DEFYING LIMITS: GUY DAVIES’ JOURNEY TO SIMOLA HILLCLIMB

Guy Davies was born in Scotland but later moved to England, where he pursued a degree in agriculture at university. After completing his studies, he took up farming. However, a serious back injury sustained during his rugby playing days would later alter the course of his life. Despite the pain, he initially tried to ignore the injury, until his girlfriend, Sue, now his wife of 38 years, convinced him to see a specialist. The diagnosis revealed three broken vertebrae, and after a year of hoping they would heal on their own, doctors eventually fused five vertebrae (T5 – T10). This ended his rugby career, but he remained active in motorsport, riding and racing motorbikes and classic cars.

In 1995, he and his wife moved to South Africa with the intention of farming. However, they never found the right farm, which he now considers fortunate. In 1999, while loading 10kg sacks of rooibos tea into a trailer, his spinal fusion broke. The wires holding it together wrapped around his ribs and pierced his spinal cord. The following year was a blur of surgeries as doctors attempted to correct the damage, but the outcome was paraplegia.

RACING JOURNEY
Despite the life changing injury, Guy’s passion for motorsport never faded. He had inherited a love for cars and motorbikes from his father, who spent years restoring classic vehicles. While his father took pleasure in rebuilding them, Guy was drawn to the thrill of driving and racing. Together, they competed in historic hill climbs across the UK, with Guy pushing the limits of both motorbikes and classic cars. His father, however, was hesitant about letting him race competitively, fearing he might be reckless as a teenager and perhaps he was right at the time.

After his injury, Guy initially struggled with the loss of mobility, particularly when he was unable to drive for six months. He had to sell all his manual cars and switch to automatic vehicles with hand controls. However, once he was back behind the wheel, he felt liberated. “Once I am in a car, my disability disappears, and we are all equal again,” he explains.

LIVING WITH A DISABILITY IN MOTORSPORT
While adjusting to life as a paraplegic was challenging, motorsport offered a sense of normality and freedom. There were moments of frustration, and Guy openly shares that he battled depression, feeling as though much of life’s enjoyment had been taken from him. Yet, driving allowed him to reclaim his independence.

Over the years, he considered a return to racing. In the early 2000s, he explored the possibility with his late friend Hermon Scholtz, a respected racer who had competed in Porsches and Datsuns at Killarney. However, at the time, they faced too many obstacles to move forward. It wasn’t until 2023 that an opportunity presented itself again.

SIMOLA HILLCLIMB 2025
A close friend, Aivars (who runs the Subaru dealership in George), invited Guy to drive a Subaru GT at Simola Hillclimb in honour of his grandson, Jack. Jack had severe disabilities and sadly passed away the year before. “I jumped at the opportunity,” Guy recalls. “But I warned Aivars we would likely hit negativity from authorities.” To his surprise, the motorsport community responded with nothing but encouragement and support.

Guy’s participation in Simola is more than just about racing. It is a celebration of life, as well as an opportunity to raise awareness about cancer and disability. His wife, Sue, who has stood by his side throughout his own medical struggles, has fought two major battles of her own, first with breast cancer and then with an aggressive form of leukaemia in 2022. She endured multiple surgeries, intensive treatment, and a long recovery. Although she can no longer accompany Guy to events like Simola due to her compromised immune system, her strength and perseverance are a driving force behind his return to racing.

Her survival, Guy believes, is thanks to early diagnosis and the exceptional care she received. “I have no doubt that’s the reason she’s still here,” he says. It’s also why he encourages anyone who notices something unusual in their body such as a lump, a bump, anything out of the ordinary to seek medical advice right away. “It can be the difference between life and death.”

As the story of Guy’s journey began to spread, it struck a chord with many among them, the team at Liqui Moly. Inspired by his determination and message, they came on board to sponsor the adventure, helping turn what once seemed impossible into a reality.

ADVOCACY AND AWARENESS
Beyond personal challenges, Guy hopes to send a message to those who doubt the abilities of people with disabilities. Over the years, he has encountered individuals who have questioned why someone in a wheelchair should own or drive a high-performance car. “People have said things like, ‘What a waste of a nice car on a cripple like you.’ My normal response is that their legs are wasted on them.” But competing at Simola is an even better response showing that disability does not define capability.

“We’re not doing this looking for pity. We want to set a competitive time and prove that anyone regardless of physical ability can compete and hold their own in a highly competitive environment,” he says.

LOOKING AHEAD
While Simola is his immediate focus, Guy hopes to continue racing and inspire others with disabilities to pursue their passions. His journey will be documented on YouTube, and there are plans for a dedicated social media page run by Liqui Moly Oils to share updates along the way.

For now, though, his eyes are set on the hill climb where he’ll once again prove that when he’s behind the wheel, there are no limitations.