Guy Martin [News] 29th October 2015

Guy Martin [News] 29th October 2015


Road racing ace Guy Martin vows never to return to 'boring' North West 200


Motorcycle ace and TV presenter Guy Martin will not be returning to the North West 200 - and will also sit out the 2016 Isle of Man TT, he has revealed.

The Lincolnshire racer has had a turbulent relationship with the North Coast road race.

At last year's NW200, Martin claimed on TV that he was "bored to the back teeth of riding through chicanes".

The 33-year-old has made it very clear both publicly and now in his new autobiography, When You Dead, You Dead, that he has no intention of returning to the North West 200.

However, it may come as a blow to his fans, and many others, that he plans to stay away from the Isle of Man TT.

On the North West 200 he explained in the book: "I left Northern Ireland thinking, I'm not going back to the North West".

And turning to the subject of the Isle of Man TT, he added: "I'm hoping to sort it with TAS that I can do all the races I normally do except the North West and TT.

I want to enter the Tour Divide then maybe go back to the TT the year after [2017]."

In When You Dead, You Dead - which was published this week - he talks about how he felt after breaking his back in a 200mph crash at this year's Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod 150.

"I don't remember anything about the crash after headbutting the ground, but the Dainese and AGV stuff I was racing in was bloody brilliant," he said.

"The leathers were cut off me, but there weren't many scuffs on them. I headbutted the ground at 130mph, then skidded into a dirt field and catapulted off a few things."

The crash flung him through the air, fracturing five vertebrae, his sternum and several of his ribs.

"The impact I hit the ground with was massive. I was knocked out, but it's a credit to that helmet that I didn't suffer any damage other than a badly bloodshot eye."

Martin recovered quickly from his injuries, signing himself out of hospital just a few days later, following surgery.

The crash also put a stop to his world land speed record attempt.

He had been lined up as pilot in a bid to beat the current 376.363mph record (605km/h) in Triumph's 1,000bhp Rocket III Streamliner.

Martin has had 14 victories at the Ulster Grand Prix - but has never won at the North West 200 or the Isle of Man TT. In his book, he also opens up about his new partner, travels and his pet dog.


Courtesy of belfasttelegraph.co.uk