Guy Martin

Early life Martin was born on 4 November 1981, in a suburb of Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. He was named Guy in tribute to Guy Gibson of No. 617 Squadron RAF.

Martin's mother, Rita Kidals, was from Nettleton, Lincolnshire, near Caistor, and was of Latvian heritage; her father Walter (Waldemars) Kidals was a builder who had come to Britain in 1947 as a political refugee. . Martin's father, Ian, son of Jack, was also from Nettleton, and attended Yarborough Secondary School in the early 1960s. Jack had married Martin's grandmother, May, on 9 August 1945 at Nettleton church. May died in May 2002. Ian was a privateer motorbike racer who had competed in several Isle of Man TT events, but was forced to supplement his income with a job as a lorry mechanic, additionally selling bikes.

Martin has two sisters and a brother. His brother, Stuart, is also a truck mechanic and motorbike racer. His younger sister, Kate, was the first female mechanic in the BSB paddock before leaving to start a family with two-times TT sidecar winner, Patrick Farrance. Martin and his siblings attended every Isle of Man TT from their births, until their father Ian crashed his Yamaha FZ750 whilst racing at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough in 1988, when Guy was aged seven. After recovering from the resulting broken hip, Martin's father did not race again, but worked as a mechanic in classic bike racing.

Martin attended Kirmington Church of England Primary School and The Vale Academy school, leaving at the age of 16.

Career Mechanic Martin had shown an interest in working on trucks as early as age 12.

Post-school, Martin enrolled in North Lindsey College on a motor vehicle engineering course, but on recognising further education without pay was not for him, he secured an apprenticeship as a truck fitter with a Volvo centre, John Hebb Volvo. He also worked for his father, who at the time was self-employed, running a truck maintenance business. He currently works for Moody International, a Scania centre in Grimsby. and takes casual work during TT race weeks.

Racing While completing his apprenticeship as a lorry mechanic, Martin raced motorbikes in his spare time. He moved to Ireland to join Team Racing. In 2004 he moved to the Uel Duncan Racing team, staying with them until 2005. In 2006 Martin raced for Alistair Flanagan's AIM Yamaha race team, replacing John McGuinness. In the search for a more competitive team, Martin joined Hydrex Honda for the 2007 season.

The end of 2009 saw Martin leave Hydrex for Northern Ireland-based Wilson Craig Honda, but since November 2010, Martin has raced for TAS Racing (known as Relentless Suzuki, then Tyco Suzuki from 2012 to 2014, and Tyco BMW from 2015 to present), the team run by the Neill family also based in Northern Ireland, and with a long TT heritage. This switch to what was effectively a factory team meant the end of tuning his own equipment – at TAS, he would simply be riding pre-prepared machines.

Martin agreed a new deal for 2015 with TAS after the team signed a new equipment deal with BMW Motorrad, to ride the BMW S1000RR alongside William Dunlop. Martin was prepared to retire had TAS not chosen to switch to BMW, believing he had raced the Suzuki as hard as he could. With the new bike, he ran his fastest ever lap of the TT circuit in June 2015 – – just outside the outright lap record.

Martin suffered a serious crash in the Dundrod 150 Superbike event, part of the Ulster Grand Prix races in August 2015.

Since 2011, Martin has also got into bicycle racing, in 24-hour events. For the 2016 season Martin decided not to race in the TT for the first time in 11 years, opting instead for a mountain bike race. He was uncertain if the decision would lead him to retire from road racing, mountain bike racing, or if he would go on to do something else, but said "if I do race on the roads it will be with TAS".

Television Martin first came to the attention of TV executives in 2009 when he appeared in an ITV4 programme intended primarily for fans of that year's TT race. The then film-producer, Andy Spellman, filmed with Martin at the TT. Spellman shot some additional test material of Martin back at home in the summer and the boss of North One Television showed the clips to a BBC executive. reached No. 1 in the The Sunday Times bestseller list and remained there for at least six weeks, and eventually became the second best selling autobiography of 2014. It was listed No. 1 in Amazon's sales figures for celebrity autobiographies in November 2015, with his main autobiography being No. 10. October 2016 saw the release of Guy Martin: Worms to Catch featuring Martin's thoughts on the past year and upcoming challenges. He has subsequently published further titles, We Need to Weaken the Mixture (2019) and Dead Men Don't Tell Tales (2022).

Martin is also listed as the author of companion books for some of his television shows: How Britain Worked, published on 4 October 2012 and Speed, published on 1 December 2013.

Martin also writes for the driving section of The Sunday Times. He has written reviews of the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon, the 2015 Range Rover Sport SVR, the 2015 Ford Transit L2 H2, and the 2016 Ford Mustang V8 GT, as well as writing about his own Volvo Vöx and his Wall of Death show.

Speed records Martin has set the following speed records. Record Issuer Speed Location Date Previous holder Ref. Fastest speed on a gravity powered snow sled Guinness World Records Grandvalira, Andorra 10 January 2014 (Rolf Allerdissen, 2010) Fastest speed in a soapbox Guinness World Records Mont Ventoux, France 16 October 2014 Highest speed on a Wall of Death Guinness World Records Manby Airfield, England 28 March 2016 created for the attempt Fastest tractor Guinness World Records Elvington Airfield, York, England 23 October 2019 In July 2015, it was confirmed that Martin was to pilot Triumph Motorcycles' attempt on the motorcycle land speed record (World's Fastest Motorcycle), at the time standing at 376.363 mph (605 km/h), set by Rocky Robinson in 2010. The attempt was originally scheduled for August during the FIM event at Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. Competing in the Division C (streamlined motorcycle) category, the Triumph Rocket Streamliner is 25.5 feet long, powered by two turbocharged, methanol fuelled, Triumph Rocket III engines, enclosed in a carbon Kevlar monocoque. A documentary about the attempt was made for Channel 4. His August 2015 crash at the Ulster GP caused the attempt to be postponed until September 2016.

Martin's quest to set a new two-wheeled world land speed record was called off due to conditions on the course. The attempt, on the purpose-built 400 mph motorcycle, suffered a number of setbacks at the track at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The streamliner tipped over when it passed over a rut in the track as it was being towed to the start line. Triumph said rain meant it was not possible to create the required-consistency across the 11-mile course necessary to undertake the attempt. On 18 September 2016, Martin had hoped to complete a required 300 mph trial run before attempting to set a new world record.

A mile into the run the machine lost traction on the damp surface, veering off the steered path and tipping over on the course. Martin was confirmed to be "completely uninjured" and the record attempt was postponed once more.

Views

Television and fame Martin is not comfortable with being a public figure and rejects any notion that he is a celebrity, turning down offers such as Top Gears Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment. After struggling to come to terms with the fame brought about by his media work, Martin was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.

Motorcycle racing seasons

Early years

A successful debut year on the roads that saw Martin win the Cock o' the North and International Gold Cup races at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough as well as the Irish 750cc Support Championship.

2006 season The International road race meetings had mixed results: the North West 200 never went particularly well, The Isle of Man TT looked promising but problems soon led to it being another disappointment. At the final international of the year, the Ulster Grand Prix, he took four race wins and a second making him the Man of the Meeting.

2007 season

In the early season, Martin took part in British Superbike and Supersport rounds to prepare for the road racing season. The first major international of the year was the North West 200 in which he finished with an eighth, a fourth, two thirds and a second. In the CP Hire Superstock race after a bad start, Martin finished third. The Isle of Man TT was the next major race on the calendar and he got a third, two seconds and a DNF after running out of fuel with fewer than three miles to go until his first pit stop.

Martin continued to race on the English scene and he regained his Cock o' the North title at the Scarborough circuit before going to Ireland for the Kells Road Races in which he took one race win. This was preparation for the Ulster Grand Prix and in the first race Martin brought home a fifth position, in race two a win, and in the superbike race, which was shortened due to weather, a second. After this red flag, the day's racing was cancelled due to bad weather and that meant for the second year in a row Martin was the Man of the Meeting. The Scarborough Gold Cup meeting ended with him winning all the races on the final day including the Gold Cup and the second 600 race of the day after a good battle with John McGuinness and Ian Lougher, who were also both on the same Hondas as Martin.

2008 season

As well as contesting a full season in the British Superbike Championship, in 2008 Martin again competed in the three International road races but was denied his first TT win when he broke down whilst leading the opening Superbike race. He was eleven seconds in the lead when an electrical problem forced him out on the fourth lap. He claimed a podium, third, in the Superstock race but suffered further retirements in the Senior and second Supersport races. In September 2008, it was back to Oliver's Mount for the International Gold Cup. Martin won the feature event and now has won six Gold Cups in a row, a new record, and also has the lap record for the 1000cc bikes at Scarborough with a time of 1:45.3.

2009 season In 2009, Martin contested all three Internationals as well as selected British Championship and Irish National races. In a move from previous seasons, Martin moved away from the main Hydrex team, preferring instead to run a smaller team and after a steady North West 200 meeting, confidence was high going into the TT, his number one event of the year, as he sought to win a race at the 37.73 mile circuit on the Isle of Man.

After claiming two seconds and a third on the Superstock, Superbike and Supersport bikes early in the week Martin's engine gave up after coming onto the pit lane in the second 600 race. When putting the bike into gear at the end of his second pit stop during the Senior race his chain snapped, meaning he ended up with another DNF.

Martin regrouped to claim the Southern 100 Championship on the Billown road course in July, after finishing second on no less than three occasions – 2005, 2006 and 2007 – before heading to the third International race of the season, the Ulster Grand Prix. After taking third in the Dundrod 150 Superbike race, Martin repeated the result in the feature UGP Superbike race, held over eight laps, but he ensured he would not be without an International win in 2009 when he won a second Superbike race, just over a tenth of a second in front of fellow Lincolnshire rider Gary Johnson. He also placed fourth and fifth in the equally close Superstock and Supersport races. At the 2009 Gold Cup at Oliver's Mount, Martin won the Steve Henshaw Gold Cup feature race, becoming the first rider to win seven consecutive meetings.

2010 season

In 2010, Martin competed at the North West 200, with his best result being fourth in the second Superbike race. He went to the Isle of Man TT, looking to achieve his first TT victory. However, the meeting was dominated by Ian Hutchinson, who took a record-breaking five victories in all the solo races, and Martin suffered serious injuries in a major crash in the final race.

Prior to that crash, during the Superbike race, Martin received a 30-second penalty for exceeding the posted pit lane speed limit of 60 km/h by just 0.112 km/h.

Martin's performance at the TT was criticised by Simon Buckmaster, whose Performance Technical Racing built the bikes which Martin was running. He accused Martin of not listening to his race advice, arguing "He needs to stop being distracted and lift his professionalism. Instead of being a TV star and courting publicity 24x7, he should be concentrating on racing and what's needed to win. Get his focus and concentration into racing, not promoting his name and money-spinning deals." He also cited disrespectful behavior during the race and bad language and criticism directed toward a member of PTR in a magazine interview. Martin received considerable public support over both the nature and timing of Buckmaster's comments, coming as Martin was still recovering from the crash, but in a subsequent interview Buckmaster defended what he had said, arguing he was not slating him and stating Martin had no issue with the comments.

2010 TT crash In the final race, the Senior TT, Martin was a challenger to stop Hutchinson achieving the clean sweep, but was involved in an incident on the third lap of the race at Ballagarey, having led the race just before the first pit stop.

Recollecting the crash in 2012, Martin recounted how he has been pushing too hard going into the corner at 160–170 mph, having willingly crossed the line [which if you push beyond you might crash] in order to win. He recalled being thrown from the bike and accepting he was not going to survive the approaching high speed impact with a wall, attributing it to luck that he hit it at the right angle to get away with it.

Airlifted to Noble's Hospital in Douglas with chest injuries, Martin was later diagnosed as suffering bruising to both lungs and minor fractures to his upper spine.

This led to rumours of a "bust-up" with the Suzuki Team, and resulted in Martin's team boss, Hector Neill, being interviewed on Manx Radio TT 365 prior to the TT, during which Neill scotched such rumours as: "Media inspired skulduggery. Paddock tittle-tattle and unfounded hear-say".

2012 TT Martin's start to the 2012 TT Festival saw him competing – in a private capacity – at the Pre-TT Classic races at the Billown Circuit, Castletown. Martin was lucky to escape injury while competing in the superbike race, and was battling for the lead of the race on a Suzuki XR69 with Jamie Coward, when he crashed on the final lap.

Martin made a good start to the Superbike TT, and at the end of the first lap he was lying in third place behind John McGuinness and Cameron Donald. He continued to hold station during the following three laps, but a problem during his final pit stop at the end of lap four, resulted in the team being unable to replace his rear tyre. As a consequence of diminishing grip from a fading tyre, Martin was overtaken on corrected time by Bruce Anstey by the end of lap five, although he did hold on to finish fourth with a time of 1hr.47.20 at an average speed of 126.54 mph. This was followed by fifth place in the Superstock race, a retirement in the first Supersport race and 8th place in the second Supersport outing.

2013 season

2013 Ulster Grand Prix The 2013 Ulster Grand Prix was Martin's most successful campaign at the event, and which saw him secure a hat trick of victories at the meeting winning the Supersport 1, UGP Superbike and Superbike categories.

2015 season Martin joined his teammates in early March 2015, for pre-season testing. This initially took the form of a four-day test programme at Cartagena and following this the squad deployed to the BMW Motorrad test camp at Almeria in Spain for the next three days.

2015 early season Martin opened his 2015 season at the Oliver's Mount Circuit on Saturday 11 April, at which he recorded a maiden victory on his BMW S1000RR Superstock at the Scarborough venue.

2015 Northwest 200 Martin was introduced to his factory BMW S1000RR Superbike during a day's testing at Kirkistown on 7 May, in preparation for the team's campaign at the Vauxhall International North West 200 for the opening practice session on 12 May. Martin's arrival at the triangle circuit generated the usual media interest, however the attention continued following some controversial comments concerning the circuit by Martin. On return from a practice lap on his Supersport machine, Martin was briefly interviewed by BBC Sport presenter Stephen Watson. Struggling to qualify, Martin said he was "bored" riding the course, citing the number of chicanes which had been introduced in an effort to improve safety.

In a further interview with BBC Sport, again conducted by Watson and with event director Mervyn Whyte in attendance, Martin apologized for his comments and whilst he was supportive of the event, describing it as a "mega event," he continued that he was not too stuck on the circuit, and that he simply didn't like chicanes. Martin did not make an impression in any of the races, and failed to finish in the top six. Switching back to his BMW S1000RR Superstock machine, Martin came home in 7th place in the Superstock TT.

2015 Southern 100 Guy Martin leads Dan Kneen and Michael Dunlop into Church Bends during the 2015 Diamond Jubilee Southern 100Martin arrived back on the Isle of Man in July in order to compete in the Southern 100 Races which were celebrating their Diamond Jubilee. Poor weather initially hampered the racing programme with the Corlett's Trophies 1000/600 cc race red flagged in wet conditions. The race was re-run two days later, with Dan Kneen taking the lead for the opening two laps. However, Martin edged him out, taking the lead on lap 3 and thereafter dicing for the lead with Kneen and Michael Dunlop.

2017 season Martin announced on 18 January that he had signed for the Honda Racing, based in Louth, Lincolnshire, and would compete alongside teammate John McGuinness at various national and international meetings including the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT Races.

In addition, it was confirmed on 20 March that Martin would compete at the 2017 Tandragee 100 and the Cookstown 100 events.

Tandragee 100 Martin's first competitive appearance since 2015 was his debut for Honda at the Tandragee 100 on 22 April, riding the new Honda Fireblade Superstock-class machine. During the first lap of the Open Superbike race, Martin was involved in a collision with another rider at Marlacoo corner. Both were unhurt, but retired from the race. Due to an incident involving an Italian rider and poor weather conditions, the rest of the meeting was cancelled.

Spring Cup After the Tandragee races, Martin travelled overnight to make the start at Oliver's Mount for the annual Spring Cup races.

In the Senior class, Martin finished 12th with Dean Harrison finishing in first.

Reference: Bob Smith Spring Cup 2017 Results

Cookstown 100 Martin's next outing of the season was on the Superstock Fireblade SP2 at the Cookstown 100, additionally riding for the Wilson Craig Team in the Supersport class. After practice, Martin was qualified fifth fastest in the Supersport, but failed to start in the race. Martin took the big Honda to fifth place in the first Superbike Race, however he again failed to start in the second race. Martin said he hadn't pushed the machine too hard, and was quite happy with a "steady ride round." Martin's criticism of the course in regard to the chicanes was mentioned.

On the Wilson Craig Honda 600, Martin qualified 16th fastest during first practice for the Supersport race, recording a fastest lap of , slipping to 27th fastest in the second qualifying period,

Isle of Man TT Following the North West 200 incident involving John McGuinness riding the new Honda SP2, tests were carried out by the Honda Racing Team prior to the bike arriving at the TT races. The 2017 Isle of Man TT qualifying week was disrupted by poor weather and Martin had little track time. The weather improved towards the end of the week, enabling a full practice session to take place on Friday 2 June. Due to the lack of practice, the first race day was postponed with the time allotted to additional practice. On 3 June, in ideal conditions, Martin completed four practice laps recording the 26th fastest time, around the road course of in a time of 18 minutes 11.69 seconds at an average speed of .

The opening race, the Superbike TT, was rescheduled for Sunday 4 June but Martin only got into the race before he crashed at Doran's Bend. In an interview afterwards, Martin stated that as he attempted to change down the gearbox after Ballig Bridge in order to negotiate the 4th gear left handed Doran's Bend, he hit a false neutral. Martin was unable to offer an opinion as to whether the bike would be safe to ride in the Senior TT, merely describing the SP2 as a "Jonah". Despite crashing at around , Martin only sustained a bruised wrist.

Ulster Grand Prix On 21 July 2017, Honda Racing, an English company based in Louth, Lincolnshire also known as Honda Racing CBR, issued a statement to the effect that Guy Martin would not be competing at the 2017 Ulster Grand Prix; the decision was described by an event organiser as "Naturally I'm disappointed...but it's not altogether surprising given the difficulties the team has experienced throughout the season".

Retirement from motorcycle racing On 26 July 2017, it was officially announced that Martin had retired from motorcycle racing. In an exclusive interview with the Motorcycle News Martin said:

Martin returned to road racing in May 2019 at Tandragee, winning the 1000 cc class on a BSA Rocket, finishing second on the road to outright winner Dean Stimpson on a 500 cc machine with both classes run together. He had provisionally entered the earlier Cookstown event but failed to appear.

Race results Isle of Man TT 2009

2010

2011

2012 Race Position Time (HH:MM:SS) Speed (Mph) Replica Superbike 4th 01:47:20.18 126.544 Silver Superstock Race 5th 01:12:06.85 125.567 Silver Supersport Race 1 DNF DNF DNF DNF Supersport Race 2 8th 01:15:17.95 120.256 Silver Senior Race Cancelled Source:

Career statistics British Superbike Championship By year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 2008 Honda THR15 THR9 OUL12 OULRet BHGP13 BHGP12 DON DON SNERet SNERet MAL16 MAL17 OULRet OUL18 KNORet KNO14 CAD15 CAD11 CRO18 CRORet SILRet SILRet BHI16 BHI15 18th 28 Honda BHI BHI THRDNS THRDNS OULRet OUL20 CAD CAD MAL MAL KNO KNO SNE SNE SNE BHGP BHGP BHGP CAD CAD CRO CRO SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL NC 0 2011 Suzuki BHI BHI OUL OUL CRO CRO THR THR KNO KNO SNE SNE OUL OUL BHGP BHGP BHGP CAD CAD CAD DON DON SIL SIL BHGP BHGP BHGP 38th 0

British Supersport Championship (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts Honda BHI Ret OULRet DON THR SNE KNO MAL BHGP CAD CRO SIL OUL NC 0 2010 Honda BHI THR12 OUL CAD MAL KNO SNE BHGPRet CAD13 CRO SIL OUL 28th 7 Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Pts 2015 Triumph DON DON BRH BRH OUL OUL SNE SNE KNO KNO BRH BRH THR THR CAD CAD OUL OUL ASS ASS SIL SIL BRH BRH NC 0

Mountain bike racing and pedal cars Martin has successfully raced mountain bikes in cross country, downhill races and endurance races. In June 2011, after two years of training, he raced in the Salzkammergut Trophy in Austria. With a time of 14 hours 40 minutes, he was the first British non-professional rider to finish. He achieved his goal of a podium-finish during a 2013 British Championship event in Fort William, Scotland.

Martin achieved an ambition and competed in the 2016 Tour Divide mountain bike race, which runs from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, negotiating the Rocky Mountains, beginning on 11 June.

Martin also competed as part of a Pedal Car Racing team in the 24-hour, 2015 British Pedal Car Championship event at the Shenington Kart circuit on 27/28 June, as part of the Team JMC/Hope Factory Racing Team.

Martin also competed in the 2019 Arizona trail race (AZTR), however he struggled to finish and he said " I was looking for something to break me, and this did". He averaged a day which showed how much he struggled compared to the tour divide's 150

Film and television

Filmography

Engineering The Boat that Guy Built This six-part series sees Martin and his friend, Mark 'Mavis' Davies, renovate a narrowboat, called Reckless, while travelling on the canal network using the inventions of the Industrial Revolution. The programme includes reconstructions of early industrial processes such as smelting iron.

How Britain Worked

This six-part series examined some of the important engineering advances at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Feeling the country had lost its reputation as the workshop of the world and "went soft" under the auspices of health and safety culture, through replicating original working methods in various practical projects, the series was to highlight the ordinary workers who were experiencing long hours while working to remarkable precision, "within a couple of thousandths of an inch".

Guy Martin's Wall of Death: Live In this live special, Martin attempted to set a world speed record on a purpose-built version of the wall of death fairground attraction. It also featured recordings of Martin being trained by experienced rider Ken Fox on an existing wall to overcome dizziness, and being given aerial training to overcome the chief limiting factor, the effect of G-force on the human body. The science was explored by Hugh Hunt of Cambridge University, revealing the equation G=S2/(25*D), where G is G-Force, S is speed in mph, and D is diameter of the wall, in metres. This revealed the chosen location, a hangar on Manby Airfield, would be too small for Martin's desired target of , but with a revised target of while remaining below 7G, the 37.5 metre wall that was ultimately built would suffice. This would allow Martin to challenge a previous claimed record of around , which the programme believed was wrong, determined through video analysis as having been . For the show, Guinness World Records created a new record, Highest speed on a Wall of Death, and set an initial qualifying benchmark of in one of two attempts. On a first attempt, using an Indian Scout motorcycle, Martin managed to achieve , while on a second run, on a bike purposely built by Martin (a 1972 Rob North T160 Trident triple), he extended the record to . Prior to Martin's attempt, on the smaller wall, cyclist Shanaze Reade also set the Guinness record for Highest bicycle speed on a Wall of Death, at .

Autobiographical Guy Martin's Passion for Life This one-off half hour programme explored various aspects of Martin's life. It was a repackaging of material previously released as four 7 minute long online only episodes, under Channel 4's Shorts brand, on their online platform 4oD. Episodes "Prized Possession" and "TT Racer" were released on 18 August 2014, followed by "Inside the Mind of a Racer" and "Proud Mechanic" on 1 October 2014. Proud Possession focuses on his Merlin engine.

Our Guy in Latvia Martin travelled to Latvia to investigate the history of the Latvian side of his family – his deceased maternal grandfather, Walter Kidals, was a Latvian who had come to Britain in 1947 as a refugee from World War II. The family knew little about his story, with even Kidals' wife being unaware he was an orphan. Born Waldemars Kidals, the programme found that in 1941 he had been conscripted into the Latvian Legion, part of the Axis Forces when Nazi Germany had occupied Latvia, and later spent two years in a Belgian prisoner-of-war camp. Having been exonerated by the post-war trials, and with Latvia now part of the Soviet Union, all surviving former Latvian conscripts were allowed to settle in the United States and Britain as political refugees – Kidals opted for the UK, travelling to Hull.

In the programme, Martin met surviving members of his family and visited the now cleared site of his family's former farmhouse. Travelling in a 1982 Lada 1300S, he also visited an immersive Cold War Russian prison experience, and watched a reenactment of a battle between the Legion forces and the Soviet Red Army.

Our Guy In China Martin's love of industry and endeavour leads him to China, where he reveals the unseen side of its innovation, technological development and gigantic manufacturing.

Personal life Martin lives in North Lincolnshire with his wife Sharon and their daughter.

Martin briefly owned the pub in his home village, which he has since sold.

In May 2026, Martin was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His musical choices included "Hurt" by Johnny Cash, "The Day is My Enemy" by The Prodigy and "With or Without You" by U2. His book choice was "Stealing Speed" by Mat Oxley and his luxury item the back catalogue of Race Engine Technology magazine.

Personal vehicles Martin owned a Merlin aero engine from a 1942 Lancaster bomber, and a Scania 144 530 truck engine. He also has a 1915 Amanco Chore Boy stationary engine with the original low tension magneto in his kitchen. The van is for general transport while the Vöx is just for special occasions,

Martin also owns a large collection of bicycles and motorcycles, including a Bimota. A few days later in a radio interview, Martin repeated the claims, and stated he had not broken the law as he had only reached high speeds on derestricted roads (i.e., those with no upper speed limit).

In November 2018, Martin appeared at Lincoln magistrates' court in relation to Northern Irish documentation submitted as part of an application for a UK driving licence. The matter was escalated to Lincoln Crown Court as he pleaded not guilty, opting for a jury trial. After an initial hearing in December 2018, the matter was referred for trial in July 2019.

Due to stand trial on 6 January 2020, in late-December 2019 the two charges were dropped, citing that Martin believed his licence from Northern Ireland was genuine, giving him a HGV-entitlement and that his autism made him "vulnerable enough for others to see him as an easy target" and that he "may well have been taken in by somebody".

In April 2026, Martin received a six‑month driving ban after reaching 12 penalty points, following two speeding offences on his motorbike.