Basketball attack on Guinness/Kobayashi’s F1 return

This month, the Philippines may very well collect another Guinness World Record, this time, in its favorite sport. The country already has three current world records in different sports through the Cebu City Sports Commission, and another three in bowling via the legendary Paeng Nepomuceno. A few years ago, an attempt was made on the dribbling record. Various other records have also been held by the country in politics, business and the other natural wonder or discovery here and there.

Now, however, the target is much more challenging, and possibly dangerous: the world’s longest basketball game. The current mark is 112 hours and 13 seconds, set at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri. It is actually astounding that the Philippines doesn’t hold the record in the first place. So from March 24 to 28 at the Meralco gym, an intrepid group of young men (and one woman) will take the huge risk of playing – and living – the game.

“The rules are very specific,” says organizer Jacque Ruby of Discovery Channel. “They cannot leave the playing court. They must be visible on-camera the entire time. They will literally eat, sleep, drink and bathe basketball, hopefully, for a new unassailable record of 120 hours or six days.”

Let’s backtrack. When the event was first announced online, over 330,000 applicants volunteered, many of them foreigners. But considering the stringent physical requirements needed to set the world record, event managers had to sit through and brutally cut down the numbers. To this day organizers are still trimming down the final 30 to the final 24 with the help of Medical City. That’s right, only 24 players will set foot on the court, the standard 12 per team. More significantly, there will be no natural breaks in the game. There will be no halftime or quarter breaks. In fact, there will be no timeouts.

“The players can’t take it easy, either,” says Ruby, a former marketing executive with the Philippine Basketball Association. “As the rule states, ‘The game must be played in the spirit of the rules of sport (no substantial pauses/ discussions with umpires/referees in an attempt to gain rest and prolong the marathon.’ They can’t just walk the ball up the court, either. They have to be actively playing, there is also a score to be beaten, but the priority is the time.”

In an experiment, the final pool scored over 600 points in practice game. They will need to keep up the pace, since each team from the 2012 record-setters scored over 11,000 points. Aside from the ever-present danger of injury, there is also one other challenge. No player may commit six fouls within a two-hour period. At the end of every two hours on the clock, the foul count of each player goes back down to zero. Any mental lapse would be costly. If a player commits six fouls within a two-hour period, he must leave the game, never to return.

“The key here will be substitution,” adds Ruby. “The coaches will have to keep on rotating their players. And since the players will be sleeping next to the playing court, you could actually wake them up any time to send them into the game. The players will most likely start out excited and keep running up and down the floor. The coaches will have to manage the players’ excitement.”

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Former Ferrari driver and Caterham F1 Team new recruit, Kamui Kobayashi, warmed up for the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia by taking his first-ever drive in the legendary Caterham Seven. The Japanese, who made world sports headlines in January by spurning a new Ferrari deal by offering to drive for Caterham for free, sat behind the wheel of the most powerful production Seven ever built, the 620 R. With 310 bhp, a top speed of 155 mph and a 0-60 mph time of less than 2.8 seconds, the 620 R made its global debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year and was put through its paces by F1 fan favorite Kobayashi at Silverstone just before he traveled to Melbourne.

“It reacts exactly as I expect it to – I can control everything that is going on and it is easy to drive which, with so much power, is a surprise to me. In F1, if you take all the electronic stuff away, maybe the car does not work anymore,” Kobayashi told The Star in an e-mail. “But, with the 620R, it is pure car – you will know how to drive this car even though you have no ABS or electronics helping you. This is a great car to learn how to drive sportscars.”

After being relegated to the World Endurance Championship and F1 exhibition events, Kobayashi told fans he needed support. He was able to raise over £ 1 million in sponsorship, and made no financial demands on Caterham owner, Asian business magnateTony Fernandes, when they met in December.

“I don’t care about the money. I want to help the team,” said a grateful Kobayashi.

The 27-year old joins rookie Marcus Ericsson in his return to F1. His mission this season will be to prove that Caterham was right in giving him another chance on the world’s most prestigious driving stage.