Injured soldiers gearing up for Le Mans 24-hour race

A former soldier given a five per cent chance of survival after his legs were blown off in Afghanistan today told of his bid to make sporting history by competing in the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour motorsport race.

Andy Searle, 24, and three other injured veterans aim to become the first team of all-disabled drivers to compete in the world’s oldest active endurance race.

They make up Team BRIT — British Racing Injured Troops — and today launched their bid to qualify for one of the coveted spots on the starting grid.

Their car, a VW Beetle fibreglass shell with a 1.8-litre Audi engine, is specially adapted with “thumb throttle” and “thumb brake” paddles on the steering wheel.

Mr Searle, from Torquay in Devon, was a 19-year-old soldier serving with 1 Rifles in Afghanistan when both his legs, right hip and two fingers were blown off after he stepped on an improvised explosive device. He said of Team BRIT: “I didn’t think I would do much again, so to find out you could get controls to drive like this was just amazing.

"It makes you realise you can do things that you didn’t think you could.”

The team, which also includes Warren McKinlay, 35, Tony Williams, 32, and Jimmy Hill, 34, is backed by Brit Insurance. They will compete in the Fun Cup series this year, before progressing to the GT4 and GT3 series, with the aim of qualifying for Le Mans in 2020.