As this month’s theme is „drivers presentation“, let’s have a closer look at our fellow driver and gifted photographer Martin A…
When I first met Martin, during one of the ever-cool trips to the famous Schwarzwald with some friends, I thought, well just another „scooby guy“. Those guys have a rather dorky reputation, at least this was my experience. Tryin‘ to keep up with my stage 1 S13 (~200hp) on KW V3 coilovers wasn’t difficult, it was actually impossible. And when he was behind me, it looked like as if he was just fooling around and could have easily passed me on the outer side of the curve, if he wanted to. Damn, this was kind of unreal! A little later, we had a brake in a comfy little restaurant for a bite to eat. There I found, that Martin is actually a very relaxed and friendly guy, nothing close to the spaz, braggin’ scooby boys I have got to know in the past.
Martin’s top secret special skill is „zip-tieing“ body parts…
Not that Martin, at the age of 26, only already has a lot of race track experience. He also is a gifted photographer and therefore part of the media team at Speed Industries. One might think that such a person’s profession must be based somewhere within the motorsports/cars world. But no, Martin has just graduated Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering and continues studying for the masters degree. So when he’s not taking pics at race/drift events, playing the piano like a professional, working at the airport or blasting through the Nordschleife, he’s sitting at home studying…
But let’s head over to the actual topic, the more down to earth stuff 🙂
It all started when Martin bought his silver Subaru Impreza GT back in 2004. It was an already nicely modded ’00 GC8, sporting a larger IHI VF34 turbo, 550cc injectors, performance mapping, Brembo big brake kit and a few body panels.
Martin’s scooby in 2005…
This must have been a great time for Martin back then. I mean, what can be more fun, than owning a 300hp, 1300kg, 4WD turbo’ed Impreza in Switzerland by the age of 20?
2006 on the Flüela Pass… dirty an mean…
This was the time, when Martin earned his spurs on numerous mountain passes, which are located literally at our front door, here in Switzerland.
In the last 6 years, the sliver GC8 has seen a lot of small and also great and famous racetracks. Martin drove it on the Nordschleife, Hockenheimring, in Dijon, Zolder or Anneau du Rhin, just to name a few. As Martin is a passionate photographer… http://silver.fotopic.net/
… there are very few pics of himself, driving on tracks. Most of the time he’s somewhere alongside the track, taking pics.
the GT rippin‘ it up in Anneau du Rhin…
different techniques are being tested…
and tell me what you want, in the end it’s because you get all the girls… 🙂
In the last few years the silver Impreza has evolved to a super weapon, that can be put on any mission, depending on where it’s currently needed.
Whether it’s a racer…
chase car …
photographers and equipment hauler…
tow car….
The GT is up to any task.
Since the car is being „used“ and actually is a daily driver, has done over 140’000km with Martin behind the wheel and never been babyed, it became a warrior.
Numerous battle scars, scratches and dents add an unmistakeable character to the scooby. Especially in our fastmoving world, where cars are changed like clothes, Martin and the GC8 prove, that the „driver-car relationship“ gets better and better over the years.
2007 in Italy…
I had the opportunity to perform a few mountain or Schwarzwald trips together with Martin and his ride, and I can tell: That guy is fast!! Especially judging my 200hp advantage over him…
In the snow, the scooby seems to be even more fun! Drifting in the white is awesome, although the GC8 is just too fast, generating hilarious amounts of grip while sideways.
The effects of underestimation sometimes come in hard…hehe
Oh I nearly forgot another great skill of Martin. He’s a strong and enduring mechanic, who never ever gives up! He is so extremely powerful, that he got the nickname Dinosaur…
For the future, Martin has some plans, which he is not yet too sure about. But it’s possible, that we’ll see him drifting in his scooby (RWD converted by then) or any other nice JDM ride.
The Speed-Industries Team has an important member and supporter that is talented in both driving and taking pictures, which is priceless. In the name of the whole team, I want to thank Martin for his great and unselfish support through the last few years!
We all hope, Martin will be part of the game for a long time…
-Chris
As this month’s theme is „drivers presentation“, let’s have a closer look at our fellow driver and gifted photographer Martin A…
When I first met Martin, during one of the ever-cool trips to the famous Schwarzwald with some friends, I thought, well just another „scooby guy“. Those guys have a rather dorky reputation, at least this was my experience. Tryin‘ to keep up with my stage 1 S13 (~200hp) on KW V3 coilovers wasn’t difficult, it was actually impossible. And when he was behind me, it looked like as if he was just fooling around and could have easily passed me on the outer side of the curve, if he wanted to. Damn, this was kind of unreal! A little later, we had a brake in a comfy little restaurant for a bite to eat. There I found, that Martin’s actually a very relaxed and friendly guy, nothing close to the spaz, braggin’ scooby boys I have got to know in the past.
Martin’s top secret special skill is „zip-tieing“ body parts…
Not that Martin, at the age of 26, only already has a lot of race track experience. He also is a gifted photographer and therefore part of the media team at Speed Industries. One might think that such a person’s profession must be based somewhere within the motorsports/cars world. But no, Martin’s just graduated Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering and continues studying for the masters degree. So when he’s not taking pics at race/drift events, playing the piano like a professional, working at the airport or blasting through the Nordschleife, he’s sitting at home studying…
But let’s head over to the actual topic, the more down to earth stuff 🙂
It all started when Martin bought his silver Subaru Impreza GT back in 2004. It was an already moderately modded ’00 GC8, sporting a larger IHI VF34 turbo, 550cc injectors, performance mapping, Brembo big brake kit and a few body panels.
Martin’s scooby in 2005…
This must have been a great time for Martin back then. I mean, what can be more fun, than owning a 300hp, 1300kg, 4WD turbo’ed Impreza in Switzerland by the age of 20?
2006 on the Flüela Pass… dirty an mean…
This was the time, when Martin earned his spurs on numerous mountain passes, which are located literally at our front door, here in Switzerland.
In the last 6 years, the sliver GC8 has seen a lot of small and also great and famous racetrack. Martin drove it on the Nordschleife, Hockenheimring, in Dijon, Zolder or Anneau du Rhin, just to name a few. As Martin is a passionate photographer… http://silver.fotopic.net/
… there are very few pics of himself, driving on tracks. Most of the time he’s somewhere alongside the track, taking pics.
the GT rippin‘ it up in Anneau du Rhin…
different techniques are being tested…
and tell me what you want, in the end it’s because you get all the girls… 🙂
In the last few years the silver Impreza has evolved to a super weapon, that can be put on any mission, depending on where it’s currently needed.
Whether it’s a racer…
chase car …
photographers and equipment hauler…
tow car….
The GT is up to any task.
Since the cars is being „used“ and actually is a daily driver, has done over 140’000km with Martin behind the wheel and has never been babyed, it has become a warrior.
Numerous battle scars, scratches and dents add an unmistakeable character to the scooby. Especially in our fastmoving world, where cars are changed like clothes, Martin and the GC8 prove, that the „driver-car relationship“ gets better and better over the years.
2007 in Italy…
I had the opportunity to perform a few mountain or Schwarzwald trips together with Martin and his ride, and I can tell: That guy is fast!! Especially judging my 200hp advantage over him…
In the snow, the scooby seems to be even more fun! Drifting in the white is awesome, although the GC8 is just too fast, generating hilarious amounts of grip while sideways.
The effects of underestimation sometimes come in hard…hehe
Oh I nearly forgot another great skill of Martin. He’s a strong and enduring mechanic, who never ever gives up! He is so extremely powerful, that he got the nickname Dinosaur…
For the future, Martin has some plans, which he is not yet too sure about. But it’s possible, that we’ll see him drifting in his scooby (RWD converted by then) or any other nice JDM ride.
The Speed-Industries Team has an important member and supporter that is talented in both driving an taking pictures, which is priceless. In the name of the whole team, I want to thank Martin for his great and unselfish support through the last few years!
We all hope, Martin will be part of the game for a long time…
-Chris