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***Malcolm*** · 29-10-2015, 01:14 PM

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.

David Young

Splashdown · 29-10-2015, 07:37 PM

200mph crash eh? That's just slightly faster than most folk take Ireland's Bend........by about 110mph!!!

c iom tt · 29-10-2015, 09:56 PM

I am not shocked he is not going back to the NW200.
Its a shame for the Irish fans, but after the comments by Glen Irwin this year, and the way Irwin and Sealey ride the course, I am surprised that there are more that dont want to ride there either.

DBD 34 · 29-10-2015, 11:28 PM

Well put Splashdown.

Personally, I think good riddance. Can't be doing with someone who isn't as good as the opposition but who gets all of the attention.

LukeHondaBrightside · 30-10-2015, 01:57 PM

Journalists who report on road racing seem to be obsessed with 200mph. if you read above, Guy describes the crash as around 130mph!

The whole book is based on what Guy was thinking at the time, and to quote "It's important to point out that I've written this book as I've gone along, so you're reading what I thought at the time . Even if I end up contradicting myself later I haven't gone back and changed it, so you can see what I was thinking, and hopefully why, then follow the process of me changing my mind."

So Guy could still be racing at the NW and TT. I hope not though. Would like him to get out of it all while he's still walkin' and talkin'.

cregnybaa · 30-10-2015, 07:25 PM

In answer to DBD32, quite obviously you have a problem with guy but I don't think it will bother him in the slightest.good luck to him I say in whatever he chooses to do.

Splashdown · 30-10-2015, 07:45 PM

DBD was riding the 500, not the 350!!
Probably need to be a BSA aficionado to understand.

cregnybaa · 30-10-2015, 07:51 PM

No nick, I just don't think he's a full 500, but if he is he could be missing his RRT2.

veefour · 30-10-2015, 08:02 PM

(30-10-2015, 01:57 PM)LukeHondaBrightside Wrote: So Guy could still be racing at the NW and TT. I hope not though. Would like him to get out of it all while he's still walkin' and talkin'.

Amen to that, & contrary to the view that he is 'someone who isn't as good as the opposition' when you look back at his career results they don't look to shabby really !! So what if he is getting recognised through his TV work etc. good luck to him. At least he wont end up a skint old ex racer who sits in the pub scrounging free drinks for his tales !!

DBD 34 · 30-10-2015, 10:57 PM

(30-10-2015, 07:51 PM)cregnybaa Wrote: No nick, I just don't think he's a full 500, but if he is he could be missing his RRT2.

Meow!!

I just think it's a tad strange and extremely sad how you GM fans react when someone who knows what they're on about says something against your hero.

cregnybaa · 31-10-2015, 12:18 AM

There are probably about a handful of riders that have lapped at or over 132 mph guy I would say being one of them, but according to you he's overrated. then you say you know what you are talking about. well we will have to take your word for that.

***Malcolm*** · 31-10-2015, 12:31 AM

Let's NOT allow this to get personal - ok ?

DBD 34 · 31-10-2015, 01:11 AM

(31-10-2015, 12:18 AM)cregnybaa Wrote: There are probably about a handful of riders that have lapped at or over 132 mph guy I would say being one of them, but according to you he's overrated. then you say you know what you are talking about. well we will have to take your word for that.

There are five riders that have lapped at over 132mph, GM being fourth quickest (fair play to him), I have not said that he is overrated but simply that he is not as good as the opposition, the fact of the matter is that if he was better than the opposition then he would have won a TT by now.

I think that out of the current TT stars GM might just scrape into the top ten.

DBD 34 · 31-10-2015, 09:01 AM

Also Veefour, I'm not sure which pubs you drink in but I certainly have never seen any "ex racers sat scrounging free drinks for their tales". Are you saying that's what most ex racers do????

Sussex Ninja Gal' · 31-10-2015, 12:18 PM

(31-10-2015, 01:11 AM)DBD 34 Wrote: There are five riders that have lapped at over 132mph, GM being fourth quickest (fair play to him), I have not said that he is overrated but simply that he is not as good as the opposition, the fact of the matter is that if he was better than the opposition then he would have won a TT by now.

I think that out of the current TT stars GM might just scrape into the top ten.

If he never manages to win a TT he's hardly alone is he? And so what?? He's come close on a number of occasions; and history will confirm that he's consistently finished at the sharp end on the Isle: in an era when competition has been incredibly strong and the machinery ever-faster and reliable. To say Guy " might just scrape into the top ten" is an opinion that doesn't stack-up when the facts are taken into account. It appears to me that you're allowing your personal dislike of Mr Martin to cloud any objectivity that you possibly possess. Give the bloke a break.

roger9650 · 01-11-2015, 09:11 PM

There aren't many with a better record at Dundrod.

scaramanga · 02-11-2015, 07:18 PM

slightly off topic
was in my local whsmiths today guys new book "when your dead your dead" is no 1 in there chart and hard back version on offer at half rrp at the moment for any interested

back on topic ive always found guy allright when been around him he speaks his mind whats wrong with that
as for him as a racer just like bruce anstey they are natural racers
ulster and olivers mount records along with the southern 100 speak for themselves
how many southern and olivers mount wins have some tt experts got ?

Azman · 03-11-2015, 05:24 PM

He's a top man no matter how you look at it.......choices choices.

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