Guy Martin has signed with the TAS Relentless Suzuki team for 2011 where he will look for his first-ever TT victory.
Guy Martin will campaign the 2011
Isle of Man TT for the TAS Relentless Suzuki squad. A fan favorite in the road-racing circuits, Martin will campaign the TT races, as well as the
North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix, with the Englishman also racing select rounds of the British Superstock series.
Hailing from Kirmington in Northern England, Martin is a 10-time podium finisher and five-time runner up at the Isle of Man TT. Heartbreakingly close to TT victories in the past, the mutton-chopped rider is also still winless at the North West 200. However, Martin’s partnership with the TAS Suzuki squad delivers one of the best opportunities for the 28-year-old to break his streak – the Northern Ireland-based team one of the few to receive full factory support.
“You just don’t get any more of a proven team than Relentless by TAS Suzuki and with their official support from Suzuki and something like 15 TT wins, it wasn’t a difficult decision to make,” said Martin. “I was at a Pirelli test earlier this year and took 101 pictures of their bikes and the preparation of them is ‘proper’ – that’s what made my mind up. They are the best team I’ve been with to date; that’s all there is to it. I just want to hit the ground running now. Yeah it’s all proper and I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Martin’s 2010 Isle of Man TT campaign came to a terrifying halt when he crashed in the Senior TT finale, racing for the Wilson Craig Honda squad. His bike engulfed in flames, Martin was lucky to escape without permanent injury. The crash was the low point of a tumultuous visit to the Isle, which included off-track controversy earlier in the week. Upset by a pit-lane speed limit time penalty in the opening Superbike TT, Martin refused to linger on the Supersport podium the next day and fumbled his way through an awkward post-race press conference.
The behavior led to a public chastisement from Performance Technical Racing’s Simon Buckmaster. PTR runs the Parkalgar Honda World Supersport team and also provided the TT racebikes for the Wilson Craig Honda team. Buckmaster aired his grievance with a scathing open letter published on the PTR website which derided Martin’s actions at the TT as disrespectful and unprofessional. (Read the letter and the full story of Martin’s TT struggles in our
Guy Martin Generates Heat at the Isle of Man)
Guy Martin and his sideburns, ready to attack the TT course with Suzuki instead of his long-time association with Honda.
Relentless team owners, Hector and Philip Neill, acknowledge Martin’s immense popularity for fans and well as his winning prospects. Said Team Manager Philip Neill in the team’s press release announcement:
“It’s been a difficult decision changing our line-up as we pride ourselves on loyalty. In saying that, Guy is a rider I’ve wanted to work with for a couple of seasons now, and my loyalty to other riders probably held that decision back a little. He came to us full of enthusiasm and wants to do things our way, which was a good starting point. And on top of that, I’m a sucker for a challenge and I like Guy’s free spirit attitude. He’s created a Guy Martin brand without even trying and that’s also pretty special.”
“Obviously we know he’s a very talented rider and has been extremely unlucky not to have won races at both the North West 200 and the TT. So our motivation is to complete that task, while making sure Guy also fulfils his commercial responsibility representing a manufacturer backed team.”
The signing of Martin seems to put the future of Relentless Suzuki’s other riders in jeopardy. TT winners and veteran competitors Cameron Donald (Australia) and Bruce Anstey (New Zealand) have both ridden multiple road racing seasons for the Suzuki team. Irishman Alastair Seeley campaigns in the British Superbike series for Relentless, but also races the roads under the TAS Racing banner having won a Supersport and Superbike race at last year’s North West 200.
