British road racer Guy Martin has been named in talkSPORT Radio's top-10 sports personalities for 2011; the only nomination to come from outside football.

The Lincolnshire rider 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 Joey Barton.

According to the station, the vote was based on personality alone and was won by Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.


Martin has enjoyed a high profile year with the BBC1 TV series 'The Boat that Guy Built' as well as taking on the star role in TT3D: Closer to the Edge. In racing, Martin posted four podiums for TAS Racing at the TT in June and a Superbike victory at the Ulster Grand Prix.

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. It 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.

Presenters include 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.