By Kyle White

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Martin went on to become the biggest name in road racing, albeit falling short in his pursuit of an elusive Isle of Man TT victory and failing to win on the big stage at the North West 200. He claimed multiple Irish national road racing victories and excelled around the Dundrod course at the Ulster Grand Prix, sealing a four-timer in 2006 and a hat-trick in 2013 towards his total of 11 wins at the now defunct event. Martin also boasted an impressive record at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough, winning the prestigious Gold Cup seven times in a row between 2003 and 2009, and adding an eighth win in the showpiece race in 2012 to make him the most successful rider in the storied history of the race. The Lincolnshire man rode for some of the biggest teams during a glittering career, including Northern Ireland’s TAS Racing and a failed association with Honda Racing when Martin announced his comeback in 2017 following a year away from the sport. A truck mechanic by trade, the 43-year-old – who married long-term partner Sharon this month – now concentrates on a highly successful TV career. He has come a long way since first catching the attention of Lisburn businessman and former team owner Finlay more than two decades ago, who enjoyed something of a whirlwind spell with Martin before giving the young Englishman his marching orders at the end of the 2003 season. Finlay initially met Martin at the Kells Road Races in 2022, when he expressed an interest in making his debut at the Ulster Grand Prix. “We got talking and Guy said he was going to do the Ulster Grand Prix the following year,” Finlay recalled. “I told him that Liam Quinn [former racer] had a natural ability for showing people around; Cameron Donald said he learned more in two laps following Liam Quinn than anybody else. “Liam had an ability of getting his message over to a newcomer and he helped more people than enough. “I told Guy that we lived right beside the Ulster Grand Prix course and that if he came over, we would give him a hand and Liam would show him around. “So Guy said that would be brilliant – ‘thanks boy’ – but the Ulster Grand Prix came and went in 2002 and I never heard a dickie bird from him.” Finlay later learned that Martin fell out with race organisers in 2002 following an incident at Rockingham and later had his licence withdrawn, bringing his season to an abrupt end. However, towards the end of 2002, Finlay had a chance meeting with Martin at a Supermoto meeting at Mettet in Belgium. Martin said he was planning to race in Ireland in 2003 on a MCUI licence and Finlay offered to back the up-and-coming prospect, on one condition. “I said that’s brilliant, I’ll make you a deal – I’m going to help you, but there’s a condition – I’m going to meet your mother and father,” Finlay said. “And he says ‘are you serious’? And I said I’m one hundred per cent serious. I’ll give you a commitment, I’ll help you financially, I’ll give you a house to live in but the deal is that I want to meet your parents.” Martin’s mother Rita and father Ian flew to Dublin and met with Finlay, who posed them a blunt question. “I said I’d taken a liking to him and wanted to help him, but I said I had one problem I needed to deal with first – what happens if anything goes wrong?” Finlay said. “Rita said, ‘I’ve lived with this all my life, Ian has raced the TT for years. That was in November or December 2002, and Guy moved over with us at the end of January in 2003.” Martin rode for Finlay’s Team Suzuki outfit in the Senior Support Championship in 2003 and made an immediate impact, winning races at Cookstown and Tandragee by wide margins and blitzing the lap records. He soon wanted to test himself against the big stars of the time like Ryan Farquhar, Adrian Archibald, Richard Britton and Martin Finnegan, leading to a disagreement with team boss Finlay. “Guy started to get agitated but the deal was that he was doing the Support Championship, but he wanted to be racing with Martin Finnegan, Richard Britton and Adrian Archibald,” said Finlay. “He went to the Cookstown 100 and blitzed the Support lap record by a massive amount, won the race by a mile, then went to Tandragee and did a similar thing. “He had a great year, raced with Ryan Farquhar and Ian Lougher at Scarborough, and we came to the Ulster Grand Prix and Guy wanted to race in the big class. “I said ‘Guy you’re not listening to me, we set out with a plan at the start of the year and we’re sticking with it. I said ‘if you’re not happy with it, you go and ride for somebody else’. “Everybody wanted to be involved with Guy and he was bringing in sponsors and there was a buzz around him, but anyway it came to the Ulster Grand Prix and the first night in practice he did 118mph in the first session. Adrian Archibald came around and said ‘that kid’s flying, he needs to be careful – it took me three years to do 118mph’. “I warned Guy to calm down but I might as well have been talking to the wall. “Noel Johnston [Clerk of the Course] came and said he had been getting complaints from marshals about Guy’s riding. “So we came up with a plan and I told Guy I only wanted him to win the race by about 12-15 seconds. But Guy wasn’t listening and said we’re here to race motorbikes, whatever happens, happens,” he added. “I told Guy I’d given my word to the Clerk of the Course and that I was trying to look after him, but the race came and on the first lap he was 15 seconds in the lead, second lap about 40 seconds and so on. “I was furious and gave him hell when he came in, and I told him he could go and ride for whoever he wanted, but that he wouldn’t be killed riding my motorbike – end of story – and I sacked him. “So after the Grand Prix, there was a race on at Mondello Park and Guy did a deal with Uel Duncan and Gareth Robinson.” Finlay and Martin went their separate ways, but years later his former rider acknowledged that he had his best interests at heart. “I know we had a rift back in the day and Guy was hard work, but what I will say is that today, Guy respects what I tried to do for him and admits that I was the one of the few who genuinely cared about him,” Finlay said. “A lot of the other teams he rode for just pushed and pushed for results. “I’d have loved Guy to have been riding for me year after year, but it wasn’t to be the way things worked out.”