Markko Märtin

Lore & Background

Märtin rose to prominence with the Ford World Rally Team in the 2002 season as understudy to Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. He won the Acropolis Rally Greece in 2003, the Neste Rally Finland that same year, and the inaugural Corona Rally Mexico in 2004. He also won the tarmac rallies of Corsica and Catalunya in 2004. For 2005, he moved to Peugeot. On the final leg of the Wales Rally Great Britain, his Peugeot crashed into a tree, killing co-driver Michael Park. Märtin was unhurt and pulled out of the last four events of the 2005 season. He made a limited return in March 2006 at the Rally of Portugal, competing in a Subaru Impreza, co-driven by David Senior. He also partook in the 2006 Danish Touring Car Championship. He became the official test driver for Subaru in 2008 and later test-drove for Ford and Mini. In 2009, he was hired by Ford as a R&D factory driver and helped train Ken Block. In 2010, he raced in Rally Estonia, driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 03 and winning all twelve stages.

Reader's Guide

Märtin's career highlights include multiple WRC victories with Ford, his move to Peugeot in 2005, and the tragic death of his co-driver Michael Park. After leaving the WRC, he managed a junior rally team in Estonia, made a limited return in a Subaru Impreza at the 2006 Rally of Portugal, and later worked as a test driver for Subaru, Ford, and Mini. He also raced in the 2006 Danish Touring Car Championship and won the 2010 Rally Estonia.

Did You Know?

• Märtin was the third driver in WRC history to break the Nordic stranglehold on the Neste Rally Finland.
• He was in the car when Richard Burns collapsed at the wheel on a UK motorway and managed to steer to the hard shoulder.
• Märtin lives in Monaco with Mari-Liis Sallo, Miss Model Estonia 2004, and they have a child born in summer 2007.
• He appeared in the 2019 documentary 'Ott Tänak: The Movie' and the 2023 film 'Legends of the Winding Roads'.