The Martins: Motorsport Mavericks

Allan Martin is undoubtedly one of Namibia’s most storied motorsport mavericks, with top titles in nearly every discipline from rally, oval track, drag and circuit racing.Whether you’re a fan or motorsport or not, you’ve definitely seen their iconic J&P Hydraulics white-and-green livery either blasting pass you en route to the podium, or flying off the pages of local newspapers.His son, Zachary Martin, has quickly proven his own motoring mettle, setting records and shaking up the grid with a fierce level of competitive consistency, far belying his youth.My.Na Cars recently had the privilege of catching up with the two throttle heads at their J&P Hydraulics racing workshop in Walvis, to find out more about what drives their passion for performance.Hardcore HobbySitting in their “hobby shop”, the Martin men have a relaxed focus about them. Their fully kitted workshop is a shrine to speed, and a sanctuary where they spend their downtime building high-performance street cars, prepping their race beasts and polishing their huge collection of trophies and motoring memorabilia.“This is my lifelong dream. Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved cars, bikes and everything to do with performance. I could never really afford it, and would dream of one day getting to the point where I could live my passion,” Allan said before pausing in thought, reflecting on his journey from spectator to multi-disciplinary champion.“After years of hard work, we were finally able to move from street racing to getting our first race car, with which we starting doing dirt oval track racing, where I was crowned five-time consecutive Namibian champion over the years. This quickly progressed to us getting into rallying and then in 2010, we made a successful foray into circuit track racing, and as of 2015 we’ve been participating in rally, track, drag and oval track events,” he said with a smile.His biggest fan and arguably fiercest competitor, his son Zachary, nods in agreement. The father-and-son duo have had the privilege of sharing many podiums over the years, and the younger Martin says his father’s passion and precision was easy to pick up.“Since I was very young, I always loved being in the workshop and working on cars with my dad. It was never something I was forced to do. There were times where all I could think about is finishing the school week so that I could come and learn about cars, mechanical work and performance tuning,” he said. After starting out racing quads at the age of 11, the younger Martin and his father found themselves getting more and more involved in the different motorsport disciplines, building a reputation for sportsmanship, discipline and a hands-on approach.“From a young age, my dad always taught me the basic principle that if you want to race, you have to work on the car yourself. We do have a small, but incredible team that helps us, but we do everything ourselves. From building the cars, to prepping them for races, we make sure we have gone over every detail, checked every nut and bolt ourselves. Even when I was young, he’d let me struggle and figure things out, and I’m very thankful for that because that’s how I learnt the most,” he explained.“It’s not something that just fell out of a tree, we really committed ourselves to working towards it and growing to achieve what we wanted,” Martin Snr said.Highest highsIn 2019, Martin’s career highlight came when he and navigator Maretha Olivier won the Total Tara Rally for the first time after nine gruelling campaigns, with his Skoda R5 finishing well clear of the rest of the field.“Winning the Total Tara was my best feeling ever. I couldn’t believe it. Getting to the end of something you’ve worked towards for 10 years was the ultimate for me, especially the fact that I could share it with my boy, who at the age of 20, also finished the rally that day.”“My one wish and the first thing that I thought of after we crossed the line, was that I wished I could’ve shared that experience with my late father.”“Nonetheless, getting my name on that trophy, which is covered in the names of rally legends spanning the last 51 years, is something that I’ve always dreamt of,” he added.A lasting legacyWith all this history and a deep passion for developing the motorsport community in the country, the team at J&P Hydraulics thought it appropriate to plough back in to the family and fans that have brought them so much joy.“Legacy is extremely important to me. Being able to race with my son, and sometimes stand shoulder to shoulder with him on the podium makes me extremely proud. Even both our navigators, mother and daughter, Maretha Olivier, Mandi Hugo are carrying on their family’s rally legacy, so it definitely means a lot to us that racing families can continue to live and grow their passion,” Martin Snr said.“Covid had a tremendous effect on the racing community, so we wanted to do something to not only give back to the motorsport community in the country, but also help the next driver or drivers build on their legacies. That’s when we decided to build a give-away car,” the younger Martin says with a smile.Once the VW MK1 Golf racing car that they built was completed, they felt it only right that Wynne Rust, the son of Michael Rust and grandson of the legendary Tony Rust, would receive the car and get his shot at one day joining his father on a podium.“No corners were cut during the build of this car. We wanted to give the recipient a solid, competitive car that won’t be too expensive to maintain, in the hopes that once they decide to move up to bigger vehicle, that car could then be passed on to the next up-and-coming driver to help grow motorsport in the country,” Zachary explained“I was fortunate enough to share a podium with my dad a few times and it’s something very special to me, I can’t wait for Michael Rust and his son to do the same, especially if it’s at the track his grandfather built,” he added.The Martin family and the J&P Hydraulics Racing Team expressed a deep appreciation to their supporters and the rest of their motorsport family for their love, support and thrilling competition.To learn more visit www.jphydraulicsracing.com .

The Martins: Motorsport Mavericks

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Republikein 2024-11-22

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The Martins: Motorsport Mavericks

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