Guy Martin slams ‘boring’ NW200 circuit

Guy Martin has blasted the modifications made in recent years to the North West 200 circuit, saying that the addition of multiple chicanes to the track have made it boring to ride.

The eight-mile circuit has been heavily modified from its original format, with the addition of purpose-built chicanes in the name of safety, in an attempt to lower the speed of the incredibly fast circuit.

The first chicane to be introduced was at Magherabouy in the nineties, in an attempt to slow riders from approaching the 30mph Metrople corner at speeds approaching 200mph. The latest to be added to the circuit was at Mather’s Cross, neutering the ferociously fast corner after the accident that cost Robert Dunlop his life in 2007.

Speaking to BBC NI’s Stephen Watson on the grid just after the superstock qualifying session this morning, he hit out at the new layout.

“I’m bored to the back teeth! Riding around chicanes just bore me to the back teeth – I have no interest in it! This track used to be mega, but it’s so boring now. The bike is so fast and handles so well that my granny could ride it down the straights, and then it’s just down to first gear, around a chicane, and back to sixth.

“Even Station Corner isn’t even fun any more, because the bike is so good that I can go around it flat out! I’ll always give a hundred per cent on the bike, and I want to do well – but there’s more interesting things to be doing!”

The Tyco BMW rider has never won at the Triangle circuit, standing on the podium multiple times but never making it to the top step since his debut at the race in 2004. He starts tonight’s superstock race in eighth.