British Motorcycle Ace, Guy Martin, Heads To Colorado’s Broadmoor International Hill Climb Targetting New Record

One of Great Britain’s most accomplished motorcycle speed stars has entered The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and his goal as a rookie is simple – set a new motorcycle speed record on America’s Mountain on Sunday, 29 June.

 Only two bikes have ever broken the ten-minute mark on the Peak, and they came back-to-back in 2012.

 The Peak motorcycle record was set in 2012 by Carlin Dunne in the 1205 Pro Division with a clocking of 9:52.819 on a Ducati.  Greg Tracy, also on a Ducati, became the second racer to break the ten-minute mark with a blistering 9:58.262 moments later.

 Guy Martin will be entered in the Pikes Peak Challenge – UTV/Exhibition Division, racing on a 2014 Martek Custom bike that he’s building for himself.     

 The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motorsports race in America behind the Indianapolis 500 and a long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region. It began in 1916, and this year marks the 92^nd running of the world’s most famous and demanding hill climb.

 The race is run on a 12.42 mile course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,115 foot summit of America’s Mountain. As the drivers climb toward the summit, the thin air slows reflexes and saps muscle strength. The thin air also robs engines of 30% of their power at the summit.  Competitors, vehicles and motorcycles must be in top shape simply to finish, let alone win!

 Martin is a famous British motorcycle racer, television presenter, truck mechanic and hands-on engineer. The 32-year-old racer has his own television show, "Speed With Guy Martin," and has a new book out titled "Guy Martin- My Autobiography."

 He is probably best known for his successful motorcycle road racing career, most notably for grabbing the headlines in the Isle of Man TT races, a 38-mile road race, but more recently his career has taken off in a different direction when he began to appear on TV, presenting the popular series "The Boat that Guy Built" on BBC1 which was followed by the 2012 Channel 4 series ‘How Britain Worked’ and, most recently (2013) the Channel 4 series Speed.  

 Guy undertook a series of speed-based challenges, exploring the boundaries of physics and learning about the science of speed. During the series Guy broke the British record for outright speed on a bicycle, hitting an amazing 122.4 mph and smashed the world gravity-powered sledge speed record. 

 Known to have been called "The fastest man never to win the TT", Martin’s motorcycle racing career began when he moved to Ireland and in his debut year won the ‘Cock o’ the North’ and International Gold Cup races at Scarborough as well as the Irish 750cc Support Championship.  He came 7th in his first Senior TT race, setting the fastest lap by a newcomer. In 2005 he was the only rider to finish all five of his TT races inside the top six.

 He has raced for several teams including AIM Yamaha (2006) Hydrex Honda (2007-9) and Wilson Craig Honda (2010) when he went to the Isle of Man looking to achieve his first TT victory. But in the final race, the Senior TT, Guy he had a bad crash on the third lap, having led the race just before the first pit stop. He was airlifted to hospital with chest injuries, suffering bruising to both lungs and minor fractures to his upper spine. He made an amazing recovery thanks on part to his amiable and irrepressible personality and his determination to get back to the sport he loves. 

 For more information on Colorado and the Broadmoor International Hill Climb, visit www.colorado.com