Motorsport Musings Ramblings of a racing enthusiast…

The Grand Prix Priest

Who can forget Irish priest Neil Horan running up the Hangar Straight in 2003?

On paper the 2003 British Grand Prix looks like a fairly ordinary race. Rubens Barrichello qualified in his Ferrari in pole position, and then went on to win the race by just over five seconds. But as afternoons go, this was anything other than straightforward.

Formula 1's spectators are rather renowned for their passion and for also wearing outlandish clothes in support of their favourite teams or drivers. But on July 20 2003, someone wearing a green and white top, kilt, and bright green socks might have seemed a little bit peculiar.

Down by the Hangar Straight, former priest Cornelius "Neil" Horan, 56, was preparing to ignore the terms and conditions on his entry ticket which mentions that motor racing can be extremely dangerous. Carrying a banner which read: "Read the bible, it's always right!" Horan leapt over the safety barrier on lap 12, before legging it towards the oncoming traffic.

As he embarked upon his protest, Jaguar Racing's new boy Mark Webber, was coming out of the extremely quick Becketts section and was on a collision course with the beret wearing nutter.

"As I came onto the straight I saw what I thought was a piece of bodywork on the track," recalls Webber. "One second later I decided that it wasn't a bit of car and a second after that I realised it was a person."

"I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing. I wasn't particularly worried about what might happen to the idiot on the track. I was more concerned about the other drivers and the effect on any kids watching if a car did hit him. That was absolutely my first thought. It's the kind of incident you don't forget."

The Aussie racer managed to dodge Horan, who was tackled to the ground by Silverstone marshal Stephen Green. Once dragged to safety, he was was taken away to nearby police cells.

In the meantime the safety car was deployed and dropped Barrichello back down the order to eighth. What happened next was a rather brilliant recovery drive in which he passed Raikkonen for the lead on lap 42 and took his sixth grand prix win. Sadly, most people remember the race less for Barrichello's performance and more for the antics of a complete and utter loon.

Horan served two months for his crazy behaviour that day, but that didn't stop his appetite for causing all manner of havoc. He was arrested again the following year at the 2004 Epsom Derby horse race when police reasonably assumed that he was like to run onto the course. A few months later he travelled abroad to Athens and impeded Olympic marathon leader Vanderlei de Lima, who struggled to break free, but then lost his advantage and finished third. His last one-man protest was thwarted at the 2006 FIFA World Cup where he was arrested by police once again.

And the message he was so desperate for us to see? He believes that the end of the world is nigh. If Stephen Green hadn’t taken him down five years ago, his prophecy might have been self-fulfilling.