I got the Guy Martin book for Xmas and he was pretty emphatic in saying that he'd wasn't road racing again and it was quite a relief because he wasn't enjoying the lifestyle.  Seemed fair enough.  The book was very enjoyable btw.

He did say that if he did go back he'd need to do a full season of shorts to be on the pace, otherwise it wasn't worth doing.  So I'm wondering if he's going to have a real crack or take the route he has in recent years just doing a few low key meets plus the Internationals.  How serious is he?

From the Honda perspective - he's got the highest publicity value of anyone in the paddock so I think its a no brainer for them.  As a very broad analogy - one of the rugby league stars (Isreal Folau) over here signed for a season of Aussie rules with a bottom of the table club - he didn't play well but someone did a quick tally up of how much press coverage he got and correlated it with advertising space - he was worth about 4 times what they payed him.  Guy will be much the same I think.

Not sure about any comparisons with Mark Flynn .............. Mark was up and coming and trying to get a decent ride. Guy is well past that stage - he can get any ride he wants I'd think.

Personally I think he's been a breath of fresh air to the sport.  But I don't think he should come back.  That said - if he makes it to the TT then I hope he manages to bag a win. 

Cheers


Sam