Steve Parrish was born near Cambridge on 24 February 1953. He is a former motorcycle and truck racer who now commentates on motorsport for various British media channels.

Steve turned professional at the age of 22 in 1976, winning the ACU Solo title in the British Motor Cycle Championship. In the same year he became team mate to Barry Sheene on a Suzuki and competed in the 1977 500cc world championship. Parrish finished fifth in the 1977 500cc world championship, before returning to British-based riding to become the 1978 500cc British Champion. He also won the Shell 500 title in both 1979 and 1980, and a Superbike title in 1981.

After retiring from motorcycle racing in 1986, Parrish starting a successful truck racing career, winning the 1987 British Open Truck Racing Championship. Parrish took both the European and British Truck Racing championship titles in 1990, then held the British title for four years and retained the European title for three years driving for the BP-Mercedes Benz team. Parrish regained the prestigious European crown again in 1996 in Jarama. The most successful truck racer ever, he retired in 2002 at the age of 47 to hand over to Terry Rymer.

Parrish was appointed team manager for the UK Yamaha factory race team form 1987 to1991. During this time he went on to lead the team to three successful British Superbike championship titles in 1987, 1989 and 1990.

Steve also carries out Expert Witness Duties for Motorsport accidents, by virtue of his expert experience, skills and knowledge of racing and tracks. more on expert witness >>

In 1985, Parrish started commentating for BBC radio, before joining Sky television to commentate on Superbike alongside Barry Nutley He moved to the BBC in 1990 to commentate on the British 125 championship, before transferring to the BBC’s Moto GP coverage, currently undertaken with Charlie Cox. The pair have a rapport and have commentated on a number of series for the BBC from the late 1990s, including British Touring Cars, British and World Superbikes and now MotoGP. A qualified pilot, Parrish also a commentator for the Red Bull Air Race series for Channel 4. Isle of Man TT Races for ITV4 & NW200 for BBC NI

Away from television, Steve regularly tests vehicles and writes for racing magazines. He is also an expert witness for motor racing incidents helping establish the facts for those involved.

Parrish holds the Guinness Book of Records world record for the “Fastest Speed Achieved in Reverse” (105mph) using a Caterham car. He also co-authored the story of Motorcycling legend Barry Sheene with Nick Harris. In May 2018 Steve released his own book Parrish Times My life as a Racer.  Steve’s book is highly popular and has great reviews from the public and celebrities alike.  Well worth a read!

A renowned practical joker and his stories are legendary. He was banned from Macau after blowing up a brothel and once posed as a medical doctor to allow John Hopkins to fly from Japan to the Australian GP…