Martin began his rallying career in 2001 co-driving at national level in the United Kingdom. In 2004, alongside Matthew Wilson, he finished as the second-placed outright co-driver in the British Rally Championship, driving a Ford Focus RS. That result earned him a place in the MSA British Rally Elite Scheme, a specialist training program for promising young British rally talent.
His career nearly ended in 2005 when Martin was involved in a serious accident on the opening round of the British Rally Championship at the Rally of Wales and was airlifted to hospital. He recovered and, later that season, achieved his first international win on the Trackrod Rally with Wilson, and the pair also finished first at the Colin McRae Stages Rally.
In 2006 and 2007, Martin co-drove with Barry Clark in a Ford Fiesta ST, scoring competitive results in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International (FSTi) series. He also partnered Mark Higgins to third place in the FIA Production World Rally Championship in 2007.
Martin competed in the full WRC series with Matthew Wilson from 2008 through 2011, using Ford Focus RS and Ford Fiesta RS machinery. The partnership achieved seventh place in the overall WRC co-drivers' classification in both 2009 and 2011, with fourth place at Repco Rally Australia in 2011 standing as their best single-event result.
In 2013, Martin partnered Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi in a Citroen DS3 across seven WRC events, alongside five rounds of the Middle East Rally Championship where they placed second overall. By the end of that year, Martin had competed in 82 WRC rallies and ranked thirteenth in the International Rally Drivers Association co-driver standings with 2,844 points — the highest-placed British co-driver in the rankings.
In 2014, Martin teamed with Craig Breen, an Irish driver who would go on to become one of rallying's most beloved figures. The pair claimed victory at the Acropolis Rally in Greece — that year removed from the FIA championship calendar — driving a Peugeot 208 T16, and also won the Ravens Rock Rally in Ireland in a Ford Fiesta RS. Martin and Breen continued together through 2018 before their partnership concluded when Citroen reduced its rally operation to two cars and released Breen from its roster.
Martin joined M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in 2019 to co-drive with Elfyn Evans, achieving two third-place finishes as their best results that season. When Evans moved to Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in 2020, Martin followed, and the pair immediately made their mark: they won Rally Sweden and Rally Turkey in the same season, marking Martin's first WRC victories after nearly two decades in the championship.
The 2021 season confirmed the partnership's quality, delivering two more victories and five second-place finishes, a return that secured Evans a runner-up spot in the drivers' championship and gave Martin a second consecutive runner-up result in the co-drivers' standings. After a difficult 2022 campaign, the pair ended a near two-year win drought with victory at the 2023 Rally of Croatia, reaffirming their competitive credentials.
In 2025, Martin co-founded the World Rally Drivers Alliance alongside former Toyota teammate Julien Ingrassia. The organization was established in response to a change in the FIA International Sporting Code that imposed severe financial penalties on drivers and co-drivers for using profanities during sanctioned events. The formation of the alliance was triggered in part by a 10,000-euro fine levied against Adrien Fourmaux for swearing during a live broadcast interview at the 2025 Rally Sweden.
Scott Martin's career spans more than two decades at the highest level of world rallying, a testament to his consistency and adaptability across multiple partnerships and machinery. Having started as a national-level co-driver in the United Kingdom and worked his way through the British Rally Elite Scheme, he developed into one of the sport's most dependable and respected navigators. His partnership with Elfyn Evans has produced multiple WRC victories and sustained championship-level performances, placing him among the leading co-drivers of his generation.