The third round of the Superbike World Championship at Valencia in Spain proved another saga filled race meeting for Steve Martin, with the ongoing events of the weekend leaving him speechless. The vastly experienced Aussie rider was initially left perplexed when he was approached by fellow countryman Andrew Pitt, informing him that the DFX team had contacted him about testing the Honda CBR1000 machine.
Following a week of negotiations after being side-lined by DFX Honda due to the team's financial difficulties, Steve Martin will be lining up on the World Superbike grid for the third round of the championship at Donington this coming weekend. Steve spent much of last week on the phone and in meetings trying to find a solution to DFX’s financial problems, after two sponsors withdrew their support of the team at short notice.
Steve Martin was yesterday unexpectedly informed that his ride with the DFX Honda World Superbike team was no longer available, due to lack of finances for the Italian squad. Just days before being due to leave his home in Switzerland for the next round of the championship at Donington in the UK, the vastly experienced Aussie rider was clearly disappointed and bemused by the news, commenting, “I’m absolutely gutted. Not just for me but also my whole bike crew.