On the cusp of disaster

I've always been amazed by the skill demonstrated by rally drivers. How anyone can drive a car at such speed over such trecherous terrain is beyond me, as they dice with 100 foot drops, surging over jumps at 100mph, and scything through woodland, literally inches from disaster. They are surely a different breed; a combination of phenomenal driving skill, mental toughness, and, probably most importantly, a fearless attitude.

The best and most sorely missed was certainly Colin McRae. Whilst one can only admire the unrelenting domination of Sebastian Loeb over the last couple of years, McRae truly was something else - an entertainer, a hero, a phenomenally quick driver, probably just as famous for a succession of sensational crashes as he was for winning 27 rallies, but then, that's the cost of performing on the edge of disaster.

Here's a clip of Petter Solberg at this weekend's Rally of Turkey - you can only sit back and wonder how - or why, for that matter.

And here's a clip of how it can go horribly wrong - by Colin McRae himself.

It's great to see another British driver doing well this year and continuing our fine heritage in rallying too; Matthew Wilson's continuing to show great promise despite the fact he should be terrorising town centres in a souped-up Vauxhall Nova at his age - he's 7th this weekend in Turkey in his Dad's Ford (literally - his Dad, Malcolm, owns the Ford team).

Keep up with all the action here.

How fast?!

Two weeks is a long time in athletics, but then, it turns out, so is 9.76 seconds. Having seen Usain Bolt destroy fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell's 100m world record a fortnight ago with an astonishing time of 9.72 seconds, we were treated this week to another sprinting milestone as Dayron Robles set a new benchmark for all 110m hurdlers to be measured by, with a new record of 12.87 seconds.

It seems baffling that us humans (and by us, I'm in no way suggesting I can run a sub 10 second 100 metre race) can run this fast. It seems even more astonishing - to me, at least - that these records continue to be broken. The body will naturally impose limits as to how fast we can go, regardless of the conditions of the race or the advancements in technology - yet these sprinters seem to disregard this minor setback and go still faster. One can only ask - how? New sprinting world records are naturally greeted with widespread suspiscion these days as to whether these times that are being run are artificial representations of what sprinters can do, and it's no different this time. Given the athletics' recent tarnished history, one can't help but wonder whether drugs are taking their course.

Inevitably, there will be a point where a human body can go no faster, but as already astonishing records keep getting broken, it's hard to see when that limit will be reached. There are records that are set that you think will never be beaten - Michael Johnson's 200m, or Seb Coe's old 800m record, but it seems even those are in some danger - Coe's has already been beaten and Johnson's is in danger from that man Bolt, too.

Will sprinters ever get to a point where they can simply sit back and marvel at how fast they've gone, knowing they can travel no faster, or will we witness the first sub 1-second 100m's a few years down the line?

The two people I don't want to be right now are Asafa Powell and Liu Xiang, the previous world record holders. Imagine being that fast and not being able to call yourself the fastest man in the world! Interestingly, Powell thinks he can go faster still - he thinks he's got a sub 9.7 second 100m in him. Give over.