A desperate lack of Internet access during this year's Bullrun (it's a rally, folks, not a race, get it?) kept Jalopnik road-rally correspondent and Bullrun participant, Alex Roy (Team Polizei), from issuing live commentary. But he still found a spot of time to summarize events, rat rodders, police choppers, close-call jail time, Italian Lawn Mowers from Modena and all. Day one, after the jump.
The Bullrun USA started at 12 noon from the front of the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Approximately 85 cars were on the starting grid, with Team Polizei in 2nd place on the starting grid. Richard Rawlings started in first, but blew a tire almost immediately, his $250,000+ custom 1931 Ford Model A stuck just beyond the start line.
Team Polizei traded 1st and 2nd place with Emil Rensing (in a blue 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo) to a point almost 25 miles from the first day's stop in Las Vegas. Team Polizei's Alex Roy then mistook a real Police Helicopter for the Bullrun movie chopper, and was pulled over for 120 in a 70. The Nevada Trooper was sympathetic toward Team Polizei's support of the "Schloss und Schnitzel" Fund for the Stuttgart Autobahn Polizei and allowed Alex Roy to proceed to Las Vegas without spending the night in jail.
Team Polizei's traffic stop resulted in a mere 4th place finish, which means nothing, of course, since the Bullrun is a rally, not a race. The remaining 80+ cars come in over the next hour, including the finest Italian Lawn Mowers from Modena, the finest coffee grinders from Stuttgart, and a combative Rawlings who has foolishly installed a leather roof panel on the exterior of his Ford just before a rain squall.
Team Polizei finishes the first leg in approximately 5th place.
Related:
Brava Firenze: Alex Roy's Gumball 3000 Police Escort [internal]