GUY Martin’s turbocharged, Martek-framed GSX-R1100 had all the makings of a Pikes Peak hillclimb winner and with no question marks over the rider’s bravery or ability many were expecting an outright win. But it wasn’t to be.

While Martin’s time of 11m 32.6s up the 12.42 mile track was enough to win his class, just beating rival Yasuo Arai’s 1980 Kawasaki by a second, it was over a minute-and-a-half away from the outright winner’s time of 9m 58.7 seconds.

That prize went to ZX-10R rider Jeremy Toye, the only man on two wheels to dip under the 10m mark at this year’s event.

Martin’s time was 24th quickest of the bikes, and he’d been struggling to get his homebrewed machine to work properly throughout the event.

The motorcycle class was also tinged with tragedy when Bobby Goodin lost control of his Triumph Daytona 675 after the finish line, where the course’s asphalt gives way to a dirt surface. He lost control and crashed into rocks.

Unconscious and undergoing CPR, he was airlifted to Penrose Main Hospital where he was sadly succumbed to his injuries.

The 54 year-old had just taken 4th place in the middleweight open class, with a time that was 17th fastest overall.

Despite the apparently risky nature of the course, with its near-vertical drops at the sides, Pikes Peak has seen a relatively small number of fatalities in its history (two motorcyclists and five overall), and this was the 92nd running of an event that’s been around since 1916.