Martin Barr has been one of the leading figures in Irish motocross for over two decades, and even at 37 years old he continues to impress at the sharp end of the British Championship. With more than 20 professional seasons under his belt, Barr has experienced the highs and lows of the sport, but his passion and commitment remain as strong as ever. As he edges towards what looks likely to be his final year as a full-time rider, we caught up with the Ballyclare native at an Ulster Championship round to reflect on his season so far, his future plans, his work behind the scenes with Team Ireland, and what life after professional racing might look like.
GateDrop: Martin, we’re here at an Ulster Championship, it’s nice to see you here racing and it’s also nice to see guys over from England. Just a good event for Ulster Championship, just talk me through that first of all, it’s nice to see a bit of an effort being made…
Barr: Definitely, it’s good to see that we still have that buzz about Ulster Motocross. You can see once the club put a bit of work and effort in, what they achieved. There’s buzz about the paddock, the crowd that was here, the effort to put in was phenomenal, second to none. Hats off to the guys, Mark and all the crew at the club. As I say the track was fantastic, as you say a lot of English riders over which was good to keep us on our toes and just let people see what kind of speed we’re at and we’re not that far off them… although Taylor (Hammal) was very impressive today.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, the day started off good, first in qualifying, first time ever here. First race, I gave myself a lot of work to do, didn’t get a great start but managed to pull through to second and then race two, I was involved in an incident on the first corner, so the time I got going, I was way back so I didn’t finish that one unfortunately, which kind of hampered it for the overall.
Race three, I managed to get the holeshot, I was a little bit sore for the first couple of laps, then the adrenaline kicked in and ended up second in it, so I was happy. Then the Tommy Stewart Memorial race, I had another decent enough start and just stayed out of trouble to bring it home third. All in all it was a good day, it was good to be involved with it, as I said, it’s nice for an Ulster Championship to be buzzing again, it’s been quite a while since we’ve had that so hats off to everybody.
GateDrop: It’s funny because at an Ulster Championship usually somebody like yourself would have quite a big advantage but this was your first time here and you were quickest in qualifying, so that was pretty good and you were quick all day really, just a shame about the start crash, so you must have been happy with your riding…
Barr: Definitely the pace wasn’t far away, as you say it was my first time here and we got one free lap and then three timed laps… I don’t know how I went quickest because I still didn’t know the track but we managed to get it done and I was happy with my pace all day. I’m 38 in a few weeks time and I’m still enjoying it and all the rest of it… but I’m 90% sure this is going to be my final year as a full-time motocross rider, this is my 21st professional season so it’s not getting any easier.
Mentally I don’t think I’m ready to hang my boots up but just from a financial side of things it’s just getting tougher and tougher, so I guess I have to start thinking of my wife and kids and stop being as selfish because a motocross rider you have to be selfish. You have to put the work, effort and all the rest of it in. It’s obviously not an easy decision, I’ve had a really good career but it has to come to an end at some point. I’ll not be retiring completely, I might still do the Arenacross series if it goes ahead, the Scottish Championship, maybe an odd race here and there but as far as doing it full-time, week in week out, this is my final year.
GateDrop: Usually at an Ulster Championship there would only be three motos, there was obviously four today, how did you find that? Tough?
Barr: It was good, well obviously I DNF’d the second race, so I never really felt the effect of it as such but it was good for the spectators to get that extra race and it was nice for them to do the program around that so we had a bit of time before the final. I think it’s put Ulster Motocross back on the map and hopefully we can just build from here.
GateDrop: Just on your British Championship season, you are always steady, solid, you’re always there or there abouts and like you say you’re 38 soon, you must be pretty proud of the speed and the results you can do at this age, it’s not easy?
Barr: No definitely, we’re still there or there abouts, I’m currently sitting 6th in the British Championship and the names are in front of me, they’re impressive. You’ve got three GP guys and Taylor’s just in front of me there so to be still in the mix, I’m more than happy because as you say I’m 38 soon and still at the sharp end, I’m the oldest out there by a fair bit.
I am proud of that to still be in that higher pack. It’s not easy but as I say I still enjoy it, I still love bikes, always will love bikes but it’s just one of them things, the time has come just to go a different direction now. If I can finish off the season strong, try and stay in that top 6, it would be a nice way to finish it but there’s obviously still fast people behind me and it’s not over yet. I am still 6th in the British currently and currently landing 3rd in the Scottish Championship as well with one round to go so if we can finish it off on a high. The Motocross des Nations will be my final professional race.
GateDrop: I mean it’s not getting any easier in the British paddock, it feels like there’s less rides and teams than in the past but let’s say in a couple of weeks time you get a phone call and it was a good offer, would you be tempted to go another year if it made financial sense?
Barr: There’s always that 10% you know but obviously from a team’s point of view hiring a 38 year old is not as inspiring for them. Obviously they want the younger riders coming through. I feel I’ve been there and done that… Yes, I’m still enjoying it and all the rest of it but the money’s not what it used to be. I had quite a good few financial years during my career but just the last few years haven’t been the same. Since Covid a lot has changed in teams, there’s not as many teams. There are some teams but they’re not proper teams doing it full time. You can see the calibre and obviously Conrad signed again for Honda. It’s a lot of fast guys there and it’s not getting any easier but to still be involved, I’m very proud of it.
GateDrop: With regards, Team Ireland… You’re a very passionate man… whenever the news dropped they weren’t going to send the team, I know how hard you worked behind the scenes to make that happen, just how much hard work went into getting Ireland just to get there first and foremost? I’m sure there was a lot of phone calls and stuff like that…
Barr: A lot of phone calls. When the first press came out that they weren’t sending I got on to it and asked if there was something I could do. There were a couple of other people put their name in the hat and then it came back that you had to put your proposal in and I know a couple of other people’s done that and I was like oh happy days that’ll save me, you know. I wanted to concentrate on my racing and then everything went quiet again and there was nothing being done so I asked Laurence (Spence) is there something that can be done. He told me if I wanted to get a proposal in, so I got straight to work on it. It was a lot of time but we managed to get a meeting and get it across the line.
It’s going to be hard, my role is the fundraising. I’ve nothing to do with the team but I’ve seen a lot of stuff on Facebook and I’m getting the blame for it. It’s nothing to do with me. I’m just solely raising the money but I’m just keeping the head down and working hard behind the scenes to try and make it happen as best we can.
GateDrop: You did say a couple of years ago that Matterley Basin was going to be your last nation but we’ve still got you to go to a couple more, it’ll probably be a nice note for the end to be in America, that place was always packed with crowd and I’m sure it’ll even be nice to have the family there – maybe take them for a bit of a holiday too…
Barr: I don’t know, obviously it’s a fair bit of coin to get over there but if I’m picked for it (Barr has since been confirmed), it’ll be a nice way to finish it off, at the biggest race that you can do. We’ll just have to wait and see. As I said there’s a lot of work still to be done and still work to get that final money over the line. We are working hard and hopefully it’ll all pay off.
GateDrop: Next year then, you aren’t going to be a professional Motocross rider anymore. What’s life going to look like for Martin Barr? Obviously you’re going to focus mainly on being a dad but have you got other plans to bring a wage in?
Barr: I will be working away. I’ve got my track, I’ve got my training schools, I do robotic lawn mower so I’m pretty flat out. It’s just going to be nice to spend a bit more time at home. Obviously my little man, he’s starting to ride bikes now so I need to start saving if he’s going to start doing it but you know I’ll just take it as it comes. It’ll be nice to spend a bit more time at home rather than on the road so much but I’ll not be too far away from the paddock. I love the sport and it’s all I know. It’ll be different but I’ll still be enjoying it.
GateDrop: What’s the little man like on a bike, obviously at this stage it’s just fun but does he enjoy it, is he any good? There’s a young Crockard too, maybe in 10 years time it’ll be Crockard v Barr all over again (laughs).
Barr: You never know. He’s only four but he’s enjoying it. I don’t push him, he has to come and ask me if he wants to ride the bike. He is starting to ask me more and more, he’s a bit more passionate about it so we’ll see. If he wants to do it I’ll support him, if he doesn’t and if he wants to go another way then that’s his choice. He has to want to do it, I don’t want to be a typical school boy Dad pushing him into it. He’s enjoying it so we’ll see how things go.
