The Friday Night Shift: Why Two Local Doctors Are Trading Stethoscopes for Sump Guards

There is a specific kind of silence that falls over a hospital ward at 3 AM. It’s a heavy, clinical silence, punctuated only by the beep of monitors and the squeak of shoes on linoleum. It is a world of high stakes, rigid protocols, and immense pressure.

Then there is the noise Peter hears in his head when he clocks off. It’s the scream of a 1.6-litre engine at the redline, the crunch of gravel under tyres, and the rhythmic, calm voice of a navigator reading pace notes.

Peter is a Foundation Year 2 doctor at Yeovil District Hospital. His co-driver, Darragh, holds the same rank at Dorset County Hospital. By day, they navigate the complex, often draining realities of the modern NHS. But by night, they are Right/Super Motorsport, a grassroots rally team with a mission that goes far beyond just driving fast.

The Physicist and the Navigator

It’s not the typical backstory for a petrolhead. Peter didn’t grow up with oil under his fingernails; he grew up with equations. Before medicine, he studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specializing in theoretical physics.

"I’m a very intuitive person," Peter tells me. "I know vector calculus and quantum field theory, but I don't drive by numbers. I visualize the forces. I like first-principles thinking. When you’re sliding a car toward a hairpin, you aren't calculating coefficients; you're feeling the physics happen in real-time."

His passion for driving ignited late, only taking hold in July 2025 after he bought his first car. What started as evening drives to build confidence quickly spiraled into 4,000-mile months touring the Jurassic Coast. It was a release valve from the pressures of the ward.

The catalyst for the team came when Peter visited Darragh. While Peter brought the scientific curiosity, Darragh brought the heritage. His father, Desmond 'Des' Crossan, was a rally navigator in Ireland’s lively motorsport scene.

"One thing led to another," Peter laughs. "We realized we both needed this. Not just a hobby, but a project. Something with a clear goal, tangible progress, and a lot of noise."

The Car in the Barn

Every rally team needs a weapon, and Right/Super Motorsport found theirs in Leicester. It was a 2009 Suzuki Swift Sport, bought for a modest £2,400. But as they peeled back the layers of history, they found something special.

This wasn't just a commuter car. It was originally a prize vehicle for Will Bamber, the winner of the 2010 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup. It had racing DNA baked into the chassis.

"It was perfect," Peter says. "No rust. Good bones. And a bit of a story."

Their goal now is ambitious: to convert this road car into a full FIA Rally5-Kit specification machine. This isn't a cosmetic upgrade. It involves a complete strip-down, welding in an FIA-homologated rollcage, upgrading the suspension to handle gravel stages, and fitting a sequential gearbox.

Crucially, they are doing the grit work themselves. While they have enlisted the expert help of Tim at Dorset Sports Cars for the heavy engineering, the stripping, fitting, and assembling happen in their own time.

"We aren't precision engineers," Peter admits freely. "We are learning. But that’s the point. We want to show people that you can build a car to your own personal feel. It’s achievable. It’s a 'can-do' DIY attitude. Plus," he adds dryly, "it saves us precious funds which, as junior doctors, we do not have."

Saving Starfish

The reality of being a junior doctor in 2025 is unavoidable in this story. Peter speaks candidly about his time as an FY1 in Yeovil.

"It wasn't a choice to come here initially; we go where we are assigned," he explains. "The environment can be extremely draining. You often feel like the girl in the starfish fable—you can’t save everyone, you can only help the patient in front of you. It’s hard not to take that home with you."

This is where the team's "community" pillar comes in. They aren't just racing for trophies; they are racing for their colleagues. The team is actively fundraising for the Yeovil District Hospital Charity and the Dorset County Hospital Charity.

"We care about our patients," Peter says, his tone shifting from enthusiastic to serious. "Despite the struggles in the UK health system, we are unwavering in delivering good care. But that takes a personal toll. By donating to these charities, people are giving temporising support that improves patient care without it coming at the cost of the doctors' own health."

Bridging the Gap

There is a final piece to the Right/Super Motorsport puzzle: saving grassroots motorsport itself.

Peter points to the massive popularity of Formula 1. "The interest in motorsport is there," he argues. "People love the drama of F1. But they think motorsport is a closed shop for millionaires. They don't realize that for the price of a tank of fuel, you can enter an autotest in your road car."

The team members of Taunton and Woolbridge Motor Clubs want to bridge the gap between watching Max Verstappen on TV and actually sitting in a driver’s seat. They believe the local clubs are struggling not because of a lack of interest, but a lack of awareness.

"We want to be that bridge," Peter says. "We want to show the journey from 'fan' to 'competitor.' If two exhausted doctors can find the time to build a rally car and slide it around a muddy field in Somerset, anyone can."

The Road Ahead

The immediate future involves a lot of late nights in the garage and test days at local events. But the long-term vision is clear: the Rali Ceredigion, a closed-road European Rally Championship event in Wales.

And for Darragh? The goal is the Cavan Stages rally in Ireland. He wants to sit in the navigator's seat, reading notes on the same roads his father once did, continuing a family legacy at 100mph.

Right/Super Motorsport might be a small team. They might be building their car in a driveway. But they are driven by a potent fuel mix of scientific curiosity, community spirit, and a refusal to accept limits—whether on the rally stage or the hospital ward.

You can follow the build, support the hospital charities, and learn how to get involved in local motorsport at rightsupermotorsport.com.