GUMBALL 3000 CELEBRATES ITS "10th ANNIVERSARY RALLY"

San Francisco to the Beijing Olympics, August 9-16, 2008

LONDON, ENGLAND (June 17, 2008) — Superstars and supercars converge on San Francisco, Saturday, August 9 for the "10th Anniversary" Gumball 3000 Rally. 120 of the most amazing cars, driven by film stars, musicians, sports stars, billionaires, and the cast of "Jackass," will set on an incredible eight-day drive to the Beijing Olympics - incorporating one night in North Korea. This ladies and gentlemen is Gumball 3000 - and is certain to be nothing short of spectacular.

From San Francisco, the 3000 mile route incorporates overnight stops in Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas, with VIP parties each night. Upon reaching Las Vegas, all participants will be flown directly to Pyongyang, North Korea, to spend an unprecedented night in this undiscovered city to watch the incredible 'Mass Games' (their spectacular annual display of arts and sport) as part of a global "friendship" initiative. (And you thought Gumball was just another Cannonball Run - this one's more likely to get the Nobel Peace Prize than Burt Reynold's version - that's for sure!)

Following the Mass Games and the "first ever" western music performance in Pyongyang promoting peace and friendship, all participants will be flown on to Hangzhou, China to be reunited with their vehicles. From there the Rally then heads north to Shanghai and Xuzhou, before crossing the finish line in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Saturday, August 16, just in time for the Gumballers to watch a week of Olympic finals.

Entrants already include David Hasselhoff driving the legendary K.I.T.T. car from Knight Rider, famous drummer Travis Barker, MTV's Rob Dyrdek (Rob & Big) in a fully customized '69 Camaro as well as Johnny Knoxville and the rest of the "Jackass" guys...driving everything from Ferrari Enzos to Bugatti Veyrons, Rolls Royces, old Cadillacs, low riders and even a few electric cars. This rally is nothing short of stunning - closing city streets and boulevards throughout the entire route to make it Gumball's most spectacular event to date.

For more information go to www.gumball3000.com bringing you the latest news, reviews, videos, products and celebrity blogs - the social network for the Gumball generation; incorporating art, apparel, music, films, events, street culture and everything automotive.

About Gumball 3000
The first Gumball 3000 took place in April 1999, when British creator Maximillion Cooper invited 50 of his friends to take part in a 3000-mile party around Europe to bring together the music, film, fashion and sport industries. Ten years later, and things have certainly grown, with crowds of more than a million people attending the start last year in London, and a televised and online audience that reached more than 60 million in more than 150 countries around the world.

Gumball 3000 consistently hits the headlines as "Cool Britannia's" most unique addition to pop culture, described by Vanity Fair Magazine as "the most rock 'n' roll car rally ever staged" and famed for its exploits and celebrity participation. The event annually attracts stars including Oscar-winning star of the "Pianist" Adrien Brody, "Jackass's" Johnny Knoxville, Hugh Hefner, supermodels Jodie Kidd and Caprice, "Kill Bill's" Daryl Hannah, action sports legends Tony Hawk, Matt Hoffman, Carey Hart, and rock stars including Snoop Dogg, Blink 182, 50 Cent, The Fun Lovin' Criminals, The Happy Mondays, Placebo, Jamiroquai and even Ms. Minogue.

Incorporating a new 3000-mile route each year, the attraction of the Gumball transcends social barriers, appealing to the adventurer in everyone, regardless of status or wealth; combining grease, glamour and guts in equal measures, stretching the experiences of travel and entertainment - just that bit further. Over the past nine years, Gumball 3000 has been hosted by kings and presidents, partied with Snoop Dogg, appeared on the "Jay Leno Show," raised awareness for testicular cancer, chartered the world's three largest aircrafts, created untold amount of "Jackass's" fuelled mayhem, hung out at Hugh Hefner's mansion, and most recently has been invited to work with the United Nations, all through the language of the motor car.

# # #

Gumball 2008 press release from Max 19th February 2008

The dates and route of the "10th Anniversary" Gumball 3000 Rally are officially announced.

The Gumball 2008 will take place in August this year starting in San Francisco and finishing 8 days later in China at the Beijing Olympics. Dates of the rally are August 9th-16th 2008.

Being the 10th anniversary this route is nothing short of spectacular, and ground breaking to say the least! Setting off from San Francisco, the Gumball 2008 route incorporates Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas, with checkpoints each day and VIP parties each night. From Las Vegas all 120 vehicles (low-riders to supercars) will be flown on 3 of the worlds largest Antonov Cargo Planes to Nanjing, China; and all participants will get to experience an unprecedented 1 night in North Korea as part of a global 'friendship' initiative, getting to watch the Mass Games (their version of the Olympics) en route to rejoin their cars in Nanjing. From Nanjing the Gumball 2008 route heads north to Shanghai and then Xuzhou, before crossing the Gumball 2008 finish line in Beijing during the Olympic Games.

Gumball 2008 entry fee is £60.000 (90.000 euro or 120.000 dollars) per car (2 people) and of course includes everything throughout the 8 days, incl. hotels, parties, flying the cars around etc...and tickets to the Olympics.

The clock is now counting down to the launch of Gumball's completely new website that goes live on April 1st. The new site will represent all elements of the 'Gumball 3000″ lifestyle, incorporating a social network to bring fans all over the world together, along with a user generated videos section (so you can show us what you get up to), as well as celebrity blogs, and a fully loaded store with the new Gumball 3000 Apparel Collection, and a Gumball Cars 'for Sale' section to advertise your classic, super or daily run around to the masses!

Along with daily news, and everything you'll ever need to know about the rally and everything automotive, the site will also cover everything else that we love, including news and reviews on music, films, sports, sneakers, street art and entertainment.

Maximillion Cooper

'Gumball 2008 Announcement!'

To celebrate Gumball 3000's 10th Anniversary rally, in 2008 we are embarking upon creating the ultimate rally of the future from San Francisco to Beijing incorporating a true once in a lifetime (no cars) check point in North Korea !!!!!

The eight-day 3000-mile route will embrace the contrasting cultures of the east and west, whilst also uniting over 40 nationalities of participants taking part, and truly benchmarking itself at the forefront of partying, exploring, and the promotion of eco friendly transportation. 120 of the worlds most amazing vehicles will participate, and as well as the usual display of stunning supercars, the 2008 Gumball will also showcase and encourage vehicles pushing the technological boundaries to create an environmentally friendly and safer future.

Having pro actively supported the use of 'green' fuels for the past 4 years, highlighted by film star Daryl Hannah participating in 2005 using only 100% bio-diesel, and a Peterbilt Truck using only potato oil from San Francisco to Miami in 2003, along with numerous other bio-diesel, electric and hybrids taking part. In 2008 Gumball has made the decision to become completely carbon neutral, and will offset its complete carbon footprint made by the participating supercars and aeroplane transportation, as well as promoting and encouraging the use of as many environmentally friendly futuristic vehicles using fuel cells, hydrogen, batteries and other sustainable technologies.

This will be the ultimate adventure and clashes of culture, following partying in San Diego, the rally will set off in front of millions driving via Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas visiting several world renown race tracks along the way. Then after partying in Vegas all the cars will then be flown in our Russian cargo planes to Shanghai. Whilst the drivers make their journey to North Korea's undiscovered stunning capital, Pyongyang, to watch next years 'Mass Games' inside the insane May Day 'gold plated' 250,000 seater stadium as VIP guests of the North Korean Government. This will be a sight in itself. Though that is not all, once we get back in our drivers seats in Shanghai we will make a 2 day journey to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Following this years accident, we've had a long and hard think about how to positively amend and adapt the concept of the rally without stifling its unique freedom of spirit, concept and adventurous characteristics, whilst continuing to make it ground breaking in its cultural diversity, as well as keeping its multi national and diverse demographical appeal; and of course doing what we can to make it as safe as possible, exploring numerous ways of setting up precautions that can offer both participants, sponsors and the public confidence that the odds against such an accident happening again are decreased, whilst also trying to assure that the Gumballers and fans can enjoy the individual spirit, eccentricity, glamour, fun and adventure that has become integral with Gumball over its successful nine year history.

With that in mind, I believe that we have come up with a route and concept that will be both politically, geographically and environmentally ground breaking; and as well as incorporating some of the most influential and culturally diverse cities of the world, with shorter drives and even better parties, the event will also be 100% carbon neutral, and a platform for automotive manufacturers to showcase their futuristic environmentally friendly vehicles.

Unfortunately with only 100 limited exclusive places on the grid, its going to be inevitable that many people wont be able to take part - so please inform us as soon as possible if you'd like to, so we can cater to past 'Gumballer alumni' before we let newcomers onto the grid. As you can imagine, this route will appeal to people all over the world that would perhaps have never thought to do a rally previously, as this will be the first time in history that members of all nations will be allowed to visit and party in North Korea!

I hope this has wet your appetite for adventure - and as mentioned more details will follow at the end of this month. The date is still tbc - although it's scheduled to take place later than normal in the late summer (mid August) to coincide with the 'Mass Games' and the Beijing Olympic Games.

The cost of the 2008 Tenth Anniversary Rally is £60,000 (£50,000 for Gumballers) which includes all flights (for both you and your vehicle), 5 star Accomodation, Food and Incredible parties during the period of the Rally.

Gumball 3000 pilot Nick Morley speaks to the Manchester Evening News regarding the infamous accident, his release on bail, his subsequent re-incarceration and his trial. He also mentions that an appeal to clear his name is to be filed shortly. – Davey G. Johnson

Gumball driver: I'm no playboy [Manchester Evening News, UK via Team Polizei]

Related:
Nick Morley Convicted in Gumball Crash, Gets Suspended Sentence [Internal]

When we were on the Gumball a month and a half ago, founder Maximillion Cooper showed up driving an XJ220 wrapped in flat black vinyl with gold-wrapped wheels. On one hand, we were flabbergasted, having never actually seen one in real life. We were also rather flummoxed at how cheap the thing seemed. We would have loved to have checked out the twin-turbo, over-200-mph V6 supercar sans covering. Here's a trip back in time, back to when the XJ was still officially the fastest car in the world. Tiff Needell wrings it out. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Long Live the Replicants: Proteus to Build a Jag C-Type Coupe [Internal]

The Morley family has a released a statement of facts regarding the Macedonian trial of Nicholas Morley, which seems to jibe with what we've sussed ourselves about what went down the day before the 2007 Gumball 3000 came apart at the seams. According to the original accident investigator on the scene, as well as an investigator from nonprofit British organization TRL, Morley was traveling at or under 47 mph and would have had 1.6 seconds in which to stop from the point that Vladimir Cepuljoski pulled out in front of his Porsche. The full statement after the jump.

The initial accident investigation was carried out by a professional Macedonian investigator. His findings were reviewed and confirmed by Dr Richard Lambourn, an established expert in the field.
Dr Lambourn was an accident reconstruction specialist at the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory for 23 years (1973-1996) and is currently a principal consultant at TRL, an independent, not-for-profit transport research firm and consultancy. It was the firm that reconstructed the car crash that caused the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The cause of the crash was a second vehicle pulling out of a minor road without warning and into Nicholas's path. The cause of the crash has not been disputed by the prosecution.

According to the defence expert witnesses, Nicholas had 1.6 seconds to respond to the second car's sudden appearance, causing him to react reflexively and swerve violently to the left. The defence experts concluded that the accident would have been unavoidable at 30mph (50kph).

The court declined to hear the evidence of the defence expert witnesses, although the testimony of the prosecution expert witness was heard.

Macedonia is party to the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 6 of which provides a detailed right to a fair trial. Under the Macedonian Criminal Code, the defence has a right to submit evidence.

The prosecution's accident investigator is not a professional in this field. He admitted in court that he is currently unemployed. He further admitted in court that the police sketch of the crash site on which he based his findings is inaccurate.

Dr Lambourn concluded that the accident investigation report relied on by the prosecution is "fundamentally flawed in its physical and mathematical reasoning." He further concluded that it was "quite impossible" that Nicholas's car was travelling at the 100mph (161kph) alleged by the prosecution.

The family of the Mr and Mrs Cepunjoski, who were tragically killed in the crash, have called for the court to release Nicholas.

Following the accident, Nicholas and his passenger, Matthew McConville, attempted to disentangle the vehicles and offer what assistance they could. They only left the scene after the injured persons had left the scene in local vehicles. Nicholas and Matthew then travelled to the border to alert the police.

Nicholas Morley and Matthew McConville spoke to the investigating judge at Qafasan, on the Macedonia/Albania border.

Nicholas Morley did not try to flee the country. He was released on bail, with no conditions or restrictions attached. He was free to leave the country.

Nicholas Morley, 30, is not a millionaire; he does not work in property.

Morley Family Gumball Accident Statement of Facts [Team Polizei]

Related:
Nick Morley Convicted in Gumball Crash, Gets Suspended Sentence; Trial Of Gumball 3000 Driver Expected To Wrap Up Today; Gumball 3000 Driver Forgiven by Victims' Family; Gumball 3000 Death Trial to Begin Friday; Fast As a Shark: East of Eden: The Fall of the Gumball 3000; Morley Released On Bail, Tries To Flee Macedonia In Private Jet, Arrested Again; Gumballers Nick Morley And Matthew McConville Arrested After Hit-And-Run Fatality [Internal]

After an excruciating month during which simple human tragedy clashed with hyper-sensationalism, political posturing, class warfare and judicial process, the Nick Morley Gumball 3000 crash saga is nearing a resolution. According to Alex Roy of Team Polizei, a court in Macedonia has found British Gumball driver Morley culpable in the deaths of an elderly couple killed in the crash. But in a stomach-churning turn of events, Morley will be released on a suspended sentence. There are too many lessons to be learned from this incident to list here. Maybe it's enough just to close the book and move on. – Mike Spinelli

Gumball Crash Driver Nick Morley To Be Released, but... [Team Polizei 144]

Trial Of Gumball 3000 Driver Expected To Wrap Up Today; Gumball 3000 Driver Forgiven by Victims' Family; Gumball 3000 Death Trial to Begin Friday; Morley Released On Bail, Tries To Flee Macedonia In Private Jet, Arrested Again; Dumball 3000 Claims Second Life! [internal]

"creating the ultimate rally of the future from New York to Tokyo incorporating a true once in a lifetime check point in North Korea!!!!!"

"everyone will then be flown...to North Korea's undiscovered stunning capital, Pyongyang, to watch next years 'Mass Games' inside the insane May Day 'gold plated' 250,000 seater stadium as VIP guests of the North Korean Government. This will be a sight in itself - think 'Team America', but this is real!"

"a final note; on behalf of all Gumballers we would like to give our support ot theMorley family in this differcult time and wish them a happy out come."

> Thursday, June 7, 2007

> 'Gumball St. Tropez Reunion Party & 2008 Announcement!'

> Dear Gumballers,

> It's been a little over a month now since this years Gumball Rally sadly came to an abrupt end in Bratislava following the unfortunate accident. We are continuing to pay our respects to the families involved, and we are in the process of setting up a fund - however, the authorities have asked we that do not promote this fact, especially before they have concluded with the court case, as they fear that it would be incorrect protocol. Following its conclusion we will be emailing you details of how to contribute to this fund if you feel inclined, and we appreciate all the kind offers we have already received.

> Its been an interesting month here at Gumball HQ dealing with the onslaught of media attention, that has thankfully now changed its tune once again and has overwhelming decided that Gumball is a 'good thing' and that we must go on to make next years event even bigger, better and of course safer than ever before. Strangely, we've never had more people wanting to enter the rally, and the authorities are also being incredibly supportive, and offering Gumball even more support. We've been told the expression for this reaction is now known as the 'Kate Moss' effect! So the old adage that - 'all press is good press', is certainly ringing true, albeit under the sad circumstances. Following such an amazing public turn out this year to watch the rally start, and with hundreds of thousands of fans lining the streets throughout the route its evidently time for us to step things up once again to yet another level in the future.

So, with next year being our "10th Anniversary", one thing is certain, that it will take the Gumball experience to the next level and undoubtedly path the way for the future. We've been working on this one for the past 2 years, and at the end of the month we'll be sending everyone that's ever participated in the Gumball (all 2000 of you) a personal invitation to participate, along with full details.

However, after my traditional 'red herring' of suggested routes following each year's rally, here's what's happening next year:

To celebrate Gumball 3000's 10th Anniversary rally, in 2008 we are embarking upon creating the ultimate rally of the future from New York to Tokyoincorporating a true once in a lifetime check point in North Korea!!!!!

The eight-day 3000-mile route will embrace the contrasting cultures of the east and west, whilst also uniting over 40 nationalities of participants taking part, and truly benchmarking itself at the forefront of partying, exploring, and the promotion of eco friendly transportation. 120 of the worlds most amazing vehicles will participate, and as well as the usual display of stunning supercars, the 2008 Gumball will also showcase and encourage vehicles pushing the technological boundaries to create an environmentally friendly and safer future.
>
>
> Having pro actively supported the use of 'green' fuels for the past 4 years,
> highlighted by film star Daryl Hannah participating in 2005 using only 100%
> bio-diesel, and a Peterbilt Truck using only potato oil from San Francisco to
> Miami in 2003, along with numerous other bio-diesel, electric and hybrids
> taking part. In 2008 Gumball has made the decision to become completely carbon
> neutral, and will offset its complete carbon footprint made by the
> participating supercars and aeroplane transportation, as well as promoting and
> encouraging the use of as many environmentally friendly futuristic vehicles
> using fuel cells, hydrogen, batteries and other sustainable technologies.
>
>
> This will be the ultimate adventure and clashes of culture, following partying
> in NY, the rally will set off infront of millions driving via Washington DC to
> race at Daytona and onto Miami. Then after partying on South Beach everyone
> will then be flown in our Russian cargo planes to North Korea's undiscovered
> stunning capital, Pyongyang, to watch next years 'Mass Games' inside the
> insane May Day 'gold plated' 250,000 seater stadium as
> VIP guests of the North Korean Government. This will be a sight in itself -
> think 'Team America', but this is real!
>
>
> Following this years accident, we've had a long and hard think about how to
> positively amend and adapt the concept of the rally without stifling its
> unique freedom of spirit, concept and adventurous characteristics, whilst
> continuing to make it ground breaking in its cultural diversity, as well as
> keeping its multi national and diverse demographical appeal; and of course
> doing what we can to make it as safe as possible, exploring numerous ways of
> setting up precautions that can offer both participants, sponsors and the
> public confidence that the odds against such an accident happening again are
> decreased, whilst also trying to assure that the Gumballers and fans can enjoy
> the individual spirit, eccentricity, glamour, fun and adventure that has
> become integral with Gumball over its successful nine year history.
>
>
> With that in mind, I believe that we have come up with a route and concept
> that will be both politically, geographically and environmentally ground
> breaking; and as well as incorporating some of the most influential and
> culturally diverse cities of the world, with shorter drives and even better
> parties, the event will also be 100% carbon neutral, and a platform for
> automotive manufacturers to showcase their futuristic environmentally friendly
> vehicles.
>
>
> Unfortunately with only 100 limited exclusive places on the grid, its going to
> be inevitable that many people wont be able to take part - so please inform us
> as soon as possible if you'd like to, so we can cater to past 'Gumballer
> alumni' before we let newcomers onto the grid. As you can imagine, this route
> will appeal to people all over the world that would perhaps have never thought
> to do a rally previously, as this will be the first time in history that
> members of all nations will be allowed to visit and party in North Korea!
>
>
> I hope this has whet your appetite for adventure - and as mentioned more
> details will follow at the end of this month along with your formal
> invitation. The date is still tbc - although it's scheduled to take place
> later than normal in the late summer to coincide with the 'Mass Games' - so
> put your name down now if you are up for it.
>
>
> So, with an exciting future and an anniversary to celebrate, we're going to
> kick things off with a party at the end of this month in St. Tropez on
> Saturday June 30th. It's a chance to relax and party at the Crystal Beach Club
> - St. Tropez' newest 'hot spot!'
>
>
> During the day we'll be laying on food and drinks on the beach, and hosting a
> prize giving ceremony for this years' Gumballers to receive their awards for
> participating. All Gumballers are invited - old and new - so come and party
> and see who wins this years somewhat subdued 'Spirit of the Gumball trophy!'
> From the beach, the party will continue through the night, at St. Tropez
> coolest 'VIP' nightclub.
>
>
> We've arranged our own Gumball Concierge in St Tropez for the weekend, to look
> after your every need - see below for details. It's a great chance to meet
> Gumballers old and new and catch up on tales of this years rally - and talk
> about next years' extravaganza! Please call the HQ and confirm with either
> myself, Samar, Jonny, Alex or Julie if you are planning to head down there. We
> really look forward to partying with you away from the stress of the past
> month.
>
>
> Cheers to the future!
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
> M
>
>
>
>
> Maximillion Cooper
> Founder & CEO
> The Gumball 3000 Group
>
>
> Watch the trailer of the latest Gumball film '3000 Miles' starring MTV's
> Jackass stars Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn, along with skateboard legends Tony
> Hawk, Mike Vallely and Rooftop Escamilla! Released on DVD April 23rd..."3000
> miles of pure hell fanfare!"
>
>
>
>
> For St. Tropez Concierge:
>
>
> Please call Jean Louison +33 680 336716.
>
>
> As you can imaging all the hotels are very busy, but for last minute options
> so we have rooms reserved for you at:
>
> La Romarine ***- http://www.hotel-laromarine.net
> villas for 4 guests each, 490€ per night
> per villa.
>
> Hotel Chamerops ***- http://www.villa-chamerops.com
> double/twin bedroom, 382€ per night.
>
>
> Jean Louis will also be able to sort out any other requirements for you have
> whilst in St Tropez. On the Sunday there is a selection of things going on,
> from The St Tropez International Polo Cup, to just messing around on Super
> yachts.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> a final note; on behalf of all Gumballers we would like to give our support ot
> theMorley family in this differcult time and wish them a happy out come.

Related:
Gumballers Nick Morley And Matthew McConville Arrested After Hit-And-Run Fatality; Morley Released On Bail, Tries To Flee Macedonia In Private Jet, Arrested Again; Fast as a Shark: East of Eden: The Fall of the Gumball 3000; Gumball 3000 Death Trial to Begin Friday; Gumball 3000 Driver Forgiven by Victims' Family; Trial Of Gumball 3000 Driver Expected To Wrap Up Today [internal]

"Court's expert Mile Popovski, whose report served as a basis for the indictment, reiterated his findings that Morley exceeded the prescribed speed limit thus causing the accident in which Chepunjoski spouses were killed.

Court's expert reiterated that Morley was speeding his Porsche with 161,1 km/h and crashed with 158 km/h into the Chepunjoski's Golf that had already entered the left lane of the Struga-Qafasan local road with 70 percent of its length. After sighting the Golf at 88 meters of distance, the Porsche's driver failed to hit the brakes but turned to the left and collided with the Golf, said Popovski, a traffic engineer commissioned by the Struga District Court to compose a report on the traffic accident that occurred 2 May near Struga."

"The reports of the independent expert Vinko Gaica and of British company TRL Limited, non-compliant with the one composed by Mile Popovski, say that Morley's Porsche was moving with 70 to 76 km/h and the Golf failed to halt at the STOP sign before entering the main road from a byroad.

Morley's defense had several remarks on the Popovski's manner of conducting the forensics procedure. They complained that the speed at which Golf had been moving was not taken into consideration when calculating that of the Porsche, and that Popovski's reconstruction outline was incompliant with the actual situation."

Opposing forensics reports confronted at Morley's trial [makfax online]

Related:
Gumballers Nick Morley And Matthew McConville Arrested After Hit-And-Run Fatality; Morley Released On Bail, Tries To Flee Macedonia In Private Jet, Arrested Again; Fast as a Shark: East of Eden: The Fall of the Gumball 3000; Gumball 3000 Death Trial to Begin Friday; Gumball 3000 Driver Forgiven by Victims' Family [internal]

The UK's Daily Mail is reporting, with typical Fleet Street flair, that the Cepuljoski family has forgiven Gumball 3000 participant Nicholas Morley, who as y'all likely recall, crashed into a MkII Golf driven by Vladimir Cepuljoski that had pulled out in front of his TechArt Porsche 911, resulting in the death of Cepuljoski and his wife. According to a statement released by the family during Morley's trial:

"We ask this court to release young Nicholas. It was ill-fate that made our son and father make that fatal mistake and join the main road without stopping his vehicle. We have experienced a terrible tragedy, but we feel that it would be another tragedy to keep this young man in prison. We think he has suffered enough and his conviction would offer no comfort to our grief."

Let death race Briton go, says victims' family [Daily Mail, UK via Team Polizei]

Related:
Fast as a Shark: East of Eden: The Fall of the Gumball 3000 [Internal]

The trial of Gumball 3000 pilots Nick Morley and Matthew McConville regarding the deaths of two Macedonians during the Athens-to-Tirana stage of the rally begins Friday. If convicted, they face at least four years in a Macedon hoosegow. We'd be fascinated to see what the difference in penalty would have been if the pair hadn't twice tried to flee the country. – Davey G. Johnson

Trial of Briton Nicholas Morley Opens Friday [Makfax vesnik via Team Polizei]

Related:
European Authorities to Crack Down on Rallying [Internal]

Following the death of a Macedonian couple earlier this month on the Gumball 3000, European cops are urging a ban on Gumball 3000, Carbon Black and Cannonball Europe. Tispol-affiliated officers plan to share information about the rallies and their routes with each other in order to stop the events, much in the way German Police officers halted the Gumball in Germany. It'll be interesting to see what effect the coordinated effort has on this summer's Cannonball, scheduled for July, as well as its impact on rallies run in the United States. If we needed any more evidence that the Golden Age of Rallying is kaput, Tispol's clampdown is it. – Davey G. Johnson

Police seek ban after Gumball Rally deaths [Times, UK via Team Polizei]

Related:
Fast as a Shark: East of Eden: The Fall of the Gumball 3000 [Internal]

On Tuesday, our resident Empire Stater sat down with everyone's favorite Teutonic village person to chat about the difference between a rally and a transcontinental record attempt. Today FastLane Daily's got part two of their conversations, where Alex talks about the problems with irrefutably proving that one has travelled from New York to Los Angeles faster than anyone else, as well as the impact of accidents like the one on the Gumball 3000 on road rallies in general.

Related:
It's Not a Rally, It's a Race: Spinelli Chats With Alex Roy Regarding Transcon Hijinks [Internal]

Coming out of Albania after the notorious Commander Kokolari escort incident, Michael Ross put the hammer to the floor of the Polizei M5 and took us down toward the Adriatic, which may well have been the most breathtaking bit of a trip full of face-melting, soul-widdling vistas. Coming into the city of Budva, a 2,500 year-old-burg on the coast, Mister Ross was laying on the throttle while Herr Roy alternated through horn, emergency lights, siren and navigation duties. Then the cops showed up.

The officer was nonplussed and wasn't particularly well-versed in English. But what he did know is that an Yank and a Brit dressed as Italian highway patrolmen driving a seven-year-old German performance sedan with a large dent in the roof and Adidas stripes on the side simply didn't add up. Ross calmly informed the officer that we weren't cops and weren't claiming to be officers of the law; that we were raising money for a charity benefiting the London Metropolitan Police (which was actually true, if a bit of a stretch). Unswayed by Ross' calm demeanor, he ordered Roy into his B.O.-stanky VW Golf, put his fellow officer in our shotgun seat and told Ross to follow him to the station.

On the way, in the thick of Budva traffic, we ran across a few other Gumballers. The officer attempted to interdict them, but two cars simply ignored his order, while the Russian couple in the M6 who'd picked up Morley and McConville the day before in Macedonia followed his directions and came to the station with us. Note that at the time, we had no idea that these two had anything to do with the Macedonian situation, so scattered and rumor-laden was the communication.

Once we arrived, they took our passports and forced us to stand around in the cop shop's foyer for around an hour and a half. They used police report forms for toilet-seat covers. The Montenegrin men seemed disturbed by the Polizei crew's leggings. I was mostly thankful that their jackets were long. The Russians grew impatient and finally asked why they were being held when they hadn't been charged with anything and obviously weren't driving a fake BMW police car, which is what had been reported.

Then Alex hit upon the strategy of proving that plenty of cars on the rally were fake police cars. He showed the officers Ross' Bentley from the '06 Gumball, the Polizia Stradale Intercettore in RCMP and Guardia Civil livery, the Polizei CL he'd contested on the Bullrun and in a masterstroke, the M5 shot a few days before at the Hahn airport with a couple of genuine German Polizei Mercs. Ross stifled a "They were very authentic," which was a good thing, given that I was curling my toes trying to stifle guffaws.

Apparently, Ross and I played it off okay, because with that, the chief, who came across like practically every gruff elder statesman of a podunk station ever portrayed told us to lay off the lights and let us go. We hit Croatia soon after. It was time to turn on the radar detector. It was also the next-to-last fun moment we had on the rally. What had begun with the Polizei roadblock in Hahn was all about to come undone in the next twelve hours. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
">Travels With Commander Kokolari; More on the Gumball 3000 [Internal]

For once on the Gumball, I woke up in a bed. After a long day's journey into night and Athens, Herr Roy decided he wanted to be as close as possible to the M5 and booked a block of rooms at the Sofitel in Athens, rather than taking his room at the Hilton. A French cameraman was booked into the M5 for the day, riding rear-seat shotgun next to a spare wheel and Ross and Roy's excess baggage. Alex texted me to invite me down for breakfast with Fly and Jarod DeAnda. The morning was quiet and jovial, highlighted by Alex and I engaging in an impromptu game of Star Wars trivia one-upmanship that left Fly and Jarod gobsmacked at the sheer geekery. Then the text came in: the cars were ready to go.

We bolted for the rooms to pack. Alex had been requested to take Julie D., the on-the-ground French go-to girl to Tirana for a meeting with the Albanian president, who was reportedly hopping mad about the rally's delay. Then word came down that there was only one sheet of paper to get the non-EU cars out of Greece and into Macedonia. Julie was shuffled into another car. I ended up in a Sharan for the second day in a row. Most of the cars had fled the parking lot by the time we figured out how to divide up all of the gear in the Sharans to accomodate the necessary five passengers in each vehicle. I ended up with a snowboard for an armrest.

Meanwhile, a lone F430 sat in the parking lot, having been offloaded from the Antonov and parked, but missing its crew. They showed up right as we departed and followed us to the nearest Shell station, where we loaded up on goods and engaged in the first battle of what became known as Crewball 3000, making sure we found and pulled into the first diesel pump available.

At the fuel stop, I got to know the crew, headed by Nelson, a level-headed, no-bullshit Kiwi who'd owned multiple Mitsubishi Evos. We quickly dubbed the rest of the guys in the car Mandela, Ricky and Lord, while I ended up with the appelation of Horatio. Little did we know that a few hours later, our Crewball successes would be rendered as unfortunate as the Battle of Trafalgar was for the famed British Admiral.

With the Fezza guys in tow, we promptly got lost on our way to the tollway, but eventually figured out what we thought was roughly the right direction to Tirana. Meanwhile, the Ferrari guys had decided we were complete tools and went their own way. Pulling up a tollboth, we asked the super-pretty attendant with the tiny little diamond stud in her nose and the bright blue eyes how to get to Albania. She told us Exit 8 was the way to go, and we put our faith in that hottest toll attendant in recorded history. She did us proud, and once out of Athens we pushed the Sharan to 1.23 Fly, marvelling at the rolling, well-maintained roads with long sweepers, gradual-but-dramatic elevation changes, and simply brain-melting scenery. We all remarked that it was absolute supercar heaven; the perfect place to wring out an SLR or a Ford GT.

A couple of hours out of Athens, Nelson called out "Chivvy!" I didn't get what he was talking about. "The orange Chivvy!" he repeated. We'd come up on the '55 Chevrolet rolling on meth-addled Center Lines. We went by them as they cruised at a steady 80, taking it easy due to cooling problems. Just ahead, we pulled up behind a Mercedes SLR and a Carrera GT that would suffer an untimely end on the road to Bratislava. We relieved ourselves on the side of the road, shared some smokes and in due time, a certained mid-engined child of Enzo rolled up. The look on their faces was crestfallen. They couldn't believe that a Volkswagen people-carrier built in Portugal, loaded down with five corndogs and a ton of gear could have possibly been ahead of their Maranello-crafted machine of the highest order.

We, on the other hand, couldn't believe those schmoes were so entirely inept at navigation. Team Polizei, for example, was already in Albania before we left the Athens city limits. Giggles ensued in a bit of class-warrish smugness. Nelson climbed a wire fence with bare feet.

After making it to Larissa, which we all agreed is a hot girl's name, as well as a very neat town, we crossed up into the hills of Greek Macedonia on our way to the former Yugoslavian republic of the same name. Nelson mentioned that the landscape reminded him of New Zealand. Hobbit jokes flew. Regardless, it was the prettiest thing we'd seen yet, even trumping the coast of the Agean Sea, where in 334 BC, Alexander the Great utterly beat the armies of Persia.

We rounded a bend and were confronted with exposed male asses and a Honda Civic Type R with a camera rig mounted in the back. We stopped and conferred with the crew, had a few smokes and admired the view. Suddenly, someone spotted the Sharan that was supposedly a half-hour back coming toward us. We made with the rapid muster and piled back into the van, narrowly getting out of the turnout and up to speed on the two-lane road before they would've been able to get passed us. Dan, of Istanbul-to-Athens fame rocked a sublime pass, stranding us behind a truck. In the distance, we saw blue lights and prayed it wasn't the camera crew in tandem with wishes that the Greek police had hauled in the other Sharan. A couple of minutes later, we spottedn their Sharan on the side of the road, watching the flashing blue lights in the distance. We pulled up and blocked their exit. After a bit of chat, a group photo was called for.

Ricky did a runner. I followed. The rest followed me. In order for Mandela to get into the third row, Ricky ended up sitting on top of his folded-down seat for a harrowing minute or so. Then the message came in. Either the Chevy or the Escalade had crashed. Everything was confusing. The 'Slade ended up being okay. We decided one of the vans should go back for the Chevy guys, 45 miles behind us. But our vans were overloaded. Nelson argued that Gumball should have somebody there, even if we couldn't give them a ride. Then The Call came. Nelson ordered (as much as he had authority to order) the other van back to the Chevy boys, saying, "We've got another assignment. It sounds pretty bad." Within the next 45 minutes, I began to get sick. We grabbed dinner at a gas station near the Macedonian border. Old men sat around smoking in the mini-mart. We wondered why we couldn't get oregano-flavored chips at home. Nelson derided Red Bull as poison. I smoked nervously.

Eventually, after hearing that the other van had made it into Macedonia without incident, we gave it a shot. Somewhere in the night, we picked up the Kuwaiti Murcie, who'd been diverted to Thessaloniki due to some goof with their CoPilot GPS system. We also ended up with a Porsche 911 in Ivy Hotel livery from California. We passed a Maser with a tire problem that we couldn't help. We stopped for gas and saw footage of Morley's accident on TV at the gas station. We decided that the faster we got out of the country, the better.

Arriving at the Albanian border, we were informed that the UN escort we were promised to Tirana was done for the the night. Instead, we were to be led to the Albanian capital by a hyperserious off-road dedicated Land Cruiser and a VW Bora police car. While we were waiting at the border, the Turkish Taxi pulled up. We assumed that the convoy would be headed up front and rear by a police car. And in the spirit of the Gumball, we took up the rear position behind the Turkish Taxi, a vehicle that could take 45mph corners at roughly a third of that speed. Black humor crackled throughout the Volkswagen. One bridge was identified as leading to the Death Prison; distinct from the one leading to the mere Rape Prison. The darkness, the fact that we were supposed to be escorted by the military and instead got something that wouldn't have looked out of place at the Great Southern Crawl and the fact that we were stuck behind this great lumbering beast of a minibus while the rest of the pack had long-since pulled away started to eat at us. Then we got lost.

Somehow, somewhere, in some city, the Land Cruiser and the Polica Rrugorre Bora found us. The pretty, weathered, curly-haired Albanian woman asked if anyone needed a smoke. Having lost my pack of Davidoffs, I replied in the affirmative and she tossed a box of 18 Marlboro Lights through the window. We took off before I could hand them back to her, following the police car, leaving Kamal and Alikanur with the 4x4. We hit Tirana around 4am, having missed Prime Minister's proclaimation, "No guest is ever late in an Albanian house." Instead, I slept on a makeshift terrycloth mattress. The next morning's shower was a luxury I forced myself to indulge in. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
The Inverse of Alexander: Istanbul to Athens; Travels With Commander Kokolari; More Gumball 3000 [Internal]

After a grueling drive from Athens with the Gumball crew, I grabbed three hours of sleep on top of a bathrobe laid down on a hardwood floor in Team Polizei's room at the Tirana Sheraton. The next morning, we were up and at 'em in the face of a cool rain-threatening Albanian morning. Max Cooper informed us that the people of Albania had rebuilt a bridge in anticipation of Gumball's passage and we'd receive a police escort to the border. We headed outside and Herr Roy immediately got to work moving the Polizia Stradale Intercettore into position. What happened next was both pure comedy and slightly frightening.

A couple of guys in a 911 began goading Alex. At first, he played them off, pulling his arrogant, Alpha Cop schtick on them, calling them unprepared. When they persisted, he went to see Albanian police honcho Commander Kokolari. Commander Kokolari indicated through his translator that he would appreciate a gift, so Alex handed over his safety-orange light-up traffic baton. In exchange, Commander Kokolari had his people ensure that the Team Polizei M5 was the first to leave the line, following the commander himself in a 1.6L VW Bora (That's Mk IV Jetta to you, Yanqui). What's more when Carl and his compatriot in the Porsche attempted to pass us, Commander Kokolari would order his motorcycle cops to box the other cars in so we could pass and regain the lead.

Then it started to rain, and the sight just got surreal. Albanian guys on what seemed like twenty-year-old Moto Guzzis frantically waving oncoming cars onto the shoulder; the route out of Tirana to the border lined with people cheering for the convoy of cars; Alex on the PA yelling out random phrases in semi-Italian-accented English, including my favorite as we passed a somewhat forlorn looking teenager with a hard edge to his face: "Thank you Moped Champion of Albania!" Meanwhile Kokolari — a short, severe, salt-and-pepper man of about fifty with a fireplug build — was leaning out the window waving Alex's baton for all he was worth, grinning at us like a madman. The vision led Roy to comment, "I wonder what'll happen when he figures out that it lights up."

While Ross navigated the wet roads and avoided collision with the hoontastic kamikaze motorcycle cops, Alex took one of the pull-back-and-let-go Mitsubishi Polizei toys he'd purchased at Hahn airport as gifts for the Gumballers and personalized it for Kokolari with a Sharpie. As we reached the border and passed Kokolari, Ross handed it out the window to the obviously chuffed law enforcement officer. It was a surreal start to a day that only got more disjointed. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
The Inverse of Alexander: Istanbul to Athens [Internal]

A Phyrgian king had bound a chariot yoke/And Alexander cut the Gordian Knot/And legend said that who untied that knot/He would become the Master of Asia – Iron Maiden

The Taxi boys had rented a Mercedes in London for the trip to Hahn, hopped the flight to Istanbul and then set out in a refurbished example of one of the many minibuses that dot the landscape of Western Turkey. The thing was a hoot, and what it lacked in speed, it made up for in range and comfort. But as the day grew later and Kemal still hadn't shown up, we decided to accept Jarod DeAnda and Fly's offer of a ride-along in two of the Volkswagen Sharan support vans.

Donated for the rally by sponsor Addison Lee, who planned to press the minivans into service as what we in the US would know as livery cars once Gumball was done with them, the Sharans arrived brand new. The van we picked up in Istanbul only had 2,000 miles on it. Roy, Ross, DeAnda and Fly piled into one van, while I hopped in with Gumball staffers Dan and Johnny. Since Alex had a route plotted, we let the Fly-piloted van take the lead, and let's just say the old boy set quite a pace. Once we got out of Constantinople-town, it was a 100-120mph dash across some of the bumpiest main roads I've ever encountered. At one point, the rear of the Sharan got so bumpy and light I was hoping that we weren't going to re-enact a diesel-powered version of Torquenstein's 2004 wreck in North Africa. Luckily, that didn't come to pass.

We missed the turn into the Turkish border crossing with the boys in the other van staring in disbelief as Dan braked hard through a red octagonal sign reading "DUR." We realized later that there were men with machine guns just down that particular road, and they must've wondered what in hell the crazy yahoos in a Fußballmutterwagen were up to. We spent 45 minutes at the checkpoint being sent around in circles before we realized that the problem was that the vans had been driven into the country by different people. Digging around, the Gumball crew came up with a list of approved drivers.

Hitting the road again, Alex realized that we were gaining on the Aytac boys in their Ferrari 456GT, the only other team besides Turkish Taxi and our Sharan convoy to make the drive to Athens. And in true Alex fashion, he devised a plan. At a gas stop, we all piled in to the mini mart to stock up on snacks. I fatefully discovered the coveted DAF banner. While ambling back to the van, treats in tow, Roy suddenly came flying out of the store with an armful of masking tape and commanded, "Johnson! I need your help!" Thus ensued a mass stickering of the Fly-piloted Sharan with makeshift Team Polizei livery. The plan was to catch up to Aytac, shadow them until they made a gas stop and then hammer forward to victory, arriving triumphant in Athens. It didn't quite work. The rain came down in falls as soon as we left the station, washing the Polizei VW of its haphazard markings. Aytac (both great guys, by the way), after swapping a Subaru alternator into their Fezza, put the distance on us.

Meanwhile, Johnny became enamored of the Dream Sandwich, a pseudo-sub that seemed to consist largely of bread. We made a final fuel stop about an hour or so out of Athena's fair city, where we fueled up on Greek pastries; once into town we paid a taxi driver to lead us to the Hilton. Cruising through a flashing yellow light (apparently, a said signal means something different in Greece than it does in the UK or US), we were nearly T-boned by a Skoda cab with no intention of stopping. We pulled in with a few miniscule bits of tape stuck to the Polizei Sharan while the DAF banner hung proudly in the rear of our vehicle. We bailed on the Hilton and headed for the airport Sofitel, so's to be closer to the cars in anticipation of their release the next morning.

With all of the smack that's been talked about the rich fucks in their expensive cars since the Macedonian accident, people tend to forget that part of the joy of these rallies is the sheer ingenuity they engender, not to mention the fun involved that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with speed. What's not wonderful about tooling through the mountains of Greece singing along with Dean Martin? Or scoring official patches from Turkish border patrol agents? Or stop signs that read "DUR?" I think anyone in those two vans would agree it was the most enjoyable day of Gumball; even if we weren't in the M5 — maybe because we weren't in the M5 — it encapsulated the anything-can-happen nature of a transcontinental rally. While some guys may sign up to drive fast and bone hookers at every stop, the thing I've appreciated most about rallying is the sense of instant camaraderie that develops; the shared wonder at seeing things we never thought we'd encounter. The Istanbul-Athens run? It was an absolute shining example of that. – Davey G. Johnson

More on the Gumball 3000 [Internal]

Our pals at Team Polizei have pledged $10,000 toward the creation of a fund to benefit the family of Vladimir and Margarita Cepuljoski, the couple who died after an accident involving Gumballers Nick Morley and Matthew McConville last week in Macedonia. Other ralliers have expressed interest in helping the Cepuljoskis' relatives after the tragedy, so the Polizei stepped up and are organizing just such an effort. Interested in helping out? click here to donate. – Davey G. Johnson

Cepuljoski Family Memorial Fund Launch [Team Polizei]

Related:
Fast as a Shark: East of Eden: The Fall of the Gumball 3000 [Internal]

This is Andy Tipping. His friends call him Fly. Actually, everyone calls him Fly, because nobody knows his real name. Fly prefers to travel at 100mph. As such, we have named a unit of velocity for him. If you are moving at 100 miles per hour, you are traversing the globe at 1 Fly. If you are doing 44mph, you are moving at .44 Fly. If you max out a Volkswagen Sharan, as Fly is wont to do, you're likely somewhere around a GPS-verified 1.23 Fly. Any questions? – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Autobahn Speed Limits Now, Demands EU Environment Overlord [Internal]

Ever make the perfect purchase? It doesn't matter whether it costs ten million dollars or six euros, it's something you simply must own, and if it's remotely within your wherewithal to do so, you are helpless to resist. Such was the case with this suction-cupped DAF banner meant for the windshield of a long-haul truck. We employed it in various fashions from the point we picked it up at a Hellenic truck stop. In fact, we slept with it last night. We expect the Loverman to shoot us in a fit of jealous rage in the time it takes between the moment this post goes up and the far end of the E.T. between the endpoints of the 110 freeway. Sorry, Loverman, you lengthy lothario you. We await our demise. Bis später! (Note, one of these photos might be NSFW.) – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
More DAF! [Internal]

Alex Roy, Gumball organizer Julie Brangstrup and Michael Ross just before the cars are released at at the airport in Athens.

And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about. I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for that is one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this, and I hate it and I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts. If that glory can be killed, we are lost.

There should have been something in place. Morocco, 2004, on the running of the fifth Gumball 3000 should have been a warning. A Ferrari 360 ate it in spectacular fashion. The Reyland Escort Cosworth nearly took out Team Polizei. Jerry "Torquenstein" Reynolds survived what looked to be a death blow of an accident when the ass end of his Viper got loose on a North African road. But Gumball organizers Maximillion Cooper and Julie Brangstrup got off easy. Single-car pileups, as it were; no fatalities, and only Reynolds' bandaged head at the finish line to illustrate that anything had gone wrong.

So when an elderly couple pulled out in front of Nick Morley's Porsche in an old Golf, the ultimate result wasn't a surprise to anyone. I talked to Dan Neil not long before I left and he cautioned me, "Be careful. One of these days, somebody is going to get killed on one of these rallies." The worst case scenario, of course, was that said somebody would happen to be a civilian.

Yes, the Gumball is a rally, not a race, but let's step back a moment. It took me twenty-two hours to get from Tirana, Albania to Bratislava, Slovakia. Around an hour and a half was spent in a police station in Montenegro with Team Polizei and a few completely confused real police officers. Another couple of hours passed in Croatia waiting to hitch a ride in a VW Sharan support van after the Dubrovnik checkpoint. If you've laid out around 40k in entry fees, had your car shipped from points unknown to London, been shut down around 50 miles from a checkpoint on the first day of the rally, been held in a Turkish airport bar while your car is diverted to Athens, you're going to be anxious to hit the fucking road.

Part of the problem was with the ALK CoPilot nav system handed out by the organizers. Instead of being held responsible for setting their own routes via their own GPS units or by good old-fashioned paper maps, the CoPilot — a system designed to work with mobile phones — was obscenely unreliable and required a great deal of attention to work with any semblance of accuracy. Nevertheless, Cooper defended the CoPilot's accuracy at the driver's meeting in Albania. Later that day, the CoPilot directed Team Polizei and numerous other drivers to a blocked-off tunnel. Who should come up the road but Maximillion himself? Roy leaned out the passenger side window and commented, "So there's no problem with the CoPilots, Max?" Admittedly, in short order, the under-construction tunnel was unblocked for our convoy, but problems with the units were legion during the rally, and time lost (a Kuwaiti team in a Murcielago en route to Albania ended up routed to within 300 km of Turkey before they realized that everything was wrong and sped back) led to fatigue and fast driving in situations where it may not have been prudent.

Interestingly, I don't believe that Nick Morley was engaging in wanton speed-freakery in Macedonia. I was in the support van called to the scene; according to the CoPilot people, we were the closest support van to the accident. Reports were mixed. Serious inuries. Wait. Gumballers walked away. Oh wait, a death. Rumors started flying. We debated de-stickering the Sharan and hiding Gumball-related articles of clothing. We worried that we'd get into Macedonia and not be able to get out. We sent the van behind us forward as bait, telling them to wait for us at the border while we ate at a rural gas station. We hoped they'd be unable to resist testing the border in their urge to spank us in the unofficial Crewball 3000. Somehow, the knowledge that we weren't going to be left to fester in a Macedonian prison outweighed losing a stage to the other Sharan. I immediately developed a stress-related cold that I've yet to shake.

We passed the accident site somewhere in the night, having missed it as the result of some wrong turn, we suppose. Kemal Sadikoglu of the Turkish Taxi team pulled into the Albanian border checkpoint a half-hour after we did and claimed that they'd held Nick Morley's brother Oliver up once the authorities called out that shit had changed when word came down that Vladimir Cepulyoski had died of a heart attack after Morley and Matthew McConville's TechArt Porsche had T-boned their Volkswagen. Although the information I've been able to glean is muddy, the #19 M6 piloted by a Russian couple pulled up and Morley and McConville hopped in, only to be yanked out at a border checkpoint, while the Russians were allowed to continue.

The next day, Roy, Ross and I were detained for an hour and a half by Montenegrin cops due to the use of the Polizei M5's use of lights and sirens in traffic. They pulled the Russians in simply because they were in a stickered BMW that happened to be stuck in traffic while they were taking us to the police station. I can't tell whether the Russians were dumb or just stereotypically Russian, but I'm guessing that you don't get to own an M6 in Russia by being dumb, although playing ignorant and foreign is an advantage in plenty of Gumball situations. It got us the hell out of Montenegro, after all. I honestly can't say one way or another that the Russians knew what they were involved in. Their English was too bad; yet I don't know if it was on-purpose bad.

What I do know is this. The Macedonian roads on the proscribed route would be hell on cars like that TechArt Porsche. Our diesel Sharan was as fast as just about anything on those byways. And if, as the CoPilot people suggested, we were on the route that ultimately claimed the lives of the Cepulyoskis, I'm willing to believe Cooper's claim that Morley was in the neighborhood of the speed limit. The aforementioned Kuwaiti Murcie had been purchased brand-new for the rally; its crew had been directed up and down a dirt road for over an hour before we showed up. The car was fucked-up, dirty and making unfortunate noises. Macedonia is no place for a purebred supercar, and a TechArt Neun-Elf is essentially that. And beyond that, a Mk II Golf is no match for a modern Porsche in terms of safety systems. It's not particularly surprising that an elderly couple in such a machine would succumb to their injuries, however sad and tragic the circumstances may be. Nevertheless, the oncoming vehicle they pulled out in front of could just have as easily been a truck, and the world media never would have heard about it.

Yet it was a sticker-covered sports car driven by two wealthy Britons. It's news. Because those two Britons were scared shitless of a Macedonian jail, even if it was the elderly couple who pulled out of them when the Porsche had the right-of-way, it's not hard to understand why Morley and McConville ended up running. In such an accident in the United States or the UK, one generally knows what to expect. People have posited that the guys deserve to die in prison for running. On the other hand, I'd ask our readers, if they thought they had a chance to get out when everything turned to shit and they faced rotting in a second-world jail, if they might not attempt to get away as well. I'm not calling their runner the right decision, but I'm not damning them for it either, given that from what I've been able to piece together, it apparently wasn't their first instinct.

We got into Tirana at 4am. I walked into the hotel and found Herr Roy at the hotel bar. It had been a brutal day for everyone. I slept on a hardwood floor with a bathrobe for a mattress and woke up three hours later. Max proclaimed at the drivers' meeting that there a ton of rumors flying around Gumball and urged us not to talk to the press; to let the Gumball PR machine handle things.

Not long afterward, at 7am EDT on Thursday, May 3rd, Team Polizei's support guru J.F. Musial called the Macedonian embassy in London and confirmed that Cepulyoski was dead. That's noon in London. 1 or 2pm in Eastern Europe. If some 21-year-old college student in Hoboken, New Jersey could verify that the accident had resulted in a fatality via government channels, one would think that the rally organizer would certainly know well beforehand. Yet the morning briefing in Tirana was essentially a plea to keep a "first rule of Gumball, don't talk about Gumball" code of omerta in place with not even a slight whiff of death's maddening stank.

Just past Dubrovnik, Team Polizei tendered their resignation from the rally. On the road to Split, in a Sharan with a number of green Gumball volunteers in their early twenties headed by Kitty Cooper, Max's younger sister (who, by the way is a total sweetheart) we ran into a number of Gumballers on the side of a suburban road. We chucked the people-carrier halfway up a driveway and hoofed it back to the huddled crew. Cooper's flat-black vinyl-wrapped XJ220 sat two driveways behind us. For the first time I'd seen, Max wasn't wearing his sunglasses. He seemed a small, tired confused man. He laid out to the crew what I'd set down an hour earlier from my experience in the support van the day before. He asked me to remove the posts from "that website." Kitty played dumb. But she knew. She'd known.

Of course she'd known, as one of Maximillion's own. The other crew boys, who'd signed up as volunteers as a way to collect foreign poontang and see exotic cars were shocked and pissed that they hadn't been informed. They were crew, in their minds. The drivers were trying to piece together what'd gone down from reports from those who'd happened on the scene, the news media reports and word from drivers close to the Morleys. Kemal recalled Oliver's face going sheet-white when the authorities said that Vladimir was dead and that Nick and Matthew needed to stick around. Bear in mind that Oliver Morley is an irrepressible individual who generally arouses the ire of anyone he decides he doesn't like.

At the morning-after press conference in Tirana, Max announced that we were indeed going to Germany; that there would be a police escort to Berlin and to get back to the UK, every team would be provided with safe-passage papers for every German state on the route. For most drivers, that fell apart somewhere in Croatia. The word had gotten to the mainstream media. Although the polizei roadblock outside Hahn was apparently the work of one overzealous policeman, it was obvious at that point that the whole mess would be spun in his favor, despite the last few days of work the Gumball staff had put into getting everything re-sorted. Sadly, though, more effort had gone into that than informing the drivers and crews of the accident, its aftermath and Morley and McConville's attempt to escape Macedonia.

A tad more Steinbeck: "Christ, I wish they hadn't killed off all the grizzly bears. In eighteen-eighty, my grandfather killed one up near Pleyto weighed eighteen-hundred pounds." But what if? What if the grizzlies set themselves up to be killed by doing the only thing they knew how to do? And if Gumball 3000 is the eighteen-hundred-pound grizzly of open-road rallies, it stands to reason that Max and Julie — only knowing how to be Max and Julie because they'd gotten by on being Max and Julie for years — didn't blink in the face of the small man with the rifle, because how could he possibly hurt them? How did it all come undone? Simple. They'd nearly bled out before they realized that the wound was serious. Thanks for listening. We'll see you again Wednesday. – Davey G. Johnson

"Fast as a Shark" is a weekly electronic broadside aimed at what has been historically right and terribly wrong with the autmotive industry and culture. And yes, Johnson's iPod is engraved with an Accept reference.

Related:
More Gumball 3000; Fast as a Shark: Living on Chinese Rocks [Internal]

The organisers wish to confirm that the facts of the incident were not withheld from the participants; as soon as the Macedonian Authorities confirmed clear details of events and confirmation of the fatality that occurred several hours after the accident on Thursday 3rd May the organisers cancelled the event without hesitation and issued an official statement at the earliest possible time.

The organisers are disappointed at rally participants Mr. A. Roy and Mr. M. Ross's blatant self promotion at a time when all efforts are being made by Gumball 3000 to manage this difficult situation.

The press release issued today by Mr. Roy and Mr. Ross promoting themselves as 'winners' of the event is misleading and Gumball 3000 wishes to make it clear that there is no recognition for finishing first and no 'winner' is recorded.

Maximillion Cooper and his team are further saddened at their request for the organiser's resignation and their complaints about the 'professionalism' of other participants.

"As the organiser and founder of the event I feel the timing of this press release to be in particular bad taste. The selection process of participants is designed to be fair and without discrimination. In the events 9-year history over 6 million road miles have been driven by 2000 participating cars without any previous accidents of this nature; proof alone that I and the rest of the organisers do everything within our power to ensure safety during the Rally. In the future we will work even more closely with the authorities in each country the event travels through to ensure the safety and success of the event moving forward."

Gumball organisers are in close communication with the Macedonian authorities and are doing all they can to assist the family in way at this time.

OFFICIAL GUMBALL 3000 STATEMENT [Gumball3000.com]

Related:
Team Polizei Takes On Gumball 3000's Maximillion Cooper Over Hit-And-Run Coverup [internal]

We've always said we've got the smartest commenters in the automotive blogosphere. OK, we've never explicitly said it — but we've totally thought it and — like — insinuated it a couple of times. But whatevs, now some little daily auto show seen by countless dozens of people agrees with us in their coverage of our coverage (how totally meta is that?) of the Gumball 3000. Check it out — maybe you're now a movie YouTube star too. Hell, maybe we'll even do a round of the drinking game on it next time there's a terribly tragic automotive story y'all are commenting on...eek, that sounded rather insensitive, didn't it? – Ray Wert

Related:
Our Gumball 3000 coverage [internal]

Gumball crash driver tried to flee in private jet [Telegraph.co.uk]

Related:
All of our Gumball 3000 coverage [internal]