Bio
Steve switched to motosport as a second career and made an immediate impact. He has competed in over 100 races in the last six years and is an ARDS ‘A Grade’ Instructor.
Prior to his motorsport career, he was a commissioned officer in the Royal Marines for nearly eighteen years, where he served in all the Commando Units and deployed all over the world, including operational tours to Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, before his career was cut short.
Whilst in command of 175 marines on his second operational tour to Afghanistan in 2011, during an extremely hostile period in Helmand Province, his leadership and management skills were fully tested in the most dire of situations. Whilst operating in an area that at the time was considered to be the most dangerous square mile on Earth, he was very seriously injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which put him in a coma for three weeks and physical rehabilitation for over two years.
Whilst in rehab he soon realised that his military career was over and, faced with great adversity, he turned his passion for cycling into a business and established a custom carbon bike building company – LIOS Bikes (abbreviated from the names of his children, Lily & Oscar).
As he could no longer compete on two wheels, and being a petrol head from a young age, he gravitated towards four wheels and an engine. After being introduced to Mission Motorsport in 2013, Steve soon found himself involved with the forces’ motorsport charity whilst in its infancy and at the beginning of 2014 he was selected to race in the 2014 Caterham Academy.
In what is one of the most completive single-make motorsport series in the country, he placed forth overall at the end of the season and his taste for motorsport was firmly set. Over four years Steve progressed up the Caterham ladder, notching up multiple wins and championship podium finishes. He had over twenty five podiums in his first four years, in addition to his team winning their class at the Race of Remembrance twice.
In 2017 Steve had a 70% podium finish rate in the Caterham 310R Championships and in 2018 he translated that success to British GT, where he raced a Jaguar F Type SVR GT4 in British GT for the Invictus Racing Team. After what was ostensibly an R&D year for the team, he again raced in the 2019 British GT this season, where he and his co-driver put Jaguar on the GT podium for the first time in 22 years at Oulton Park in April 2019. Having secured four podiums in the 2019 British GT season, Steve finished 6th overall in the championship, whilst only competing in half of the season’s races.
After sustaining a nasty snowboarding accident (snapping his femur, tibia & fibula) at the beginning or 2020 and coupled with the Covid-19 outbreak, Steve stepped away from motorsport for two seasons in order to concentrate on his rehabilitation and growing LIOS Bikes.
Steve is also a polished inspirational speaker, where he highlights his experience in leadership & management whilst serving in the marines and setting up in business, his adversity in overcoming life-changing injuries and his passion for motorsport.
Interview - Who is Steve McCulley?
Steve was recently interviewed by Alex Chisnall, the host of the 'Screw It Just DO It' podcast, where he looks to answer one simple question:
How do you get to where you want to be?
He chats to inspirational entrepreneurs, sports stars and entertainers who took the leap. They became the people they wanted to be. They did what they always wanted to do.
