Guy Martin born 4 November 1981 in Kirmington, Lincolnshire, England is a British motorcycle racer and lorry mechanic. He has primarily competed in road racing events.
Widely regarded as an amiable and “colourful” character, Martin has at times found it difficult to concentrate on his racing, primarily as a consequence of the huge media attention he attracts, not least at the Isle of Man TT.
Since 2011, he has also presented a few television documentaries exploring his other passions: historical industry and craftsmanship.
The son of amateur motorcycle racer Ian, Guy Martin trained as a truck fitter.
Martin decided to follow his father Ian’s footsteps by racing motorbikes.
After a highly successful debut year on the roads, that saw him win the Cock o’ the North and International Gold Cup races at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough as well as the Irish 750cc Support Championship, he moved to the Uel Duncan Racing team for 2004. It was another successful year as he retained the Gold Cup whilst he also made his debut at the International road races with the highlight being 7th in the Senior TT. His best lap was 122.10 mph which, at the time, was the fastest ever lap set by a newcomer and almost 6 mph quicker than the previous best.
Staying with the team for 2005, Martin made further strides forward and at the TT he was the only rider to finish all five of his races inside the top six. A debut podium in the Senior was backed up with a fourth, two fifths and a sixth whilst he improved his lap speeds to in excess of 126 mph. He also took the Scarborough Gold Cup for the third successive year
In 2006 Martin raced for Alistair Flanagan’s AIM Yamaha race team after John McGuinness moved to the factory hm plant honda team for the national superstock championship and the international road races. His first race for the team was the 2005 Macau GP. During the 2006 season Martin was allowed to race on the English circuits again, taking part in some British Supersport championship races. He also participated in the 3 Scarborough racing events at Oliver’s Mount – the Ian Watson Spring National, the Cock o’ the North and the Gold Cup meeting in which he won the prestigious Gold Cup equaling Geoff Duke’s record of 4 in a row. The International road race meetings had mixed results: the North West 200 never went particularly well, The Isle of Man TT looked promising but problems soon led to it being another disappointment though at the final international of the year, the Ulster Grand Prix, Martin took 4 race wins and a 2nd making him the man of the meeting. However, at the end of the season, it was clear to be fully competitive in the international races at the north west 200 and the TT, Martin needed to be with a different team.
Martin after winning the 2007 Ulster Grand Prix Supersport race
Hydrex Honda were the team that secured Martin’s signature for the 2007 season. Shaun Muir team owner said he was “Delighted to have such a great prospect and a true character on board” and had “High hopes for the coming season”. In the early season he took part in British Superbike and Supersport rounds to prepare for the road racing season. The first major international of the year was the North West 200 in which Martin finished with an 8th, a 4th, two 3rds and a 2nd. In the CP Hire Superstock race after a bad start Martin finished 3rd. The Isle of Man TT was the next major race on the calendar and Martin got a 3rd, two 2nds and a DNF after running out of fuel with less than 3 miles to go until his first pit stop. In the Senior race he just missed out on becoming only the second rider, at the time, to have lapped at more than 130 mph, his best lap falling short at 129.816 mph. Later video footage showed him run wide on the entry to Windy Corner and it was this mistake that led him to miss out on the magical 130 mph lap.
