will work with him on test days to prepare him for a future season in racing.
A spokesperson said: “We support people with physical and psychological challenges to access motorsport through our technology, inspiration and expertise.
"We are changing motorsport and we are changing lives.”
Harvey hopes to replicate the sporting glory he enjoyed as a swimmer. He started swimming at the age of seven while on holiday with his dad and joined Louth Dolphins Swimming Club when he was ten.
He was spotted by a Swim England talent officer who invited him to a competition. Remarkably, he went on to set five British records and also won gold medals at the British Championships in 2024 and last tear.
Harvey went on: “I hope that any young kids with disabilities, who may have seen what I’ve achieved with swimming and now with my racing plans, that there are no real limits to what you put your mind to.
"Whenever anyone has told me I can’t do something, my response has been: all right, just watch me! And that’s definitely the attitude I’ve found in Team BRIT. “I’m really looking forward to the journey ahead and hope that I can be with the team as it heads towards Le Mans.”