Gumball Pics from SF

Stanley · 04-17-2003, 10:58 PM

So... I went to see the start of the Gumball Rally at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. There was just about every exotic car every made there, pretty amazing collection of cars all in one place. I was also fun to chat with the drivers, although a lot of them where "Euro Trash". I took around 200 pictures, I will put them on the net shorty. My friends all had video cameras (3), we will edit a video and put it on the net when it is done. Driving home from San Francisco to Davis I saw most of the Gumballers on the road. They were all driving FAST, I didn't even attempt to catch up with them. I surprising got lots of thumbs up and a few "metal signs" from the Porsche drivers. It think the CHP knew they were coming because I saw 4 of them pulled over. Two 996 TT's, a Ferrari 360, and a Z8 was on the side of the road ready to be loaded on a tow truck?? It was a great experience, you guys in the Bay Area really missed out if you didn't go. Here are a few pictures:

jrdavid68 · 04-18-2003, 12:14 PM

"Gumball 3000" Rally off to Rough Start

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Shortly after setting out from San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel for the beginning of a 3,000 mile cross-country road rally, a few of the drivers participating in the Gumball 3000 were taken out of the race Thursday night by officers from the California Highway Patrol, said CHP Officer Marcus Bartholomew.

Bartholomew said that by 9:30 p.m. Thursday, officers had arrested two participants in Marin County and four participants in Solano County. He said that a number of citations were also issued and some cars were impounded.

"We were just getting flooded with 911 calls from drivers on the highways because these guys were driving like maniacs," said Bartholomew.

Bartholomew said entry-fee paying participants in the Gumball 3000 had just started the first leg of the race to Las Vegas at 8 p.m. when CHP started receiving reports of high-dollar vehicles - Porsches, Ferraris, and BMWs - with painted-on race numbers and emblems weaving through traffic and onto highway shoulders at speeds over 100 mph.

According to Bartholomew there are approximately 100 participants in the cross-country road rally. Exact arrest figures from the opening night have not yet been compiled, said Bartholomew.

(Copyright 2003 BCN. Photos Copyright 2003 KRON 4 News.)

pwd72s · 04-18-2003, 07:00 PM

IMHO, stunt events like these can hurt legit ones...like the Colorado Grand, others. The less publicity events like this get, the better off we'll be.

Targa Dude · Targa Dude's Garage

OK.. I have a a Rally for you.. it's the RGRuppe Rally De Monterey..
look here. for the Fun Run to the Rally and the GGR Time Trials
Nor-Cal Fun Run to Rally de Monterey May 3

Jorge (Targa Dude)

pwd72s · 04-19-2003, 04:07 PM

That's one of the legit ones...because R GRuppe is ALWAYS legit!

wdarner · wdarner's Garage

Sounds like at least a few of the participants were absolute idots.

Milu · 04-20-2003, 12:04 AM

Loved the photos!

But, how can any event that was as publicised as this one on the net not expect police attention? Don't traffic police have internet access?

Did the organisers expect anything else? Did they care?

Surely if it was a serious driving event and not just a money and publicity scam a lot of discretion should have been applied. Brock Yates and the original Gumball rally were a lot more circumspect and that was in the more tolerant seventies. I would love to hear Yate's comments on this one.

pwd72s · 04-20-2003, 09:05 AM

Brock Yates ran the cannonball..."gumball" was the term used in a silly movie. Yates wrote a book on the Cannonball...it's a good read. The event as seen through the eyes of those who participated.

Milu · 04-20-2003, 10:27 AM

The "Cannonball Baker sea to shining sea".
The Yates description of the second run in the Daytona with Dan Gurney is a personal favourite. Not forgetting Gurney's reaction on first sight of the Daytona: "it's been cunningly disguised as a race car!"

Sigh: Today we have "celebrities" and "euro-trash" go motorsporting, doubtless we'll be able to read all about it in "OK", Hello" and the other serious motoring press, cunningly disguised as gossip magazines.

Stanley · 04-21-2003, 06:37 PM

Heres a video from the event, it's not from me, I got it off another board. Its around 40mb and is in quicktime format http://www.webcamlistings.net/gumball/gumball3000.mp4

Bill Douglas · 04-22-2003, 08:31 PM

Lets hope it's as much fun as the European one they had on TV six months ago...

pwd72s · 04-23-2003, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Milu
The "Cannonball Baker sea to shining sea".
The Yates description of the second run in the Daytona with Dan Gurney is a personal favourite. Not forgetting Gurney's reaction on first sight of the Daytona: "it's been cunningly disguised as a race car!"

Sigh: Today we have "celebrities" and "euro-trash" go motorsporting, doubtless we'll be able to read all about it in "OK", Hello" and the other serious motoring press, cunningly disguised as gossip magazines.

Yes! Yates writing of when they crossed an icy bridge, knowing they'd both be dead if it was he instead of Gurney at the wheel? Great stuff! I found his book to be a fun read... Still the real Cannonball was, in it's all, a pointless exercise. It proved a point of argument that too few of the time cared about. The "things" going on now? They prove only that some people become fools when they have a lot of money. But heck, it's their money...I just hope nobody else gets hurt as they spend it. Me? Even if my lottery numbers came in, I'd pass. Yates is right. The time for such events is long gone.