Song of the Week

Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Guy Martin Breaks Wall Of Death Record

Guy Martin has broken the Wall of Death world record.

The 34-year-old is known for his career as a motorcycle racer is the Isle of Man TT and for presenting his own show called Speed with Guy Martin. Martin completed the record with a speed of 78.15mph, after initially setting a pace of 70.33mph, on a BSA engined bitsa that he built in his own workshop. 

Guy Martin on the BSA engined bitsa

The Wall, which was purposely built for Martin's attempt, was described as something that many should fear, let alone take to it on a motorbike. "It's like a Colosseum," said Ken Fox, Martin's trainer for the stunt. "You expect to see lions and gladiators."

Martin attempted the stunt on live television and fans were amazed when he achieved success.

Guy Martin on the Wall of Death

Having trained for over a year for the record attempt that has to be postponed when he broke his back at the Ulster Grand Prix last August, Martin was obviously delighted with the successful outcome.

Bit it was back to basics for the truck mechanic the next morning. "Back to work tomorrow" he smiled. "I've got a R620 (Scania) with a headlight problem that needs sorting in the morning."

Fast Food and Sporting Sponsorships Are Cause For Concern

The increase in food industries sponsoring sporting events and sport initiatives should be a cause for concern. Students and children are the main target of fast food companies which some would consider to be morally wrong, however, the companies cover themselves by saying that they sponsor sport and encourage exercise.

A documentary series currently running on BBC Education, channel 184 on DSTV, called The Men Who Made Us Thin, investigates how exercise, dieting and the overall importance of health has been made into a business and marketing scheme.

Jacques Peretti, the host of the show and investigative reporter and filmmaker, goes all the way back to take a look at the sponsors of the 2012 London Olympics, and looks at how the world’s largest McDonalds concords next to the Olympic stadium. Peretti says, “Don’t think the irony wasn’t lost on us, watching the fittest athletes on the planet as we stuffed our faces with Cadbury's, Coke and fast food.”

The Olympic rings hang gloriously from Tower Bridge in central London

Coco-Cola, McDonalds and Cadbury are reported to have put millions of pounds into the games between them. However, we have to stop and ask the question: Why are they all food companies?

The answer is the fact that it’s not just sport. Sponsorship of food companies is everywhere. In the United States of America, sports sponsorship by food companies is bigger business than anywhere else in the world.

Joni Freetop, a specialist who works with obese patients to find non-surgical treatments, has become increasingly concerned about the connection between sport and the food industry.

He says, “Coco-Cola pays for playgrounds. McDonalds provides jerseys to kids. And yes, of course it’s about sales, but it’s not just about sales. Underlying all of these efforts, I believe, is the perpetuation of the belief that exercise causes weight loss. That ‘all of our products are safe and fine and wonderful so long as you also exercise’.”

Photo courtesy of: see link

This underlying theory refers to the Energy Balance. This implication is that if you do enough exercise, you can eat what you like.

In an interview with Joni Freetop, Jacques Peretti asked the question: Why does the food industry promote the idea of exercise, what’s in it for them besides sales?

Freetop replied with, “The obvious, of course is sales, but what’s in it for them as well, is smokescreens, for legislation. So if somebody out there suggests that perhaps we should stop allowing the sponsorship of sport, or that we should have a sugar, sweet and beverage tax, or ban advertising targeting kids with food, well they can say ‘You know what, it’s not about us, it’s exercise. Let’s focus on that!’ or the very least they can say “You know what, we’re part of the solution. We are helping by helping people to exercise!’ Because as the CEO of Pepsi once said, “If people just did what they’re supposed to, exercise, this problem wouldn’t exist.” And that’s just not true.”

Peretti then asked: What is wrong with promoting exercise even if they lose weight as a result of it? It’s still a good thing to exercise.

“Absolutely!” Freetop agreed. “There really is nothing better you can do. We need to promote exercise because of health benefits, but we have to stop telling people that it’s going to make them lose weight.”

So as a result of this idea enforced on the public, people feel bad about themselves when they do exercise and can’t lose weight.

Derek Yach, who previously ran the global health policy for PepsiCo and is now the Senior Vice President of The Vitality Group, part of Discovery Ltd where he leads the Vitality Institute for Health Promotion as Executive Director says, “I think that is an issue, I think there is this very intuitive sense that 'can we not just solve the obesity crisis by going for a couple long runs in the park. And let’s just do that, we don’t have to do much else'. And this is not a devious plot by corporations, it’s a deeply felt sense, I think, by many people out there that we can just increase our activity because the hard stuff is making fundamental changes in your diet over the long term.”

Coco-Cola accepted that they had a responsibility on both sides of the Energy Balance equation, however, they still say that if people want to maintain a healthy weight they must burn off the calories they consume. They released a statement saying that in relation to the Olympics, 73% of the drinks they sold were water, juice, smoothies or low or no calorie options. McDonalds said that they were committed to educating people on the importance of physical activity. In the UK they play an active role in local causes such as community football. Cadbury said that they sponsored the Olympics because it was the biggest UK event of that generation, and if people were to buy chocolate it made sense to buy a brand like Cadbury rather than an overseas one.

So overall, it seems that food companies were all in agreement with the fact that their product was probably not the best to have in a diet alone, however, they emphasised the fact that their consumers hold the responsibility to exercise. This, therefore, further pushes the ‘you need to exercise to lose weight’ concept on the public, whereas we know that that is not specifically the case.

Students or parents of young children are now urged to consider what message the fast food company is feeding them, rather than just what product they are buying into. Even though it can be said it’s just business, the public suffers the consequences of the ‘just business’ ideals in relation to overall health.

Therefore, consider what you eat, as it could be eating you up inside regarding how you feel about yourself at the end of the day.

Song of the Week

Hey, Soul Sister - Train

Marquez is the 5th time world champion

Marc Marquez has won the 2016 MotoGP World Championship at the Twin Ring Motegi track in Japan. This is the Spaniard’s 3rd MotoGP championship with two other in championships in both Moto3 and Moto2 under his belt.

Photo courtesy of Repsol Honda

The 23-year-old qualified second on the grid before the race, leading with a total of 248 points in the championship, 52 points ahead of Valentino Rossi and 66 points ahead of the 2015 MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez’s win was one of the most unlikely considering the battle for the championship in this season.

 Marquez had a good start which allowed him to steal the lead from Rossi before the first corner of the 2.983 mile circuit. However, by the second corner Marquez was pushed back to third position with Lorenzo in first, before overtaking Rossi in the fourth corner.

The battle for second was getting feisty between Marquez and Rossi with Marquez aggressively overtaking Rossi every opportunity he got.

Eugene Laverty crashed out on lap 22 of the 24 lap race, but caused no inconvenience to other racers.

Marquez then boldly overtook Lorenzo, showing the crowd that he was on the charge and achieving the fast lap of the race thus far with a time of 1:45.577.

On the following lap Rossi overtook Lorenzo on the same corner Marquez made his move, pushing Lorenza into third position after his extensive lead from the start.

Jack Miller was the next racer to then go down on the first corner of lap 18, his 4^th crash of the season.

Valentino Rossi was the next rider to crash on turn 10 of the track, his right leg stuck under his Factory Yamaha bike. Rossi, however with the help of marshals, was able to get up and restart the bike, re-entering the race in 19^th position. But after all the effort, Rossi pulled into the pits with some bike problems evident. The cause of the crash was just a front end of the bike wash-out, causing him to go off track and into the gravel.

Hector Barbara was the next rider to crash out of the race on lap 16.

Looking back at the championship leader board, with Rossi out of the race and with the possibility of Lorenzo finishing 5^th, Marquez fast gaining the championship. Andrea Dovizioso currently in 3^rd and Aleix Espargaro in 4^th chasing down Lorenzo.

However, with Lorenzo being battered and bruised after a horrific crash during the qualifying stage before race day in Japan, a question mark was hanging over his head wondering if he could keep up the pace as Dovizioso started closing in on the current champion.

The battle for 4^th place was then the focus during lap 17 between Espargaro and Maverick Vinales. Vinales won the battle overtaking Espargaro and grabbing the last podium position.

It was only when Lorenzo then crashed out of the race, five laps before the end of the race, that Marc Marquez’s championship win was made final.

Marquez took the win for the first time ever in Japan with a time of 42:34.610, followed by Dovizioso in second, behind by 2.992 seconds. Vinales finished in third.

This is what Marquez had to say about his win in Japan: "It's incredible! Before the race I didn't expect to be Champion, and I said that here it would be impossible. However, when I saw that Rossi was out of the race, I decided to push hard for the victory. I was riding my hardest, and when there were three laps to go, I read on my pit board that Lorenzo was also was also out; on that same lap, I made mistakes in four or five corners, as it was difficult to stay focused! I'm very happy because this title is very special considering some of the crashes I had last year, and also because it came at Motegi, Honda's home. Honda has worked so hard this year, and you could see the fruits of that effort also at this track, where we've struggled in the past. I myself also improved during the season; for instance, I learned how to better use the front Michelin tyre. It has been a demanding year, but a fantastic one. It's great for my team, and of course I don't want to forget my grandmother, who passed away this year and would be very happy with this World Championship. Now we can just enjoy it and go into the last three races with maybe a more 'Marc Marquez' style.''

When interviewed by SuperSport correspondents, Rossi said, "First of all, I would like to say that I'm OK, fortunately no problems. On the other hand, it's a shame, because I was quite strong and I had a good pace. Unfortunately, my start was not fantastic and I lost positions to Marquez and Lorenzo. After that, Marquez was a bit faster than me to overtake Lorenzo, I lost a bit more time behind Lorenzo, but the pace was good. I was able to push a lot to try and catch Marquez but unfortunately I lost the front. Sincerely, I felt nothing - not too fast, too wide or too deep - but I lost the front and logically I made a mistake."

When asked about the Australian race at Phillip Island, Marquez told crash.net that "It's fantastic to arrive at Phillip Island with no pressure for the championship as the track is one of my favourites in the calendar along with Austin and Aragon. It's so fast and flowing and you really have a lot of fun riding there. One of the main issues to take into account there is the weather. It's usually very cold during this period of the year ad always windy, something that you feel a lot, especially at the end of the final straight. You have to find a setup to make the bike as stable as possible. We'll try to win some more races before the end of the year as there are also the Constructors and the Team titles to think of."

The next MotoGP race will be held at the Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island on Sunday, 23rd of October.

Song of the Week

I Try - Macy Grey

Song of the Week

Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas