Guy Martin still wants to race after huge shunt at Ulster

After a scary 130 mph crash during the Dundrod 150 round of the Ulster Grand Prix weekend near Belfast on Aug. 6, Guy Martin says he hopes to return to the sport, but is unsure of a timeline.

Martin, who was leading the event at the moment of the crash said he doesn’t remember anything from the wreck that left him hospitalized.

“I don’t remember anything about the crash after head-butting the ground,” Martin said.

Violent impact

“I head-butted the ground at 130mph, then skidded into a dirt field and catapulted off a few things. The impact I hit the ground with was massive. I was knocked out, but it’s a credit to that helmet that I didn’t suffer any (head) damage other than a badly bloodshot eye.”

The accident sent him to hospital, unconscious, and suffering numerous injuries, but Martin credits the staff at the Belfast Royal Hospital, and his back protector for saving his life. He suffered five broken vertebrae, a broken sternum, five ribs, two bones in his right hand and needed a metal plate inserted.

“I crashed on Thursday night, I was operated on Friday afternoon and walking Saturday morning. I was in the shed the following Thursday. That back protector genuinely saved my bloody life,” he said. 

One surgery had to move some muscles for the procedure to be completed, and Martin says that is the part of recovery giving him the most bother is the muscle rehabilitation, not skeletal.

As for his return to the sport, which he said he wants to do, he admitted he doesn't want to rush back into it.

“I still want to race, but I’m not going to rush into deciding what or where I’m going to race,” he said.