Formula 1 security boss who fractured skull in Silverstone buggy crash sues for over £200k – UK Times

An F1 security boss who was left with a fractured skull and brain damage after rolling a 4×4 at Silverstone is suing for more than £200,000 in compensation.

Peter Holdsworth, 66, was a security manager at the Northants home of British racing when his utility vehicle suddenly flipped, throwing him to the road surface.

Mr Holdsworth suffered a brain injury and skull fracture in the accident, as well as a serious foot injury, and is now suing circuit bosses for more than £200,000 at the High Court.

He claims the tyres on the John Deere Gator 4×4, unbeknownst to him, were not suitable for road use, being designed for off-road locations and therefore required extra careful handling on paved roads.

But Silverstone Circuits Limited is denying liability and blaming Mr Holdsworth for hitting a kerb while driving too fast, not wearing a seatbelt and without both hands on the steering wheel.

According to documents filed at the High Court, Mr Holdsworth, of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, had been a security boss at the circuit for five years when the crash happened.

His barrister, Richard Wheeler, said he was driving into the race track in the hired 4×4 on the morning of 4 August 2024, when he was injured.

“He was intending to drive down a slope and through a tunnel which passes underneath the racetrack,” he says in Mr Holdsworth’s particulars of claim.

“As the claimant turned down the slope leading into the tunnel, he lost control of the vehicle and it overturned, landing on its side.

“The claimant was thrown out of the open driver’s side of the vehicle during the accident and he suffered serious injuries.

“He was transported to hospital by ambulance and remained an inpatient for two months, having suffered a traumatic brain injury and skull fractures and a severe left foot injury … with multiple foot fractures.”

The security manager also suffered a left ankle fracture, a break of a bone behind his ear, with bleeding from the ear, as well as a host of psychological consequences.

“He has altered gait and his walking distance is grossly impaired,” said the barrister. “He has suffered cognitive sequalae, loss of hearing, loss of balance, flashbacks, nightmares and depression.

“He has not been able to return to work, or to driving, or to his usual hobbies and activities.”

Mr Wheeler said the accident was caused by his employers’ failure to train him in use of the Gator, particularly the fact that its tyres are designed for off-road use, with the operator’s manual detailing how paved surfaces can “seriously affect handling and control of the vehicle” and require slow speeds.

There had also been a failure to carry out a “sufficient risk assessment” of the use of such a vehicle on roads at the racing circuit, he said.

“The vehicle was not suitable to be driven in the location of the accident… it was designed for off-road use only, it was dangerous to use it on a paved road, dangerous on a slope, and accidental contact with raised kerbs may cause it to overturn,” he said.

“Furthermore, the open-sided nature of the vehicle meant it was unsafe to be driven around the workplace.

“The traffic route was not suitable because the vehicle was not designed for use on a paved road, the traffic route was too narrow for the vehicle to negotiate safely.

“Had a suitable and sufficient risk assessment been carried out, it would have identified the risks and identified the action to be taken to meet them.”

But in its defence to the action, filed recently at the court, Silverstone’s barrister Charles Woodhouse KC says it was in fact Mr Holdsworth who was to blame for his accident.

“The accident was caused by the claimant driving too fast and colliding with a kerb, thereby causing the Gator to roll,” he said in the company’s defence case.

“Mr Holdsworth was seen to travel towards Copse Tunnel at excessive speed and without wearing a seatbelt. CCTV footage suggests that he was not holding the steering wheel with both hands.

“Having turned towards Copse Tunnel and as he drove down the slope into Copse Tunnel, the claimant clipped the kerb of the lane divider, causing the Gator to roll onto its nearside. The claimant was ejected from the Gator.

“If the claimant had been wearing a seatbelt, he would not have been ejected from the Gator.”

He denied the claim that the Gator was not suitable for use on roads, describing the vehicle as “road legal” and “suitable for use on the differing terrain around Silverstone, including roadways, gravel and grass fields.”

“Additionally, Gators are easy to get in and out of and have an easily accessible loading bed for transporting equipment,” he continued.

“A Gator is suitable for any person with a driving licence, and it is not necessary to provide specific training to any qualified driver to drive a Gator.”

The case has not yet gone before a judge, but will be listed for a full trial of Mr Holdsworth’s claim at a later date, unless the parties settle outside court.