Martin Gelder died of stomach cancer today.
We understand that Martin had recently sufferred with stomach pain whilst on a Morini outing in Spain. On his return he cancelled several engagements including the Oschersleben WEC / 4 hrs classic weekend. After persistant pain, he sought medical advice but died shortly afterwards.
We last saw Martin at Donington Park at the 4hrs classic weekend in early May. He was then in good spirits and enjoyed some high quality time with a lot of old friends.
Martin will be fondly remembered by hundreds of Phase One Endurance team members, riders, friends and supporters alike.
Martin started his support for our team by helping in the workshop in the early 1990s, quickly progressing to handling the team's PR, via the Phase One Endurance website and Race 24.
He will be remembered by most for being ever present at all of the World Endurance Events for a ten year period and providing in depth reportage and high quality images, from Suzuka to Le Mans, where no others were available. More recently Martin gave his support to the growing band of classic endurance race followers.
Martin's genuine enthusiasm for motorcycle endurance racing (proper racing as he would say), combined with his photography and IT skills, brought this branch of motorsport to thousands who would otherwise have been unconnected, particularly after each event.
Martin's legacy, via Race24 and its blog, includes the near single -handed creation and nurturing of a whole community that was previously unconnected and for that we thank him.
At Phase One Endurance we shall remember him as a superb motorcycle photo journalist, a true friend of the team and most importantly, a genuinely nice chap.
Our sympathies are with Martin's family and friends.
Russell Benney
We shall publish funeral details when we become aware of them.
Pictures by Lida van Ham
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