talksport Radio listeners nominate Guy Martin for Sports Personality of the Year alongside nine footballers. TT Racer Guy Martin has featured in the top ten for Sports Personality of the Year by Talksport Radio, the only nomination in the top ten not to come from the football world. The maverick TT Racer featured alongside football managers such as Kenny Dalglish, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ian Holloway and Harry Redknapp as well as players such as Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie, Chelsea’s David Luiz and football ‘bad boy’ Joey Barton. The vote was based on ‘personality alone’ according to the station and was won by Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli. Truck fitter Martin has enjoyed a high profile year with the BBC1 series ‘The Boat that Guy Built’ as well as a central role in TT3D: Closer to the Edge, which was released on DVD this week. Describing the popular racer, the station said: “By 'eck! Martin is the Isle of Man TT racer who sounds like a cartoon northerner, looks like a 1970s Emmerdale character with his lamb chop sideys and risks life and limb racing on the roads - a top man.” The station, the UK’s biggest national commercial sports radio station is owned by UTV and much of its content is made up of live commentaries including exclusive coverage of Barclays Premier League matches, sports phone-ins and general sports discussions. The station was officially launched as Talk Radio UK in February 1995, and was relaunched as talkSPORT in January 2000. It is transmitted on 1089 and 1053 kHz across the UK and digitally via DAB digital radio, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat and TalkTalk TV. talkSPORT attracts 3 million listeners a month and is official partner of the Barclays Premier League, official broadcaster of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the exclusive UK rights holder for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. talkSPORT's presenters include former sporting icons like Alan Brazil, Darren Gough, Stan Collymore and Eddie Irvine, as well as broadcast legends including Mike Parry, Mark Saggers and Adrian Durham. Geoff Corkish, MBE, MHK, Political Member, Isle of Man Tourism commented: “The TT Races profile is riding high again, which is good news for the event and the Island and it’s great to see Guy getting support alongside the footballers. He is helping us to attract a new group of fans.” ENDS