So you think you can ride a bike? Guy martin has an army of fans who will tell you different. Just check out this video of Guy and Michael Dunlop playing 200mph cat and mouse round the famous Isle of Man TT circuit.
Guy’s daytime job has always been fixing trucks, something he still refuses to give up. But out of work he probably ranks as one of the maddest motorcyclists the planet has ever seen. His enviable reputation as a no-holds-barred approach to racing; nothing, absolutely nothing spooks him, allowing him to be one of the fiercest contender on the track to date.
His passion in the bike world has consistently revolved around the Isle of Man TT, one of the most challenging races in the world, where he has consistently been in the top five in most of the races he’s entered since 2005, and his personal best lap has topped 132mph, an awesome speed when you consider the course consists of a whole stack of public roads with no margin for error.
He also competes regularly in the Southern 100, a 24 lap race of 100 miles on the south half of the island where this year he racked up 2 wins and a second place, and in Northern Ireland where he’s had major success in the Northwest 200 and 11 wins in the Ulster Grand Prix, until this year where, in his own words, he ‘spannered himself’ big time.
He broke his back, sternum and a number of ribs in the 170mph spill after leading the pack in the fierce race – the accident saw him laid up in hospital with no recolection at all of what happened. But in true Guy style he checked himself out a week later and went straight back to work fixing trucks.
No stranger to speed in any format, Guy also holds the world record for speed cycling at 110mph and has attemted the world speed records for hovercraft, toboggan and even a soap box cart, all documented in his TV series ‘Speed’ where he also achieved a man powered flight, aquaplaned a motorbike and took on the Pikes Peak challenge with a very respectable 11.32 run on a GSX-R1100 winning his class for this year.
Along with his prized Bimota V-Due 500 (very rare) which he keeps in his kitchen, he’s had a nuber of ‘regular’ cars including a BMW M3 CSL, a Porsche GT3RS, and an Aston Martin V12 Vantage all of which have failed to float his boat. His current 4 wheeled vehicles are a Ford Transit which he loves and a 1967 Vovo Amazon (what?).
The old Swedish estate is totally pimped in a very subtle way with a 788bhp supercharged motor which will give just about any car on the road a run for its money. With a top end of 200mph+ and a 0-60 in under 3 seconds I wouldn’t argue. But on a day to day basis his most common ride is his pushbike on which he cycles the 40 mile round trip to work and back to keep himself fit.
Think you’re an adrenallin junkie?
Yeah, right.
CW