As Guy Martin broke the Wall of Death’s record, the Internet was worrying about his poor girlfriend. On live TV, Martin rode his motorcycle for two hours and reached 78.15 mph on the Wall of Death, but failed to accomplish his dream of doing 100 mph (160 km/h) on the Wall of Death – as Sharon Comiskey, the love of his life, cringed over and over.
Guy Martin‘s attempt at the Wall of Death’s record was seen by millions, including his scared girlfriend, Sharon Comiskey, who appeared to be praying for the sporting event to be over.
This week, the motorcycle racer and TV presenter, who has Asperger Syndrome, brought out the cameras to film an extraordinary feat – set a new Wall of Death world record while riding the biggest Wall of Death.
The scary yet amazing event took place on an impressive wall built of shipping containers in an ex-RAF hangar near Lincolnshire in England. The daredevil, who has been practicing for over a year, rode a BSA-engined motorcycle that he modified himself under the watchful eye of mechanic and famous rider Ken Fox.
The modifications were made for the bike to be lighter in hopes of making the record-breaking attempt easier. He spoke to Event magazine and explained how he prepared for the ride of his life. He shared:
“I guess I like to see how close I can come to death without actually dying. I have been pending time with Cambridge University physicist Hugh Hunt. He explained all the maths to me. With his help I got to understand the complex set of forces, gravitational and frictional, that work together in harmony on a Wall of Death.”
He added:
“To an outsider, it might look like I’m being reckless by attempting something like this. But I don’t see it that way at all. If I stick to the maths, I’ll stick to the wall. That’s the theory anyway. I’m not pretending it’s a walk in the park. To begin with, dizziness was a problem for me because of the speeds I was going at. But I’ve got used to dealing with it. Apart from that, the biggest challenge has been getting on and getting off the wall. The trick is to gain enough speed to stick to the wall as I begin to climb, then slow down at the right pace to enable a safe landing. Also, I need to be sure that my pace can handle the g-force, as my heart needs to be able to keep the blood flowing to my brain. If I get it wrong I could black out and lose consciousness.”
In his first run, Martin reached 113.18kmph, sustaining 5.4G. In his second run, he set a new world record of 125.7kmph, but did not break the ultimate record set at 96.5kmph.
Many, who felt Comiskey’s pain, took to Twitter to say:
“Guy Martin is a nutter, I feel sorry for his girlfriend.”
‘I love Guy Martin but fuck being his girlfriend, he’s mental.’
‘Hats off to Sharon your nerves must be wrecked!!! #WallOfDeath #GuyMartin’
After the record had been broken, Comiskey thanked the people, who were worried about her and Martin. She said on Facebook:
“Thank you for all the texts, calls, emails, tweets and a few by pigeon post. He never fails to impress me…….of course we celebrated in style last night…. tea and toast on the sofa #BIGLOVE.”
Many are wondering, when will Martin take another shot at the Wall of Death?
