Guy Martin

Due to stand trial on 6 January 2020, in late December 2019 the two charges were dropped, citing that Martin believed his licence from Northern Ireland was genuine, giving him HGV-entitlement and that his autism made him "vulnerable enough for others to see him as an easy target" and that he "may well have been taken in by somebody".

Martin returned to road racing in May 2019 at the Tandragee 100 in Northern Ireland.

Martin returned to road racing in May 2019 at Tandragee, winning the 1000 cc class on a BSA Rocket, finishing second on the road to outright winner Dean Stimpson on a 500 cc machine with both classes run together. He had provisionally entered the earlier Cookstown event but failed to appear.

In November 2018 Martin appeared at Lincoln magistrates' court in relation to Irish documentation submitted as part of an application for a UK driving licence. The matter was escalated to Lincoln Crown Court as he pleaded not guilty, opting for a jury trial. After an initial hearing in December 2018, the matter was referred for trial in July 2019.

Following the Ulster Grand Prix accident, Martin decided to retire from motorcycle racing although he did not disclose the decision publicly. However, following numerous approaches by Honda Racing team manager Neil Tuxworth, Martin confirmed in January 2017 that he had signed for Lincolnshire-based Honda Racing as partner to 23-times TT winner John McGuinness for the North West 200, Isle of Man TT and Southern 100 races.

In August 2017, Martin joined Formula 1 car team Williams' pit-crew for the Belgian GP.

Martin signed a new deal with Honda Racing on 18 January 2017 to ride the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2, rekindling his ambition to win the Isle of Man TT and renewing his focus on his road racing career.

It was uncertain whether Martin would retire from racing or return for the 2017 season, but it was announced on 18 January that he had signed for the Honda Racing, based in Louth, Lincolnshire, and would compete alongside teammate John McGuinness at various national and international meetings including the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT Races.

In addition, it was confirmed on 20 March that Martin would compete at the 2017 Tandragee 100 and the Cookstown 100 events.

Following the North West 200 incident involving John McGuinness riding the new Honda SP2, tests were carried out by the Honda Racing Team prior to the bike arriving at the TT races. The 2017 Isle of Man TT qualifying week was disrupted by poor weather and Martin had little track time. The weather improved towards the end of the week, enabling a full practice session to take place on Friday 2 June. Due to the lack of practice, the first race day was postponed with the time allotted to additional practice. On 3 June, in ideal conditions, Martin completed four practice laps recording the 26th fastest time, around the road course of 37.73 miles (60.72 km) in a time of 18 minutes 11.69 seconds at an average speed of 124.403 mph (200.207 km/h).

At the start of the season Martin confirmed his intention to compete at the 2017 Southern 100 races on the Isle of Man. However following the problems with the Honda CBR1000RR SP2 at the TT races, Martin decided not to participate at the event.

On 21 July 2017, Honda Racing, an English company based in Louth, Lincolnshire also known as Honda Racing CBR, issued a statement to the effect that Guy Martin would not be competing at the 2017 Ulster Grand Prix; the decision was described by an event organiser as "Naturally I'm disappointed...but it's not altogether surprising given the difficulties the team has experienced throughout the season".

On 26 July 2017, it was officially announced that Guy Martin had retired from motorcycle racing. In an exclusive interview with the Motorcycle News Martin said:

Aside from a summer living in Ireland, Martin has always lived in North Lincolnshire. Martin lives with his partner Sharon and their daughter named Dottie (born on 23 October 2017), in Kirmington, a village around 19 miles (31 km) away from his workplace in Grimsby.

In 2017, Martin purchased the pub in his home village. It is run by his elder sister.

The streamliner tipped over when it passed over a rut in the track as it was being towed to the start line. Triumph said rain meant it was not possible to create the required-consistency across the 11-mile course necessary to undertake the attempt. On 18 September 2016, Martin had hoped to complete a required 300 mph trial run before attempting to set a new world record.

Items owned by Martin were loaned to the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford, Aberdeenshire to display as part of their 2016 season. He had previously visited the museum in 2011. It featured his Merlin engine, three of his favourite motorcycles, and the gravity racer used in his Speed series. The bikes were the one he built for the Pike's Peak episode of Speed, his 2003 Suzuki GSXR 1000 K3 (his most used and most prolific race-winning bike) and the 675 Daytona Triumph used in the 2015 TT Supersport races. According to the museum's curator, this was the "first time anywhere that anybody has presented an exhibition of Guy Martin's engineering items".

He has never wanted to race motorbikes full-time, believing he would get sick of the sight of them, and liking the ability of being able to point to his amateur status to professionals, as both an excuse when he loses and a way to gloat when he wins. He decided to prioritise cycling over the TT in 2016 as he felt he was nearing the point where he would be too old to compete properly, and after 11 seasons at the TT he was beginning to find the routine of the motorcycle season monotonous. While not seeing it as thrilling as motorbikes, he is attracted by the isolation it offers, and the equal combination of both a physical and mental challenge, feeding into a new found desire to break himself simply for the sense of achievement.

In January 2016 Martin confirmed he would not be racing the 2016 Isle of Man TT as it clashed with a mountain bike race he wanted to compete in, and he would also not be racing the prior North West 200 due to the mountain bike training.

Martin achieved an ambition and competed in the 2016 Tour Divide mountain bike race, which runs from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, negotiating the Rocky Mountains, beginning on 11 June. He completed the course, taking 18 days, six hours and 23 minutes, with an average of 150 miles a day.

Martin agreed a new deal for 2015 with TAS after the team agreed a new equipment deal with BMW Motorrad, to ride the BMW S1000RR alongside William Dunlop. Martin was prepared to retire had TAS not chosen to switch to BMW, believing he had raced the Suzuki as hard as he could. With the new bike, he ran his fastest ever lap of the TT circuit in June 2015 – 132.398 mph – just outside the outright lap record.

Martin suffered a serious crash in the Dundrod 150 Superbike event, part of the Ulster Grand Prix races in August 2015. Following the crash, Martin only got back on his racing motorbike in March 2016, for the filming of the F1 special for his Speed series.

Despite enjoying the work, due to the amount of time it was taking to film his Speed series, time taken away from his maintenance job, Martin considered taking a break from television in 2015. He changed his mind after reaching a deal to film the India and wall of death programmes, and possibly a few more one-off Speed specials, including an unstated record in Europe. His August 2015 crash pushed back the planned date for his Wall of Death show, from 4 October.

Martin also writes for the driving section of The Sunday Times newspaper. He has written car reviews on the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon, the 2015 Range Rover Sport SVR, the 2015 Ford Transit L2 H2, the 2016 Ford Mustang V8 GT, as well as writing about his own Volvo Vöx and his Wall of Death show.

In July 2015 it was confirmed that Martin was to pilot Triumph Motorcycles' attempt on the motorcycle land speed record (World's Fastest Motorcycle), at the time standing at 376.363 mph (605 km/h), set by Rocky Robinson in 2010. The attempt was originally scheduled for August during the FIM event at Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. Competing in the Division C (streamlined motorcycle) category, the Triumph Rocket Streamliner is 25.5 feet long, powered by two turbocharged, methanol fuelled, Triumph Rocket III engines, enclosed in a carbon Kevlar monocoque. A documentary about the attempt was made for Channel 4. His August 2015 crash at the Ulster GP caused the attempt to be postponed until September 2016.

Martin joined his teammates in early March, 2015, for pre-season testing. This initially took the form of a four-day test programme at Cartagena and following this the squad deployed to the BMW Motorrad test camp at Almeria in Spain for the next three days.

Martin opened his 2015 season at the Oliver's Mount Circuit on Saturday 11 April, at which he recorded a maiden victory on his BMW S1000RR Superstock at the Scarborough venue. Finishing fourth the following day in treacherous conditions, Martin went on to lift the main prize of the meeting, the Spring Cup.

The 2015 Vauxhall International North West 200 was blighted by a series of incidents resulting in races being red flagged. Martin did not make an impression in any of the races, and failed to finish in the top six.

Martin's 2015 Isle of Man TT provided mixed results. Opening his account with a retirement in the Superbike Race, he followed this up by taking a respectable 5th place astride the Smiths Triumph in the opening Supersport TT. Switching back to his BMW S1000RR Superstock machine, Martin came home in 7th place in the Superstock TT. Brought in as a late replacement for the injured William Dunlop in the TT Zero Race, and with negligible practice time, Martin took his electrically powered Victory Racing machine to 4th place in his first participation in the class. He then secured his only podium place of the meeting, again on board the Smiths Triumph Daytona, when he claimed 3rd place in the second Supersport outing. Martin rounded off his 2015 campaign when he took the factory BMW S1000RR Superbike to 4th place in the Senior TT with an average race speed of 129.602 mph, but with a fastest lap average of 132.398 mph, a personal best for Martin and just two seconds slower than race winner and outright lap record holder John McGuinness.

Martin crashed at high speed when leading the 2015 Dundrod 150 Superbike race (part of the Ulster GP) in August. On the final lap, being pursued by Bruce Anstey, he left the course at Ireland's Corner, fracturing thoracic vertebrae, his sternum and a number of ribs and his throttle hand, requiring steel rods to be inserted into his back and a pin in his hand. He signed himself out of hospital four days later.

Martin's first competitive appearance since 2015 was his debut for Honda at the Tandragee 100 on 22 April, riding the new Honda Fireblade Superstock-class machine. During the first lap of the Open Superbike race, Martin was involved in a collision with another rider at Marlacoo corner. Both were unhurt, but retired from the race. Due to an incident involving an Italian rider and poor weather conditions, the rest of the meeting was cancelled.

As at the Cookstown 100, it was confirmed Martin would ride for both the factory-supported Honda team, and in the Supersport 600 cc class for the Wilson Craig Team. Interviewed by BBC Sport , Martin was in upbeat mood, saying he hadn't pushed the machine too hard, and was quite happy with a "steady ride round." Martin's criticism of the course in regard to the chicanes was mentioned. When queried on a previous statement made after the 2015 meeting that he would not return to the triangle circuit, Martin commented that the primary reason was to get the necessary race-time to enter the Isle of Man TT Races. He also confirmed that he enjoyed riding at the Northwest 200 and that he had development work to do with the new Honda. When queried why he did not renew his association with the Irish Tyco BMW Team, Martin stated that after the 2015 accident, he had decided to retire from racing but still had respect for Tyco BMW, concluding during the Tour Divide cycle race that he no longer had passion for racing. A reason Martin gave for signing for Honda, was that he could fulfill an ambition, as Honda had promised him he could race a vintage Honda RC181.

Martin also competed as part of a Pedal Car Racing team in the 24-hour, 2015 British Pedal Car Championship event at the Shenington Kart circuit on 27/28 June, as part of the Team JMC/Hope Factory Racing Team.

In this feature length one off special, Martin follows the final flights of the Cold War era Avro Vulcan Delta winged jet bomber XH558 Spirit of Great Britain. Having been restored to flight in 2007 by a charitable trust, it had been the last flying Vulcan, performing displays every year, until it was decided 2015 would be its last season due to its age and associated insurmountable engineering issues. Its last flight occurred on 28 October 2015. Martin joins the team with four months left, and once certified by the team's chief engineer, is permitted to assist in preparing it for a 1,000 mile farewell tour, as it is jacked up for a vertical alignment test. Examining the design and history, he also meets former Vulcan pilots and the Red Arrows, who display with the aircraft, and aerial footage tracks it on the tours. Since in-flight cockpit access is only granted to Vulcan crew, he also flies alongside it in a formation with other aircraft. He also takes the controls of one of the other surviving Vulcans in taxiable condition, for a fast taxi manoeuvre (ground run to the point of nose lift).

Following claims made in his 7 April 2015 Sunday Times review of the Aston Martin Vanquish, in which he recounted testing the car on an early morning lap of the TT course, police opened an investigation. Driving almost the full length of the TT course (joining at Quarterbridge garage and finishing at Governor's Bridge), he said he was impressed at how fast it really was, reaching 180 mph down Sulby Straight and becoming airborne at Ballacrye corner, resulting in "something like a 22-minute lap". On 27 May police confirmed that after taking advice from the Attorney General's Chambers, they would be taking no further action, while reminding residents and visitors that "Where there is no upper speed limit, road users must at all times be aware that there is a fine line between what is fast and what is dangerous." A few days later in a radio interview, Martin repeated the claims, and stated he had not broken the law as he had only reached high speeds on derestricted roads (i.e., those with no upper speed limit).

Martin has written three books about his life, releasing his autobiography, Guy Martin: My Autobiography, on 8 May 2014. It reached No.1 in the Sunday Times bestseller list and remained there for at least six weeks, and eventually became the second best selling autobiography of 2014. This was followed by Guy Martin: When You Dead, You Dead, released on 22 October 2015, and covering the previous year in diary format, from the 24-hour Solo World Mountain Bike Championship to the Isle of Man TT. It was listed No.1 in online retailer Amazon's sales figures for celebrity autobiographies in November 2015, with his main autobiography being No.10. October 2016 saw the release of his latest book, titled "Guy Martin: Worms to Catch" featuring Guy's thoughts on the past year and upcoming challenges.

He placed second in the male solo rider category at the Strathpuffer 24-hour mountain bike race (held at Strathpeffer, Scotland) in both 2014 and 2015.

This one-off half hour programme explored various aspects of Martin's life. It was a repackaging of material previously released as four 7 minute long online only episodes, under Channel 4's Shorts brand, on their online platform 4oD. Episodes "Prized Possession" and "TT Racer" were released on 18 August 2014, followed by "Inside the Mind of a Racer" and "Proud Mechanic" on 1 October 2014. Proud Possession focuses on his Merlin engine.

Various commentators have also drawn attention to his sideburns, worn since age 16, his use of phrases such as "graft" (work) and "proper" as well as his addiction to drinking tea – his on screen explaining of the reasons for why he prefers to put the milk in first was part of what drew him to the attention of his eventual television producer Woodroffe.

Martin regrouped to claim the Southern 100 Championship on the Billown road course in July, after finishing second on no less than three occasions – 2005, 2006 and 2007 – before heading to the third International race of the season, the Ulster Grand Prix. After taking third in the Dundrod 150 Superbike race, Martin repeated the result in the feature UGP Superbike race, held over eight laps, but he ensured he would not be without an International win in 2009 when he won a thrilling second Superbike race, just over a tenth of a second in front of fellow Lincolnshire rider Gary Johnson. He also placed fourth and fifth in the equally close Superstock and Supersport races. At the 2009 Gold Cup at Oliver's Mount, Martin won the Steve Henshaw Gold Cup feature race, becoming the first rider to win seven consecutive meetings.

Rumours continued to circulate throughout the week about Martin's differences with his team, perhaps instigated by Martin's lateness of signing a contract at the start of the season, although as practice week went on, it was obvious the rumours regarding Martin's split from his team were untrue. The Senior race was scheduled to take place on its traditional Friday – 8 June. However, following adverse weather, the race was postponed until Saturday, 9 June. As a consequence of continued poor weather, the decision to cancel the Senior TT was taken. This was the first time in the race's 105-year history that the Senior had been cancelled due to weather.

The 2013 Ulster Grand Prix was Martin’s most successful campaign at the event, and which saw him secure a hat trick of victories at the meeting winning the Supersport 1, UGP Superbike and Superbike categories.

The opening race, the Superbike TT, was rescheduled for Sunday 4 June but Martin only got 8 miles into the race before he crashed at Doran's Bend. In an interview afterwards, Martin stated that as he attempted to change down the gearbox after Ballig Bridge in order to negotiate the 4th gear left handed Doran's Bend, he hit a false neutral. Martin was unable to offer an opinion as to whether the bike would be safe to ride in the Senior TT, merely describing the SP2 as a "Jonah". Despite crashing at around 135 mph (217 km/h), Martin only sustained a bruised wrist. Following his spill in the opening race, Martin also failed to start in both the Supersport race and the Superstock event.

Racing's been good to me, but I'm bored of it. You spend the early part of the year preparing for the season – testing, racing, talking about it, and then doing it all over again. It's like Groundhog Day. It's time to stop.

Guy travelled to Latvia to investigate the history of the Latvian side of his family – his deceased maternal grandfather, Walter Kidals, was a Latvian who had come to Britain in 1947 as a refugee from World War II. The family knew little about his story, even his wife had been unaware he was an orphan. Born Waldemars Kidals, the programme found that in 1941 he had been conscripted into the Latvian Legion, part of the Axis Forces when Nazi Germany had occupied Latvia, and later spent two years in a Belgian prisoner-of-war camp. Having been exonerated by the post-war trials, and with Latvia now part of the Soviet Union, all surviving former Latvian conscripts were allowed to settle in the United States and Britain as political refugees – Walter opted for the UK, travelling to Hull.

Martin is not particularly interested in watching television or spending time on the internet – he doesn't own a TV and has a pre-smartphone era mobile phone. He is a fan of BBC Radio 4

Martin owns a 2013 Ford Transit van and a unique Volvo Vöx supercar. The van is for general transport while the Vöx is just for special occasions, however he does his daily commute to his truck job on his mountain bike. He has owned various Vauxhall Astra vans, until a bad example put him off the type. He now swears by the reliability of the Transit, driving it around 40,000 miles a year.

Martin is also listed as the author of companion books for some of his television shows: How Britain Worked, published on 4 October 2012 and Speed, published on 1 December 2013.

Recollecting the crash in 2012, Martin recounted how he has been pushing too hard going into the corner at 160-170 mph, having willingly crossed the line [which if you push beyond you might crash] in order to win. He recalled being thrown from the bike and accepting he was not going to survive the approaching high speed impact with a wall, attributing it to luck that he hit it at the right angle to get away with it.

Martin made his first 2012 appearance at the Cookstown 100 meeting in preparation for the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT. Martin brought his race season to a close winning five races at Scarborough's Oliver Mount Gold Cup. He also took part in the Ryan Farquhar Parade lap on one of Ryan's own KMR Kawasaki's.

Martin's start to the 2012 TT Festival saw him competing – in a private capacity – at the Pre-TT Classic races at the Billown Circuit, Castletown. Martin was lucky to escape injury while competing in the superbike race, and was battling for the lead of the race on a Suzuki XR69 with Jamie Coward, when he crashed on the final lap. This again led to reports of tension, as the Pre-TT races do not form any part of the main TT racing programme, and posed a potential injury risk to Martin before the TT had begun in earnest. During the practice week for the 2012 Isle of Man TT, Martin made steady progress – albeit amid rumours of differing opinions with his team's management regarding machinery set-up and the team's choice of Pirelli tyres.

He bought the Vöx in 2012 from Koenigsegg engineer Mattias Vöcks. Based on a 1967 Volvo Amazon, it was upgraded and customised by Vöcks into an E85 biofuel powered 788 bhp vehicle, which Martin claims has reached 205 mph on a racetrack. The Vöx followed a string of high performance cars Martin bought for special occasions (only ever owning one at a time, and sometimes only owning his van). At age 21 he bought a BMW E46 M3 CSL, followed by a Porsche GT3 RS at age 24, then a new BMW E92 M3 V8, and lastly before the Vöx, a 2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage bought new at age 28.

Martin starred in Closer to the Edge, a 2011 documentary on TT racing. He has since presented programmes on various engineering topics and the Channel 4 series Speed with Guy Martin when he set speed records in a variety of human and engine powered vehicles. He has authored three books, and competed in mountain bike pedal-cycle races.

Since 2011, he has also got into bicycle racing, in 24-hour events. For the 2016 season Martin decided not to race in the TT for the first time in 11 years, opting instead for a mountain bike race. He was uncertain if the decision would lead him to retire from road racing, mountain bike racing, or if he would go on to do something else, but said "if I do race on the roads it will be with TAS".

The wider media have picked up on his views, interests, reluctance to be famous and "simple" lifestyle, leading to descriptions of Martin as a "working-class hero". Among racing fans, Martin is seen as something of a cult hero Described as the most famous racer never to have won the TT, he is credited with opening up road racing to a diverse global audience in the modern era. Inside the racing paddock, Martin is seen as somewhat of an outsider or maverick, which he is comfortable with. On joining TAS racing in 2011, team manager Philip Neill praised his enthusiasm and free spirit attitude, commenting "He's created a Guy Martin brand without even trying and that's also pretty special," while also observing his commitment to do things their way.

Martin has successfully raced mountain bikes in cross country, downhill races and endurance races. In June 2011, after two years of training, he raced in the Salzkammergut Trophy in Austria. With a time of 14 hours 40 minutes, he was the first British non-professional rider to finish. He achieved his goal of a podium-finish during a 2013 British Championship event in Fort William, Scotland.

By late 2011 he had accrued 21 penalty points on his standard UK driving licence, having been caught speeding several times in his Transit van. He avoided a driving ban when on 18 points, being given another three in lieu of a ban, after the judge showed leniency due to the effect it would have on his livelihood, had he lost it. After a period of "driving like a saint" he was expecting to have regained a clean record by April 2015.

Mindful of the risks, he would not regret dying in a race, but he is prepared to go beyond the line (beyond which you risk crashing), in order to win. The danger feeds his need to feel in control of his destiny, although he conceded the inherent risks mean he would be doing well if he lived to age 60. His major crashes of 2010 and 2015 have not changed his outlook; he has described the moment before losing control in 2010 crash as priceless, the ultimate feeling of danger. He wants to go fast and get near death, while also walking away. He denies he is reckless and believes everything he does is calculated; believing you get out of life what you put in, he ensures he trains and prepares hard for dangerous activities so he is in control of, and can even enjoy, the experience. His television producer agrees, stating "he's not stubborn, or reckless, he's calculating". This attraction of the combination of speed and a sense of danger was part of the motivation for him doing his Speed series.

In 2010 he failed to take a podium at the North West 200, with his best result being fourth in the second Superbike race. He went to the Isle of Man TT, looking to achieve his first TT victory. However, the meeting was dominated by Ian Hutchinson, who took a record-breaking five victories in all the solo races, and Martin suffered serious injuries in a major crash in the final race.

TT3D: Closer to the Edge is a documentary film about the Isle of Man TT races. The film examines what motivates the riders who race the TT and risk everything to become "King of the Mountain". Filmed in 3D, the film is a story about freedom of choice and the strength of human spirit. The film follows the leading riders in the 2010 race meeting, in particular Martin and Ian Hutchinson.

The end of 2009 saw Martin leave Hydrex for Northern Ireland-based Wilson Craig Honda, but since November 2010, Martin has raced for TAS Racing (known as Relentless Suzuki, then Tyco Suzuki from 2012 to 2014, and Tyco BMW from 2015 to present), the team run by the Neill family also based in Northern Ireland, and with a long TT heritage. This switch to what was effectively a factory team meant the end of tuning his own equipment – for TAS he would simply be riding pre-prepared machines.

Martin first came to the attention of TV executives in 2009 when he appeared in an ITV4 programme intended primarily for fans of that year's TT race. The then film-producer, Andy Spellman, filmed with Guy at the TT. Spellman shot some additional test material of Martin back at home in the summer and the boss of North One television showed the clips to a BBC executive.

Having engaged Andy Spellman as his advisor and agent in 2009, Martin worked with North One TV Producers James Woodroffe and Ewan Keil, as he has done to present day. Martin's first appearances on TV documentaries were on programmes based around his passion for engineering rather than his love of adrenaline sport, The Boat that Guy Built airing on the BBC in 2011, and How Britain Worked on Channel 4 in 2012. His thrill-seeking side later emerged with the production of the series Speed with Guy Martin, first airing on Channel 4 in 2013. Uncomfortable with presenting to camera or working from a script, his preferred style is to improvise his dialogue, and work by responding to questions from crew off camera, which are designed both to prompt him, as well as keep him focused, and even stop him "rattling on" if necessary.

In 2009 Martin contested all three Internationals as well as selected British Championship and Irish National races. In a move from previous seasons, Martin moved away from the main Hydrex team, preferring instead to run a smaller, close knit team and after a steady North West 200 meeting, confidence was high going into the TT, his number one event of the year, as he sought to win a race at the 37.73 mile circuit on the Isle of Man.

2009 was expected to be the year he broke the seal, but after claiming two seconds and a third on the Superstock, Superbike and Supersport bikes early in the week Martin's engine gave up after coming onto the pit lane in the 2nd 600 race. More grief was to come when putting the bike into gear at the end of his 2nd pit stop during the Senior race his chain snapped, meaning he ended up with another DNF.

As well as contesting a full season in the British Superbike Championship, in 2008 Martin again competed in the three International road races but was denied his first TT win when he broke down whilst comfortably leading the opening Superbike race. He was eleven seconds in the lead when an electrical problem forced him out on the fourth lap. He claimed a podium, third, in the Superstock race but suffered further retirements in the Senior and second Supersport races. In September 2008 it was back to Oliver's Mount for the International Gold Cup. Martin won the feature event and now has won 6 Gold Cups in a row, a new record, and also has the lap record for the 1000cc bikes at Scarborough with a time of 1:45.3.

Martin also owns a large collection of bicycles and motorcycles, including a Bimota. In bicycles, he has owned a Raleigh Chopper, then a Raleigh Mustang, Falcon Fattrack, but describes his first proper bike as being a Whyte 46 bought in 2005, followed by an Orange 224, Scott Ransom 10, Alpine 160, finally settling on a Cotic.

Martin decided to take up racing after a crash on public roads at age 18. He moved to Ireland to join Team Racing. In 2004 he moved to the Uel Duncan Racing team, staying with them until 2005. In 2006 Martin raced for Alistair Flanagan's AIM Yamaha race team, replacing John McGuinness. In the search for a more competitive team, Martin joined Hydrex Honda for the 2007 season.

Martin started racing in 1998 and in 2004 competed on a road circuit for the first time at the Isle of Man TT. He has a total of 17 podium finishes at TT events over several years. He has broken his back twice in racing accidents, in the 2010 TT and the 2015 Ulster Grand Prix.

While completing his apprenticeship as a lorry mechanic, Martin raced motorbikes in his spare time. Martin returned to the Isle of Man at age 16; overhearing lorry driver and amateur racer Baz Kirk discussing his plans to race in the 1997 Manx Grand Prix with his father, he was offered the chance to assist him as a race mechanic.

Martin has two sisters and a brother. His brother, Stuart, is also a truck mechanic and motorbike racer. His younger sister, Kate, was the first female mechanic in the BSB paddock before leaving to start a family with two-times TT sidecar winner, Patrick Farrance. Martin and his siblings attended every Isle of Man TT from their births, until their father Ian crashed his Yamaha FZ750 whilst racing at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough in 1988, when Guy was aged 7. After recovering from the resulting broken hip, Martin's father did not race again, but worked as a mechanic in classic bike racing.

In the programme, Martin met surviving members of his family and visited the now cleared site of his family's former farmhouse. Travelling in a 1982 Lada 1300S, he also visited an immersive Cold War Russian prison experience, and watched a reenactment of a battle between the Legion forces and the Soviet Red Army.

Guy Martin (born 4 November 1981) is a British lorry-mechanic better known publicly as a motorcycle racer turned television presenter of engineering-based projects, being likened to the late Fred Dibnah.

Martin was born on 4 November 1981 in a suburb of Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. He was named Guy in tribute to Guy Gibson of No. 617 Squadron RAF. His father Ian was a successful privateer motorbike racer who had competed in several Isle of Man TT events, but he was forced to supplement his income with a job as a lorry mechanic, additionally selling bikes. His mother, Rita Kidals, was of Latvian heritage, her father having come to Britain in 1947 as a political refugee. Soon after Martin's birth, the family moved to a house outside the town, where they remained.

In this live special, Martin attempted to set a world speed record on a purpose built version of the wall of death fairground attraction. It also featured recordings of Martin being trained by experienced rider Ken Fox on an existing wall to overcome dizziness, and being given aerial training to overcome the chief limiting factor, the effect of G-force on the human body. The science was explored by Hugh Hunt of Cambridge University, revealing the equation G=S/(25*D), where G is G-Force, S is speed in mph, and D is diameter of the wall, in metres. This revealed the chosen location, a hangar on Manby Airfield, would be too small for Martin's desired target of 100 mph, but with a revised target of 80 mph while remaining below 7G, the 37.5 metre wall that was ultimately built would suffice. This would allow Martin to challenge a previous claimed record of around 70 mph, which the programme believed was wrong, determined through video analysis as having been 45 mph. For the show, Guinness World Records created a new record, Highest speed on a Wall of Death, and set an initial qualifying benchmark of 60 mph in one of two attempts. On a first attempt, using an Indian Scout motorcycle, Martin managed to achieve 70.33 mph, while on a second run, on a bike purposely built by Martin (a 1972 Rob North T160 Trident triple), he extended the record to 125.77 km/h (78.15 mph). Prior to Martin's attempt, on the smaller wall cyclist Shanaze Reade also set the Guinness record for Highest bicycle speed on a Wall of Death, at 42.94 km/h (26.68 mph).

On the Wilson Craig Honda 600 Martin qualified 16th fastest during first practice for the Supersport race, recording a fastest lap of 109.614 mph, slipping to 27th fastest in the second qualifying period, which led to Martin starting the race from the ninth row on the grid, bringing his machine home in 23rd place.

Martin made a good start to the Superbike TT, and at the end of the first lap he was lying in third place behind John McGuinness and Cameron Donald. He continued to hold station during the following three laps, but a problem during his final pit stop at the end of lap four, resulted in the team being unable to replace his rear tyre. As a consequence of diminishing grip from a fading tyre, Martin was overtaken on corrected time by Bruce Anstey by the end of lap five, although he did hold on to finish fourth with a time of 1hr.47.20 at an average speed of 126.54 mph. This was followed by fifth place in the Superstock race, a retirement in the first Supersport race and 8th place in the second Supersport outing.

Martin owns a Merlin aero engine from a 1942 Lancaster bomber, and a Scania 144 530 truck engine. He also has a 1915 Amanco Chore Boy stationary engine with original low tension magneto in his kitchen.

Prior to that crash, during the Superbike race, Martin received a 30-second penalty for exceeding the posted pit lane speed limit of 60 km/h by just 0.112 km/h. Had he not received the penalty, his overall time would have been 1:46:48.05 and put him in 2nd place, behind Ian Hutchinson who finished with a time of 1:46:31.82.