Catching up with…..Martin Barr

U-Tag Yamaha's MX2 rider Martin Barr has had an up and down start to the 2008 - His first career podium in the British championship and title contender there has been in sharp contrast to his GP fortune, where after just missing out on qualifying in Holland he then went to the 2nd round in Spain and broke his collarbone. Determined not to let this get in the way of his British Title aspirations Martin went to Lyng 2 weeks after his accident and put on a heroic performance with a 10th and 6th place to maintain his 3rd place in the championship. We talked with Martin about the season so far, his goals for the rest of the year and to discover how he managed to ride last weekend!

Take us through the season so and how you managed at Lyng?

I felt the best I ever had fitness wise and the new bike was working really well, everything felt good. At the first British I got 2 5th positions and 4th overall I was happy with that, the next round was Canada Heights were I got 3rd and 2nd so I was 2nd overall, Simpson won both and Swordy got 3rd, that was the first time on the podium at the British Championship. I really enjoyed that it gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I should be up there every week. The first round of the GP , I think I was just to hyped up for it, in my heat race I crashed loads of times and then in the last chance I’ve never been good at doing fast laps and didn’t get a fast enough lap time, its just the same story I’m not very good at doing them fast laps I’ve been trying over the winter to get them sorted, I thought I was over all that qualifying stuff, it give me a big kick in the balls really, but I just tried to recover, Then at Torrington I got 2nd in the first moto after a big crash with Leuret on the first lap, I rode that race with bent bars and stuff so to get up to 2nd was pretty good, the 2nd race I was going to get third but I lost my back break and with 3 laps to go the back end spun out so I ended up 6th then, that left me in 4th overall but if I’d got 3rd I would have been on the podium again. The week after that was Spain, the first practice session went alright had bike problem set up but got it sorted for the 2nd session and put a good lap time in and then had a big crash, I was knocked out for 2 minutes and broke my collarbone, then I had Laser treatment and in an oxygen tank for 2 weeks, then it was Lyng at the weekend, I just tried my hardest to get 60% ready I had 10th in the first race after a small crash when I was 5th I just lost my rhythm a bit, I was in a lot of pain in the 2nd race I was 6th. All in all it was a good weekend I’m still 3rd in the championship, I thought I was going to be sick in the 2nd race with 3 laps to go I was in so much pain but I managed to stay on and got the job done.

Were you able to take pain medication?

I took painkillers and stuff but halfway through the race the pain kicked back in, the doctor said it would take 6 weeks before I’d be able to ride again, I rode 2 weeks after, so the bone wasn’t completely right , Laser treatment works but it doesn’t work wonders, I was happy enough with the weekend but I was in a lot of pain, but I managed to pull through it and stay 3rd in the championship. This weekend I won’t race in Bulgaria and just let my shoulder heal abit more.

When is the next British Championship?

The next British round is at Desertmartin (22nd June) that’s what I’m really looking forward to, hopefully I can do the same (as last year) get pole position hopefully not fall off this time and try and get a win, to get my first win there would be nice.

When will you be back in the GPs?

Maybe next weekend for Italy, I’ll just have to wait and see how my shoulder is I don’t want to come back to soon and hurt it again, at the minute the British championship is the one I’m doing well in so I want to get it right for Desertmartin.

Are you still looking to win the British title?

O yea that’s what I want , to go for the title, I’m in contention still, yes I did lose a few points at the weekend but there’s still 4 rounds to go and anything can happen its motocross so one DNF with Swordy or Simpson and I’m right back in there you know? That’s what I wanted at the start of the year top 3 in the British Championship, going for podiums and winning races which I have been doing so hopefully just get back into GPs and do what I want to do there which is top 10 .

How’s the team reacting with the injuries to yourself and Gunderson?

Gunderson is out for the year he done his ACL and bust that so it wasn’t so good when he went out , then I bust my collarbone, but at least I’ll be back racing its just unfortunate for the team but that’s just the way it goes. They have been working really hard throughout the season, my mechanic Shane has got the bike working really well everybody has been working together and getting the job done.

Is the bike a lot better than last years?

Aww… its 10 times better than what I rode last year from bottom to top suspension wise everything!

Have you able to do any training since the injury?

I took a week off and now I’m just doing a lot of cycling and running and swimming to build the shoulder up again, I haven’t been doing any riding.

Did you think you could ride at Lyng when you got hurt in Spain?

After Spain I knew it was going t take a couple of weeks I was going to try and ride Portugal, I started riding again just a week after my accident I went out to Brian Scotts. I felt okay but I knew I wouldn’t be able to run the whole distance being in so much pain and stuff, so I opted out of that one and tried to get it half decent for Lyng. The GP tracks are much rougher and the competition is stiffer so if I was struggling at the end of the races at the British Championship I know I’ll be struggling big time at the GPs that’s why I opted out of this weeks GP.

By: Jonathan McCready, Photos: Paul McCready