Guy Martin: Television star 'trying to replicate the buzz he got out of road racing'

His fame once limited to the relatively close confines of motorcycle road racing, Guy Martin has gone on to become one of the more recognisable faces on British television.

Having now quit, in his own words, 'serious' racing on ultra-fast public roads circuits, the 39-year-old cult figure from Lincolnshire has presented programmes on various engineering topics, plus the Channel 4 series Speed with Guy Martin where he set speed records in a variety of engine and human-powered vehicles.

He also starred in Closer to the Edge, a documentary about the Isle of Man TT, has authored four books and competed in mountain bike races.

His first foray into television presentation came in the BBC series The Boat That Guy Built in 2011.

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'We are racing motorcycles, people are going to get hurt'

Renowned almost as much for his fast talking as his speed on two wheels, Martin reflects on his days of racing 'between the hedges' with fondness and admits many of his current ventures represent an attempt to recapture the unique attraction of his thrilling high-risk racing days, with its inherent ever-present dangers.

"All the stuff I'm doing now, I'm just trying to replicate the buzz I got out of road racing, but nothing comes close," conceded Martin candidly.

"We were racing motorbikes and people are going to get hurt, that's part of it. You had to be accurate.

"If you're not willing to pay that price of injury or worse you shouldn't really be doing it. That was the attraction for me."

In an unforgiving sport where one error of judgement or mechanical failure can have fatal consequences Martin emerged from major crashes at the IOM TT in 2010 and the Ulster Grand Prix in 2015 with serious but non life-threatening injuries, breaking his back on both occasions.

"At the Ulster I was pushing to win. I had Bruce Anstey behind me, I had to push hard and that's the price you pay.

"These days I want to get away from the seriousness of the Superbikes and the modern machinery. I've finished with the serious stuff. I don't race the big bikes, I don't do any of that. I'll still do some classic racing though."

Racing in Ireland 'like nothing else'

Before undertaking his various media projects, Martin combined his 'day job' as a heavy vehicle mechanic with motorcycle racing, initially on short circuits, before being bitten by the bug of racing on closed public roads.

As well as competing at the major international events, he enjoyed racing at the smaller national road races in Ireland, including the Cookstown 100, Tandragee 100, Armoy, Mid Antrim 150, Skerries and Kells.

"The very first Irish road race I did was at Kells in the Republic of Ireland where me and two mates turned up in a van and had a go. I couldn't believe it," he explained.

"The people are the friendliest and the tracks are like nothing you've ever seen, the atmosphere, it's like nothing else. The fans are hanging out of the hedges and they are all very knowledgeable.

"Last year was the first year I haven't done an Irish national for as long as I can remember. It has such a massive following and whatever happens I want to race the Irish roads. I love it.

"I learned so much off Irish racing legends like Ryan Farquhar, Adrian Archibald, Richard Britton and Martin Finnegan, and then occasionally I would beat them.

"I remember the Mid Antrim in 2005 where I won the big race. I had been second to Ryan all day, he was dominating and then I won the big race - caught him, passed him and pulled away. That is one of my best memories.

"If Armoy goes ahead this year and they have an Open classic or 750 classic race then I'll be there - definitely."

Guy Martin in action on his Tyco BMW at the 2015 Isle of Man TT

Ulster Grand Prix 'the bedrock' of Irish racing

Martin competed at the Isle of Man TT for the first time in 2004 and despite a win eluding him, he racked up 17 podium finishes over the formidable Mountain Course and set a fastest average lap speed of 132.398 mph on a BMW in 2015.

He accumulated 11 wins at the Ulster Grand Prix over the Dundrod course in the County Antrim hills, including four in a single day on board a Yamaha in 2006.

"The Ulster Grand Prix is the race I had the most success at and I don't know why. I was always there or thereabouts at the TT but at 'the Ulster' everything clicked.

"I always preferred it over the North West. The North West, what a spectacle it is, what an event, what an attraction, and the amount of people, but the Ulster Grand Prix wasn't technical, you didn't have to go through chicanes like you had to at the North West.

"Dundrod was just so much speed, the closeness to other riders. For me, the bedrock of racing in Northern Ireland was the Ulster Grand Prix.

"That was my thing. It was just like the most extreme national road race. It's madness."