‘If you’ve got the chance to race, you do it’
Ian Martin, 58. Builder, family man and winner of the Classic Bol d’or as a rider and team manager. But how?
How do motorcycles fit into your life now? Racing takes up all of my spare time. I’m a self-employed builder, so luckily I can be flexible with my work time, so I tend to go to work early in the morning, get as much as I can done and organised, then get off about 2pm and go to the workshop. I’m there until I go home at about 6pm for dinner and to spend some time with the wife. I try not to go back to the workshop in the evening – though sometimes I do skip dinner and stay there until 11pm.
I try to balance normal family life, business life and motorcycle life. You can’t let one go too far, otherwise the others suffer. After a big event, I’ll leave the motorcycles alone for a month or so, depending when the next race is.
How did the dream of racing infiltrate your family and business life to such an extent? As a youngster I was involved with Team Bike as a helper, and always thought I’d like to race. But it never happened. Then, aged 46, I started classic racing on an RD400 and won a couple of races. Then I wanted to build a replica of the Team Bike endurance bike, but found out the original bikes were in storage in Finland so a plan was hatched to get them back and then race them. Which I did. And that led to endurance racing. Before I knew it I was doing three or four races a year around Europe, with a lot of the original Team Bike pit crew. It came at the right time for a load of us to relive our youth. It evolved, it wasn’t planned.
Give us a real example of your current life at its best. What makes it all worthwhile… Standing on the top step of the podium with two-time world champion Stephane Mertens at the Bol d’or Classic, listening to the national anthem being played. Surreal. When I first wobbled round Cadwell Park on my RD400 with my novice jacket on, I couldn’t ever imagine anything like that.
What makes you question whether or not you’ve made the right decision?
Last year at the Spa four hour endurance race, Stephane was leading when the engine exploded. The spare bike had had problems in practice, so we’d gone from having two RC30S and leading the race, to a financial and logistical nightmare. Nobody was hurt but, even so, it was a terrible low.
What’s your current state of wellbeing?
I feel good and often think how lucky I am. I haven’t got a flash car or a big house, but I’ve got some lovely motorcycles, great friends, a fantastic wife and lovely daughters, some good workmates, a nice business. For me, it’s perfect. What I love about endurance racing is it’s a team thing – I like it when everyone’s pulling together.
How do you make it all work financially? It’s really, really difficult. We have a few small sponsors, but the finance is by far the hardest part for me. I’m lucky that I’ve got reasonable skills and experience in building bikes, and I’ve got a good network with the original team, but I’m not a wealthy man so it’s difficult.
How does all this work with family?
My wife will be happy when we’re not racing so much, but she came to the Isle of Man and the Bol d’or (see page 118) this year. We try and get a balance, even during the racing, so we spent a week on the Isle of Man together, doing things that she enjoys like looking at the archaeology. You’ve got to balance things to make it all work. If I just went away and didn’t answer any work emails and ignored my family I’d come back to a right mess. But I enjoy the juggling. I like being busy – that’s when I’m at my best. I can’t remember the last time I was bored. This year we’ve decided to do some things that are on the wife’s bucket list while we’re still able – I’m 58 now – so we hiked up Ben Nevis with our two daughters. You have to do things when you’re able. If you’ve got the chance to do an endurance race with a double world champion on an RC30, you do it.
What are your current priorities in life? The reason I go racing is because I enjoy it. The reason I work is to earn money. And the reason I have a home life is to be with people I love. To be happy I just have to balance those three.