David Evans is joined by Markko Märtin and Robert Reid to remember a truly special character, 20 years on
Photography by Girardo & Co. Archive & McKlein
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
Just after nine o’clock this morning – the morning of September 18 – 20 years ago, I sat down to a bacon sandwich with Paul Turner.
We were in Wales, Felindre, just north of Swansea, to be precise. Rally GB was rolling out, with Sébastien Loeb easing his way clear of Petter Solberg and closing in on a successful World Rally Championship title defense. The crown, it seemed, would be replaced on the Frenchman’s head in just a matter of hours.
Turner was a familiar face around the service park as manager and mate to Markko Märtin and Michael ‘Beef’ Park.
For me, PT was the perfect pause from rallying, to talk rugby. That morning, we would have chewed over the fortunes of his beloved Harlequins while enjoying the service park sandwich and cup of tea.
Within an hour of that chat, both of our worlds were turned upside down. Markko and Beef had crashed. The worst had happened.
'Beef' lost his life 20 years ago today, while competing with Märtin at Rally GB
The hours that followed brought a numbness and an introspection of the apparent futility of what we were doing. How could it be possible? Just a few hours earlier, Robert Reid and I had been ribbing Beef over something and nothing.
In the previous few years, I’d had the misfortune to write a few obituaries. When Mark Lovell and Roger Freeman were killed in Oregon in 2003, that was tough. While I was still relatively new to reporting on international rallying, I’d got to know them both well. And Lovell I’d known and admired through my childhood.
In August 2005, David Williams passed away. DKW was, without doubt, the greatest writer in the history of our sport. He had such a special way of blending his enthusiasm, experience and knowledge in a story which left the reader feeling like they were standing there next to him.
And then came Sunday September 18, 2005.
The pain, the shock, the realization was extraordinary. I vividly remember walking in an almost trance-like state from hug-to-hug. Nobody said a word. Nobody needed to. I remember the red sides to the Peugeot service area being pulled down, hiding everything but the muffled cries. I remember sitting in M-Sport and seeing Malcolm Wilson put his head around the door, tears rolling down his face.
Märtin and Park spent three seasons competing for Malcolm Wilson's Ford and M-Sport
The rest of today, two decades ago, went by in something of a blur. The event’s final two stages were cancelled and the cars were directed to the finish in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium (as it was then known). Days before I’d set-up an interview with Loeb to talk about his second title. Not really knowing what else to do, I went along to his hotel anyway.
It was in such moments that you get an insight into people’s character; Loeb admitted he didn’t know Beef as well as he would have liked, but his co-driver Daniel Elena was one of his best friends. His sympathy and depth of feeling for the situation was heart-felt – as was his desire not to celebrate anything in Wales.
Driving home late that night, it was impossible to get Beef’s big, wide smile out of my mind. Typically, we’d never had enough time to enjoy the beers we should have done. We’d tentatively made plans to fly to New Zealand on the way to Rally Argentina to watch a Lions match. It didn’t happen, but we did make dinner in Argentina to talk about what we might have seen.
He was a piece of home. First time you saw him on event it was always the same, firm handshake and a typically cheery: “Alright Big Boy.”
His company, like his laugh, was infectious.
'Beef' was an infectious character you always wanted to be around (Credit: McKlein)
It was a genuine honor to be admitted into the inner circle of PT, Markko, Robert, Richard [Burns] and Beef. The day after the accident, Markko and I talked on the phone in the only interview he gave about the accident. I had no idea what to expect, not on any level.
In the end we talked for a very, very long time about a shared love of a very, very good Englishman. Markko described Beef as a ‘brother’ and we each acknowledged that he would never, and could never, be forgotten.
How could a man who had Going Underground played at his funeral be forgotten. Still, to this day, Beef has the ability to make us smile.
And that was very much the spirit of this week’s SPIN, The Rally Pod.
Once again, I was honored to be joined by Markko and Robert to talk about our pal.
To Beef, one of the very best and never to be forgotten.
Words:David Evans
Tags: Beef, Michael Park, WRC
Publish Date September 18, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/09/Girardo_Co._Archive_58971-780x1166.jpg September 18, 2025
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