Marty Bethridge
| Marty Bethridge | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Name | Martin Bethridge |
| Born | 16th September, 1964 in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality |  British  Northern Irish
|
| Nickname | "Slick" |
"Slick" Marty Bethridge (born 16th September, 1964 in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish former motorcycle racer.
Early life
Hailing from the Ballymoney area, Marty was born into one of the most celebrated families in Northern Irish motorsport. With the Bethridges being staunch rivals of the more famous Dunlop family - Marty was a contemporary of Joey & Robert Dunlop and regularly got into scrapes with the brothers throughout the late 1980s. While Joey and Robert Dunlop caught headlines for their incredible feats on the motorcycle - Bethridge was seen as a wild child of road racing who would regularly find himself in trouble with the law for his antics off the circuit.
World Superbike Championship
In 1990, Bethridge made the step up into the World Superbike Championship for the BP Harris Racing Team. He courted controversy early on when he reportedly punched Scott Russell in parc fermé following a tussle on track at Jerez. The FIM took no action for this outburst. Bethridge took his first podium at World level when he took a third place finish in the second race at Hockenheim. A few rounds later at Le Mans, Bethridge was involved in an on-track altercation with Carl Fogarty which saw Fogarty receive a penalty following the race. Confused, and expecting a penalty for himself, Bethridge stormed into the steward's office and flipped a table - however he was not reprimanded as the French steward did not know who he was. Bethridge finished his inaugural season at this level in tenth overall.
