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Entrants included Jackass stars Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera, driving Bams 'Billy Idol' customised Lamborghini Gallardo, Tony Hawk, Mike Vallely, and Rooftop Escamilla in a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, Blink 182's Travis Barker drove his Rolls Royce Phantom with DJ Swizz Beatz, Dirty Sanchez' Dan Joyce, Matthew Pitchard, and Love Actually star Martine McCutcheon drove a pink Range Rover and American television host Matt Johnston drove his custom 2006 Dodge Charger, amongst Gumball's regular assortment of eccentrics and billionaires from all over the world.
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History
In 1933 motorcycle racer "Cannonball" Baker crossed the United
States coast-to-coast in approximately 54 hours. In the 1970s
Car and Driver founder and editor Brock Yates started the
Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in his
honor. The second race was won by Yates and Dan Gurney, former
Formula One and Le Mans driver, in a Ferrari Daytona. They
needed about 35 hours from New York to L.A. These events
inspired the 1976 movies The Gumball Rally and Cannonball, as
well as sequels such as Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, etc.
The "Cannonball" race was finally canceled in 1979 due to a
combination of media attention and pressure from political and
police organizations who were concerned about road safety.
Drawing inspiration from the 1970s race, the aforementioned
movies as well as the movie Smokey and the Bandit, Maximillion
Cooper revived the spirit of the old races in the summer of 1999
by combining the racing element with nightly parties and
layovers at luxury hotels. The "Gumball 3000" has since captured
public attention through celebrity participation and coverage on
everything from CNN, MTV and the BBC to Esquire, FHM, and a
reporter from Vanity Fair, who rode with 2003 Winner Alex Roy
through Morocco on the 2004 Rally.
Races
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1999
The original rally featured 50 of Cooper's friends, and went
from London, to Rimini, Italy and back, passing through Paris,
to the Chateau d'Esclimont, before lapping the Le Mans race
circuit, followed by a checkpoint at the Mas du Clos Ferrari
Museum, then Monaco Grand Prix circuit in Monaco, the Ferrari
Factory in Modena, the Ambras Palace in Austria and the
Hockenheim Grand Prix Circuit in Germany before returning to
London to cross the finish line on Park Lane. The winner drove a
1963 Jaguar E-Type. Other drivers included actors Billy Zane in
a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, Jason Priestley in a Lotus Esprit V8
and Dannii Minogue in a Porsche Boxster.
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2000
The second rally was held in May 2000. The race started at
Marble Arch in London and went to Stansted Airport, where all
cars and people were airlifted to a private airport in Spain.
The race then continued through Bilbao, Cannes, Milan, Hotel
Bühlerhöhe Castle near Baden-Baden (Germany), the Nürburgring GP
circuit and Hamburg before returning to London. Notable entrants
included drum and bass legend and James Bond villain Goldie in
an Aston Martin V8, It girl Tara Palmer-Tomkinson in a Jaguar
XK8, Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds in a Bentley, the indie
band Placebo in a Lagonda, the Happy Mondays all crammed into a
2+2 Jaguar, and Maximillion Cooper in the famous Bentley Arnage
1WO.
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2001
The third rally, held in April 2001, featured 106 cars,
including Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and part of the cast of
Jackass driving an 80s rusted-out Jaguar XJ6, as well as F1
World champion Damon Hill driving a Lamborghini, comedian Vic
Reeves in an Mercedes-AMG, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in a Blower
Bentley and Maximillion in an original Shelby Cobra. The race
went from Hyde Park Corner in London to Berlin, Malbork,
Vilnius, Saint Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen
before returning to London. Kim Schmitz finished first in his
Mercedes Brabus SV12 Megacar. The race was made into an
hour-long Jackass Gumball 3000 Special on MTV and received the
highest viewing figures of the year. Ruby Wax also ran in the
event covering it for terrestrial TV in the UK on BBC1.
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2002
The fourth rally was held in April 2002, the first to be run
outside Europe. The rally went from New York to the Playboy
Mansion in Los Angeles, passing through a checkpoint at the
White House in Washington DC, onto Memphis, Tennessee for lunch
in Elvis Presley's Mansion, Graceland, before getting a Dallas
Cowboys welcome in Texas, onwards to Cadillac Ranch, Santa Fe,
New Mexico, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, Nevada before
reaching the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills where Hugh Hefner
and playmates awarded trophies. 175 cars entered the contest,
including a 1960s Corvette painted in the Stars and Stripes that
won best car award, the 1959 Ferrari California Spider like the
one in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off that was bought at a
cost of over $1m just to take part in the Gumball, as well as
old American muscle cars taking to the road with modern day
supercars. Fashion designer Donna Karan, models Amy Wesson and
Rachel Hunter, and actor Matthew McConaughey were amongst the
competitors. The winners were Nicholas Frankl and Nick Connor,
who, despite being arrested and imprisoned for multiple safety
infractions, were released on bail and flew to the finish line
in their prison outfits.
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2003
The fifth rally was held in May 2003, with more than 100 cars
from San Francisco, California to Miami, Florida, passing
through Reno, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, Tucson, Arizona, White
Sands, New Mexico, San Antonio, Texas, Houston, Texas, and New
Orleans, Louisiana. This one was made into 'Gumball 3000' The
Movie[1] and starred Jackass' Ryan Dunn racing a rental car
alongside skateboard legends Tony Hawk in a Dodge Viper and
Bucky Lasek, Motocross World champions Travis Pastrana and Carey
Hart, and supermodel Jodie Kidd. Cars included a mix of Ferrari
F50s and 360s, Lamborghini Murcielagos, a Koenigsegg CC Supercar
and Jesse James' custom VW Eurovan.
Alex Roy won in his Team Polizei BMW M5, decked out in German
Police Gear. "Fastest Wheels" was awarded to Rob "Lonman"
Kenworthy in a Porsche GT2. A Special Award was given to Richard
and Sue Rawlings in their heavily modified Chevy Avalanche.
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2004
The sixth rally was held in May 2004, back again in Europe. The
rally went from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Biarritz, Madrid,
Marbella, then crossed over to Africa, (via Gibraltar) to
Marrakech in Morocco as guests of the King, before returning to
Spain for the Barcelona Grand Prix, finishing in Cannes at the
film festival. 192 cars took part. Ex Boxing world champion
Chris Eubank drove a truck, whilst The Pianist Academy Award
winning actor Adrien Brody favoured a Porsche and the 'Ai Ya'
Boys just rented a Winnebago RV.
Gary Lutke and John Docherty won the coveted Spirit Trophy in
the Citroën 2CV. First place went to Kim Schmitz in a Mercedes
CL3000. The Style Award went to Alex Roy's Team Polizei 144,
this time dressed as Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Safety
Award went to Torquenstein for surviving a near fatal Dodge
Viper crash in Morocco.
Former Champion jockey Richard Dunwoody and journalist Clement
Wilson entered in a Volvo V70R and wrote an account entitled
"Our Gumball Rally" published by Virgin Books.
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2005
The seventh rally started at Trafalgar Square on May 14, 2005.
It went 3000 miles from London to Brussels, Prague, Vienna,
Budapest, and then to Dubrovnik in Croatia. The cars were then
transported by ferry to Bari, Italy, then lapped the old Targa
Florio circuit in Sicily, before heading north to Rome and
Florence, and finally crossing the finish line in Monaco's
Casino Square prior to the F1 Grand Prix. Participants included
Daryl Hannah, rock stars and supermodels driving everything from
the Dukes of Hazzard General Lee to Ferrari Enzos and Mercedes
SLRs.
Five drivers were arrested on May 9, 2005 by the Catalonian
traffic police when they were speeding between Sagunto and
Tarragona. The charged participants were listed as Gary Malcolm
P., 32 from UK, Darrick F, 36 (Canada), Rudolf S., 46 (Belgium),
Pastou P., 25 (UK) and Robert Nicholas, 31 (UK). According the
police statement, one of the organisers was among those
arrested. The story was published in Spain's newspapers on 10
May 2005. They were known to be heading towards London, where
the rally was set to start in a few days.
The Spirit Trophy went to Sue Bellarby and Kathy Huddart, whose
Caterham 7 broke down just shy of the finish line. They were
picked up by Gumball Legend Alex Roy and transported to the
finish line in his "Guardia Civil" BMW M5 and finished 2nd
dressed as a Spanish cop.
This year's unofficial winners were Greg and "Kalbas" in a
Mercedes 2004 CLK-DTM, who edged out a week-old Mercedes-McLaren
SLR whose engine blew up just short of the finish line.
2006
2006 start in LondonThe 2006 rally was the most ambitious of any
Gumball 3000 rally so far, starting London and finishing in Los
Angeles just 8 days later, with the organisers flying all 120
cars from Europe to Asia and then Asia to USA in 3 Antonov
An-124's and an Iceland Air passenger Boeing 757. The rally
started on April 29, 2006 in Pall Mall, London. It continued on
to Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade. The drivers then boarded a
plane in Serbia to be taken to Thailand for the race's second
leg between Phuket and Bangkok. The final leg took place in the
United States and ran from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, via
Las Vegas, where Snoop Dogg performed live at the Gumball party.
Entrants included Jackass stars Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera,
driving Bams 'Billy Idol' customised Lamborghini Gallardo, Tony
Hawk, Mike Valley, and Rooftop Escamilla in a Jeep Grand
Cherokee SRT8, Blink 182's Travis Barker drove his Rolls Royce
Phantom with DJ Swizz Beatz, Dirty Sanchez' Dan Joyce, Matthew
Pitchard, and Love Actually star Martine McCutcheon drove a pink
Range Rover and American television host Matt Johnston drove his
custom 2006 Dodge Charger, amongst Gumball's regular assortment
of eccentrics and billionaires from all over the world.
Team Polizei's Alex Roy & Michael Ross dominated Gumball 2006,
taking 1st place overall, and arriving in 1st place in Belgium,
Vienna, Budapest, Furnace Creek and Beverly Hills, even beating
Gumballers that skipped the intermediate checkpoints. Team
Polizei, suffering from both Ed Leigh's sabotage and accident
damage in Thailand, sat out the Thailand leg and made a surprise
visit to the Burmese border, where pictures were taken with
border guards who thought Team Polizei were UN inspectors.
Meanwhile Torquenstein returned from the extraordinary events of
the 2004 rally no longer in a Dodge Viper, but now in a fully
prepared & rally ready Ford GT A few modifications included a
smoke screen, three GPS units and a radar drone system.
Torquenstein and navigator Dr. E. Gruene placed 2nd in Belgrade,
8th in Thailand and tied for 1st place on the final stage with
the Team Polizei Bentley driven by Alex Roy and Michael Ross.
The Spirit Trophy was won by Damian Williams, Richard Blackburn
& Ezra Chapman of Team 15, who spun and crashed their camouflage
Rolls Royce Phantom at around 160mph just north of Belgrade.
Despite this setback they made it to the Serbian airport where
the Gumball-chartered Iceland Air 757 nearly left without them.
They allegedly rode 500+ miles in a cab across Thailand, then
picked up a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom in Salt Lake City
which they drove to the Beverly Hills Finish Line. They arrived
at the Playboy Mansion with the twisted grille from the first
Phantom, and Hugh Hefner presented them with a fitting trophy, a
Gumball machine!
2007
The 2007 route is going from London to Istanbul, via Amsterdam,
Munich, Venice, Dubrovnik, and Athens. 3000 miles through 16
countries, 120 cars, in 8 days.
From the offical site:
28th April 2007 Registration Launch Party
29th April 2007 Car display & Start in Pall Mall, London Cars
drive to Amsterdam checkpoint
30th April 2007 Cars drive through the night to the Frankfurt
Checkpoint. Cars and drivers loaded onto planes and flown to
Istanbul Arrive in Istanbul
1st May 2007 Istanbul to Athens via Thessolaniki checkpoint
2nd May 2007 Athens to Dubrovnik
3rd May 2007 Dubrovnik to Vienna
4th May 2007 Vienna to Berlin via Prague checkpoint
5th May 2007 Berlin to London Final Party, music concert in
London
Official Gumball Spirit Trophy Winners
1999 Unknown
2000 Unknown
2001 Unknown
2002 Nicholas Frankl & Nick Connor - Porsche 996 Turbo
2003 Alex Roy & David Maher Team Polizei BMW M5
2004 Gary Lutke & John Docherty - Citroen 2CV
2005 Sue Bellarby & Katie Huddart - Caterham 7
2006 Damian Williams, Richard Blackburn & Ezra Chapman - Rolls
Royce Phantom
Unofficial Gumball Rally Winners
1999 Unknown
2000 Unknown
2001 Kim Schmitz
2002 Unknown
2003 Rob "Lonman" Kenworthy - Porsche 996 GT2 / Richard Rawlings
("First to Nearly All Checkpoints" Gumball Trophy)
2004 Kim Schmitz - Mercedes-Benz CL3000
2005 Remy Gelas & "Kalbas" - Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
2006 Alex Roy & Michael Ross - Team Polizei Bentley GT
Comments on Unofficial "Winners"
Gumball 3000 does not publish time-based figures for
participants, who, by their entry contract, are legally barred
from time-based competition. However, unofficial time-based
results are commonly compiled and verified by fans through ALK/Copilot
GPS timelogs/tracks and via corroborating eyewitness accounts
from the official forums Gumball 3000.
The largest fan forums are GTspirit, BMW M5 Board and Car
Domain, where hundreds of eyewitnesses have posted to discuss,
debate and confirm unofficial rankings. Such rankings are
subject to a gentleman's agreement among drivers not to leave
early or skip checkpoints - these are easily confirmed via ALK
Copilot's Timelogs.
In 2006, for example, several Gumballers decided to skip the
Furnace Creek checkpoint to arrive early at the Beverly Hills
Finish Line for an early dinner and drinks. The tradition among
veteran Gumballers is to park in 5th place or lower out of
deference for those who take the longer route via all
checkpoints. Among them in 2006 was Team 65 (the legendary
veteran Alejandro Grimaldi & new co-pilot Salinas), who bore
witness to the final results. Likewise, numerous fans posted
evidentiary pics on the forums (listed above) of the 1st place
tie between Team Polizei and Torquenstein.
In 2005 Gumball 3000 signed a sponsorship deal with ALK-Copilot
who provided (for the first time) a publicly-available method of
tracking Gumball participants en route in near-real time. Each
car is provided with a Bluetooth-enabled GPS Navphone with a
transponder, allowing for far greater accuracy in tracking
Gumballers than ever before
