Arrests, tickets mark start of notorious coast-to-coast race (Gumball Rally)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 04/18/03 | Julian Guthrie

[MikalM]

Some of the world's fastest and most exotic cars tore out of San Francisco on Thursday night for the start of a mad cross-country caper that's as much about hard driving as hedonistic partying.

But the West Coast debut of the Gumball Rally, a notorious European road race marked by eye-popping speeding tickets, five-digit bar bills and the champagne-soaked antics of the effortlessly wealthy, resulted almost immediately in a police crackdown.

[lonewacko_dot_com]

Does anyone have a list of the participants? I read somewhere that they were a bunch of B-movie stars, but from the article it sounds like just a bunch of no-name Eurotrash.

[stboz]

... read Brock Yates great new book "Cannonball,"...

The part where Yates and Gurney take the Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona up to 172 mph through the desert is classic.

[Blueflag]

Actually the "Blueflag" moniker harkened back to my first entries into showroom stock racing -- when my 1977 Spitfire redlined at 98 mph. I'd push it a little higher than than, but it meant replacing the overhead valve gear pretty often. That car also meant I saw the blue flag shown TO me a lot, as our class generally raced in a group that included faster classes. I swore I'd get rid of that stigma "someday"

When I graduated ($pent real money) to F production, I invested in RPM. I had a british fourbanger that would turn 9600 RPM without fail, but I usually chipped it to 9200. My engine builder told me he had put 'unobtanium' in the short block to hold it together, along with Cosworth pistons, Carillo rods, usw. That car would redline in fourth gear, and it was geared tall. I won my share of races early on (regionals) but saw the (Japanese) handwriting on the wall and left the SCCA for th HSR. In the HSR I never finished out of the medals and had a great spell having the blue flag waved for me -- not AT me.

One of my great HSR memories is a practice day in two sessions where I 'raced' a 911-4 for all we were worth. Try as he might, he could not lead a lap. He might pass me on the long straight at Road Atlanta, but he was mine again as we'd come out of 12.

< < sigh > > Those were fun times, and the older I get the faster I was.

It was a hard day when I sold that car (and spares, trailer, etc., etc.). It was a couple years before I could go back to the track to watch or work races. The guy who bought the car campaigned an old Shelby Mustang. He bought the car 'cuz I always kept him behind me! With some satisfaction, he continues to lap Road Atlanta a good 6 seconds slower than my avg lap times. (the course has changed). He's still racing, I'm not. Any ride is a good ride.

Long live the Blueflag racing team. There will always be an England.

[Amalie]

Indeed, and you can almost feel the stress. I also enjoyed the Polish guys in the van, but cruising with Gurney in a car like that would have been pretty incredible.

[RightWingNut]

"Gumball Rally" was far better then "The Cannonball Run"

[AFreeBird]

For example, in one scene they steal a vintage Ford Shelby (GT500 model)

There, that's better :-))

[stboz]

If you've ever been on Arizona 89, coming down the hill from Yarnell is dizzying. Doing it in a 365 GTB with ice on the road is mind-boggling.

[Freedom4US]

In one european country, traffic violation fines are adjusted based upon the recipients' ability to pay. I'm not sure if that would fly here in the US, but they might
stop laughing if they were fined, say, $850,000 right from
the git go. As we used to say "That'll learn ya.."