Experienced motorcycle racer Steve Martin has been in demand for a variety of testing and commentary roles since his departure from the DFX Honda World Superbike team in mid May. His first role came in the form of being the guest commentator for the world broadcast feed for the World Superbike Championship from Silverstone, alongside veteran commentator Jonathan Green and fellow racer Scott Smart. Steve commented, “I was nervous as I hadn’t done anything like that before so you always worry that you’re going to sound like a dork! It’s the sort of job that when your Mum says you did ok you don’t know whether to believe her or not. I wasn’t sure about how I would find commentating but I actually really enjoyed it.” With glowing feedback from his co-commentators and also fans who emailed in to comment on Steve’s great thoughts and insights to the track action, the Aussie was invited to return to the microphone for the following rounds at San Marino in Italy a few weeks later and Brno in the Czech Republic this coming weekend. Steve continued, “Commentating at Misano was even more daunting than Silverstone as there was no Scott Smart, along with Jonathan and myself, to also fill in the gaps. But I ended up feeling very comfortable and the commentary flowed well between the two of us. I am really looking forward to doing Brno now as I think the racing there will be really close.” Although enjoying his stint and also increasing his experiences of commentating, Steve is still a gutsy racer at heart and his outstanding riding and bike development abilities were highlighted when a number of teams contacte Steve, asking him to test their race machines and provide his direction and input for development and set-up. “It felt good to be approached by a number of teams and whilst it would have been great to be able to follow up every option, that was not the most productive way forward for me or the teams,” explained the Aussie. “So I’ve ended up on a Yamaha theme really. Nothing planned but it’s just how it’s panned out. “I did a two day test for the Yamaha France World Superbike team at Lausitzring, alongside Nakatomi on their R1 customer bike which was a lot of fun and we achieved a great deal in a short space of time. The bike was pretty standard but I managed to lap with some respectable times and the guys were happy that I was able to give them some constructive feedback and a direction to head in with set-up going forward.” The Yamaha Europe World Supersport team were next to request the help of Steve’s expertise, asking him to test a number of new components on the R6 of Kev Curtain at Brno, alongside Broc Parkes. Steve continued, “The test went quite well and I was able to dip under the current lap record regularly, although the emphasis of the test was evaluating some new components and not really an ultimate lap time. That R6 is a really nice bike and still has a lot of potential to be unlocked, so I was happy to have been able to ride it again and have an input into that.” Steve then agreed terms to ride for Mandy Keinz Yamaha Austria racing team and will line up on the grid for the Suzuka 8 Hour race later this month. “I wasn’t really looking to do the ‘eight hour’, but Mandy kept ringing me and one day he caught me at the right time. I’m glad that he did in the end as it is a very experienced team. My son Axel is also happy about it too as Mandy promised to give him his first motorcycle – a Yamaha pw 50 of course – and Axel’s not even one yet!” Just when he thought things couldn’t get any busier, Steve received a call from Rob MacElnea asking if he would be interested to test the Virgin Yamaha R1 to evaluate its performance. “Out of all the bikes and teams that I have tested for this year, I was most impressed by what the Virgin Yamaha team have accomplished in terms of bike set-up and also team dynamics, and I clicked well with both elements,” explained Steve. “I only got to lap Donington for an hour during the lunch break of a track day, but it was enough to let me know that things just seemed to click, that the R1 was fast, steered well and looked good so had all the fundamentals of a good package.” “I’ve had a number of years experience motorcycle racing and have ridden every make of bike; two, three and four cylinders, Superbike, 500GP and Supersport. Given this I know how a bike should feel and what feedback a team needs in order to make the package work, so it’s been great that I’ve really been able to use my skills to experience over the last few months and also that they have been recognised and wanted by teams. Steve concluded, “I’m still not sure what I will be doing in the future. I don’t want to rush into any decisions and end up in another situation like at the start of this season. But I have options which is the positive thing and so I’ll need to assess these over the next few weeks and then I should be in a clearer position to make some decisions and update everyone with more news!”