Guy Martin on fireball crash injury, snubbing Top Gear and TV secret

Former mechanic and racer Guy Martin will present a new Channel 4 documentary tonight that sees him explore the underworld of Colombia.

The two-part show, which begins on Sunday night (July 30), will see him undergo kidnap training Colombian politicians have to experience, and meet a former employee of Pablo Escobar's. It's not surprising he's so willing to take on such heavy subject matter given his former daredevil career.

Guy was born in Grimsby in 1981. His dad Ian had been a motorbike racer, who also worked as a mechanic.

Guy himself started an apprenticeship after school as a lorry fitter, and has continued to work in maintenance ever since alongside his TV career. Guy decided to start racing motorbikes when he was 18.

He spent time in Ireland, and moved between several different teams doing competitive racing. He appeared on an ITV4 programme in 2009 for fans watching TT races, and producers ended up shooting some things with him.

He was doing a 170mph fireball at a TT event in 2010 when he crashed and broke his back.

Guy began to make documentaries, such as The Boat that Guy Built and How Britain Worked. He later made Speed with Guy Martin.

He told Motorcycle News in 2014 that he was planning to build a 'wall of death at his house in January 2015, and attempt to get up to 100mph on it while Channel 4 filmed. "I've not done a normal wall of death yet, but how hard can it be?" he said at the time.

He also told the Motorcycle News at the time that the secret to his presenting is that it's always improvised - because he struggles to talk to a camera.

He suffered a nasty crash at the Ulster Grand Prix in 2015, which left him having to postpone his plans to break the world motorcycle land-speed record that year.

Guy has been leading the final lap of a superbike race when he lost control of his bike. The crash saw him fly through the air and he ended up fracturing his sternum, some ribs and vertebrae - regardless, he discharged himself from hospital five days later.

Guy later told the Mirror: "I didn’t know I’d crashed until I was over the handle bars and looking at the tarmac and then I passed out and everything was a blur until I woke up in hospital.

"I was operated on a Friday afternoon. They physio said on Saturday ‘sit up in bed’, and I said ‘I think I can walk’, so I walked down the corridor. On the Monday they wanted to keep me in for another week but I was ready to go.”

He wouldn't get back on his bike until March of the following year, when he filmed an F1 special for Speed with Guy Martin. He was also invited to join Top Gear, but turned it down, saying he didn't want to leave his truck fitter job at Moody International.

He said: "The only reason I do TV is because they keep coming up with good ideas."

He has set several speed records during his career, including fastest tractor, fastest speed on a gravity powered snow sled, and fastest hovercraft. Guy finally announced he would be retiring from motorcycle racing in July 2017.

He did do another race in 2019, but has done more mountain bike racing since. His partner Sharon gave birth to their daughter Dottie in 2017.

He also bought his local pub in Kirmington in 2017, to be run by his sister Sally.

References

1. ^{^} Our Yorkshire Farm's Reuben delights fans with hobby he shares with dad Clive (www.examinerlive.co.uk)