"Is It Possible?"

Sorry for the delay. Anyways, what you just saw above was a Nike commercial spot promoting their new soccer shoe. Also featured in the commercial is the quirky, yet beautiful Bugatti Veyron. But the most intriguing aspect of the commercial is the fact that Manchester United phenom and all-around Mr. Party-guy-orgy-man Christiano Ronaldo is seen beating the French supercar in a footrace. Is this possible?

Many have quickly commented that the feat captured in the commercial is not humanly possible, and have added that the commercial was doctored to produce the end result. None-the-less, I feel that the feat captured is feasible. The Veyron's standing quarter-mile (402 meters) is about 10.2 seconds at 143mph(230 km/h). The Veyron also requires at least 2.46 seconds to from <0-60mph(97 km/h) and at least 5.5 seconds to reach 0-100 mph(161 km/h). We can assume that the distance Ronaldo is running is about 100 meters which is about 330 feet and is about the length of a soccer field. The 100 meters can be ran in about 15 seconds by your average eighth grader. Make sure you remember that after going one way Ronaldo and the Veyron stop and go back the other way.

Mathmatically results show that the Veyron is the winner and can complete a standing 100 meter dash in about 2.6 seconds and potentially finish the footrace in about 5.2 seconds, while Ronaldo finishes the footrace in a little under 30 seconds. But if you factor in elements such as Ronaldo starting a little earlier than the Veyron, Ronaldo having better traction because he was wearing cleats, the Veyron having to race on wet ashphalt(believe me, early morning in England: the ashphalt is wet!!) and the fact that the Veyron had to stop and be put in reverse. All those are also variables that contributed to Ronaldo's footrace win.

Maybe, my math is wrong, or maybe my math is too right. I don't know. I still feel that a human in peak physical form can beat a Bugatti Veyron in the particular footrace you just watched. If you have an opinion about this article or have a correction please comment, we love to hear from you...even if you're insulting my rudimentary mathematic abilities.


Linkageness:

Bugatti Veyron: www.bugatti.com
Manchester United: www.manutd.com


~Ronski