Guy on the TYCO BMW bike at Armoy in 2015

Armoy Clerk of the Course Bill Kennedy has welcomed the news that Guy Martin intends to return to the national road race this summer.

Martin was a regular at the ‘Race of Legends’ until he suffered a raft of injuries in a crash in the Dundrod 150 Superbike race at the Ulster Grand Prix in 2015.

The popular English rider made a short-lived return to road racing alongside John McGuinness in the Honda Racing team in 2017, but once again stepped away from the sport after a series of setbacks, including an electronics issue with the new Honda Fireblade SP2 and a crash in the Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT.

However, he has made occasional appearance on the Classic scene at Irish road races over the past few years, competing at the Tandragee 100 and Skerries 100 meetings.

And now, TV presenter and truck mechanic Martin has his sights set on a return to Armoy, which is scheduled to be the first Irish national event of the season from July 30-31.

Kennedy said:

“Like all things, Guy – until he’s on the boat and heading to Armoy, or even driving into the paddock, just before the races – we’ll not know for sure. However, his intention to race at the 2021 Armoy Road Races will be a great boost for the spectators and the Club.

“We know that Guy would love to be back at Armoy and riding in the [Senior] Classic race, but we also understand that his diary this year is pretty packed, including trying to achieve 300mph on a motorbike amidst a few projects, the timing of which we believe have not been confirmed yet.”

Providing an update on plans for the race at the end of July, Kennedy reported pleasing sales of spectator passes, which have been introduced as a result of the Covid-19 impact.

“To date, we are doing very well for race entries but we’ve some time yet. All entries are required to be in by the closing date Monday 28th June 2021,” he said.

“Likewise, our spectator passes, which we launched last month due to the pandemic restrictions, are also going well. We know that there are many keen to attend the event and also keen to understand the restrictions, but the only thing I’ll say, particularly in this ever-changing world, is that the Club will be doing its very best to run these races and do so, safely.

“We understand there are lots of questions and to that end we have a ‘frequently asked question page’, where we address riders and spectators’ questions as best as possible. We’ve less than three months to the races and circumstances could very well change again – we’ll just have to wait and see.

“What I do know is that everyone is behind us, we’ve been working on the course already and we are finalising sponsors as I speak, although I think that’ll take a few weeks longer.

“There’ll be racing in Armoy on Friday and Saturday, the 30th and 31st July and the likes of Guy Martin in the mix is very welcome news indeed.”

Armoy and the Cookstown 100 in September are the only Irish national races remaining this year after a raft of cancellations due to the Covid-19 situation.*