MAN BORN WITHOUT ARMS SIGNS AS ROOKIE RACING DRIVER

Callum Smith, a 24-year-old from Nuneaton who was born without arms, signed as a rookie driver with Team BRIT, an all-disabled racing team, after he emailed them asking for a chance. He steers a race car with his left foot, and the team’s long-term goal is to become the first all-disabled outfit at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Smith took the wheel of Team BRIT’s adapted BMW 1 Series at Donington Park on September 2, 2026, for his first test in the car. The team had signed him the month before, in August 2026.

The Good News Network reported that Smith has topped 110 mph on track, and that it all began with a message to the team.

“The racing started off with an email to Team BRIT expressing my interest in racing and I said if they were interested in making my dreams come true, I’d be forever grateful,” Smith said.

The car uses a flat steering plate worked by his left foot. His right foot handles the accelerator and brake.

Coventry-based Jim Doran Hand Controls adapted the car and is Smith’s first sponsor. Team BRIT says the company has more than 40 years of experience designing and installing hand controls for disabled drivers.

“From when I first met Callum, it was obvious that there was no stopping him,” said Dan Doran of the firm. “It has been a pleasure to be a part of his journey to becoming a racing driver.”

Smith said the biggest surprise was how heavy the steering feels in a race car. “It’s hard, there’s a lot of eye to foot coordination,” he said. “But I love it and I’m quite keen to get it sorted, I’m motivated to get it done.”

The day itself hit him harder than he expected. He told the BBC the raw emotion was “just completely different to how I had it planned out in my head.”

His passenger that day had a few feelings of his own. Team BRIT GT3 driver Paul Fullick told the BBC: “First time out for me going with someone with no arms, 100 miles an hour, you get to the straight and you just hope that steering wheel is going to turn.”

Smith has had a lot of practice doing things with his feet. Team BRIT says he eats, types, plays guitar and plays Xbox with them, and he remembers learning to write that way. “At the start, I remember my mum helping me to write, guiding my foot around the page, but then it just became second nature,” he said.

He drives his road car through the Motability Scheme, using the same kind of foot-control setup. The BBC reported that he learned to drive a couple of years ago in a car with the steering wheel in the footwell.

Away from the track, Smith left college for an operation for scoliosis, then went back and finished a Level 2 qualification in business administration. He landed an apprenticeship at a signage company and now works there full-time as a finance assistant. He also plays football for the Solihull Moors Foundation in a disability league, after insurance issues stopped him playing mainstream football.

Motorsport came from his grandad, and first it was bikes. “I even learnt the alphabet by reciting riders’ names,” Smith said. “As I always loved bikes, I wanted to be a rider. But reality eventually hit and I realised that wouldn’t be possible, so I moved my attention over to cars.”

He had his first Team BRIT track day in 2025, then visited the team’s headquarters and joined sessions at Silverstone and Thruxton, where he did skid pan testing. Yahoo Sports, carrying SWNS reporting, said he hit 90 mph at Donington in July 2025 and 100 mph at Silverstone in April.

His ambitions are not modest. “I want to be number 1,” he said. “Whatever championship I compete in, I want to be number 1. I’m not there to collect a participation trophy – I want to be top.”

“I feel like I’m on course to make history,” he added. “I don’t know of anyone else with a disability like mine that has become a racing driver.” The BBC said he is understood to be the first UK racing driver with his disability, though other drivers with disabilities race elsewhere in the world.

The Le Mans plan is a team entry, not a confirmed seat for Smith, the BBC reported. To earn a competition licence he must prove he can get out of the car unaided within 10 seconds, and he needs £50,000 for the car conversion, equipment and tuition.

Smith is now working toward his racing licence.