Guy Martin to miss the Isle of Man TT

Guy Martin, who is perhaps the most interesting and popular character to never win at the Isle of Man TT, says he will not be entering that race this summer.

Instead, Martin says he will be entering the Tour Divide, a mountain bike race that travels through Canada and the US along the Rocky Mountains — find out more about that here. As you can see in Martin’s statement below, the Tour Divide and the IOMTT run concurrently, so he had to pick and choose. Martin reckons he can always come back to the TT in the future, so he’s going for the bicycle race now. Read on:

Plenty of folk have been asking what I’m up to this year.

I fancy a change of scenery. I’ve been racing the TT for 11 years. All I’ve really done since I was 18, except the trucks, is race motorbikes and my brain needs something else. Every year’s the same: testing, racing, then start again. It brought it home to me when I was lying in hospital after the Ulster Grand Prix crash. I’ve been on about the Tour Divide, the toughest pushbike race in the world, for three years and I thought I’ll blink and next thing I’ll be 45, so I’m going to do it this year. I like breaking myself mentally and the Tour Divide will be tough, but it’s same time at TT, so that’s forced me to make a choice.

I’m not done with motorbikes. I’m attempting the Wall of Death record in the spring and having a go at the land speed record in the summer and if I do race on the roads it will be with TAS.

After the Tour Divide I might never want to see a pushbike again – or never want to go road racing again, I don’t know. But I do know Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness are still racing the TT, and they’ve got a few years on me, so maybe I’ll come back next year. Or maybe I’ll find something else interesting to do. I’ve got more interests than just motorbikes and I just think let’s bloody have ‘em.

Thanks very much as ever for the support.

Guy.

The news doesn’t come as a shock, as there were rumours of Martin retiring for the past few months. But as he says, he’s not done with motorcycles, and might be back roadracing in the future. And maybe some Canadian fans will get a chance to meet him while he’s pedaling through the Rockies this summer?