Gumball 3000 Cancelled

[BioSniper]

Nick Morley and Matthew McConville's ultrahigh performance Porsche 911 was said to have veered on to the wrong side of the road and struck Vladimir and Margarita Chepulyoski's VW Golf.
The Britons were said to have leapt into another car (BMW M6) taking part in the Macedonian leg of the Gumball 3000 rally and headed for the border. The pair were later stopped by guards as they tried to cross into Albania, police said.

Mr Chepulyoski, 67, died of a heart attack on his way to hospital, while his wife was in a critical condition in intensive care in hospital.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article....&in_page_id=34

Click the link for the full story.

This has also been confirmed by the official Gumball3000 website.

Kind of sad really that this happened but in some respects with many of the entrants speeding excessively it was bound to happen sooner or later (imo).

[gar]

Unbeleivable! You can't give celebs HP cars and expect this not to happen. That rally should be banned imo.

[Bogomip]

You don't give them the cars, they buy the cars themselfs. Its the first time this has happened since the conception in 1999 (where other people have been hurt) but I do think its now looking dubious for the races future. Also what assholes for trying to run :<

[gar]

Originally Posted by Bogomip

You don't give them the cars, they buy the cars themselfs. Its the first time this has happened since the conception in 1999 (where other people have been hurt) but I do think its now looking dubious for the races future. Also what assholes for trying to run :<

Yeah, knew that, but wrote it by accident.

Yea, I mean isin't that illegal. You would be convicted for running off in the UK anyway, wouldn't you!?

[gar]

Just read that a Ford GT crashed before the Porsche. Thats more than irresponsable.
http://www.gtspirit.com/2007/05/03/crashball-3000/

[alastor]

Originally Posted by Sunday Telegraph

The British Gumball Rally 3000 driver arrested in Macedonia over a fatal car crash was caught trying to flee the country in a private jet, police have revealed.

Nick Morley, 30, who is facing possible criminal action after a high-speed collision that killed a local couple, was detained at Skopje Airport on Friday just hours after a judge had granted him bail. He is said to have called the jet in from London on a mobile.

Morley has been transferred back to the remand prison where he was held after being arrested and interviewed following the accident on Wednesday.

Surprising the maximum he can get is 1yr, especially after that. Although the drivers were apparently picked up at the local police station after reporting the accident there.

[Bogomip]

Originally Posted by gar

Yea, I mean isin't that illegal. You would be convicted for running off in the UK anyway, wouldn't you!?

Hit and run is, or should be illegal everywhere in the world.

Originally Posted by gar

Just read that a Ford GT crashed before the Porsche. Thats more than irresponsable.

The supercars themselfs always seem to be kitted out in all the safety stuff you need to survive huge crashes - nobody ever seems to die from a crash in them and someone always crashes!

[will.]

Its a great event if people don't see it as an outside of the law speed-fest. If anything they should work out the fastest possible time between each checkpoint and give penalties if they get there earlier than that time.

[Nexxo]

The Gumball 3000 is:

...an annual 3000 mile (5000 km) international rally that occurs on public roads, typically in Europe. Although denied by the organisers, the controversial rally is considered by many a race on public roads, as the drivers often violate speed limits during the rally. During the history of the rally, many participants have been fined by the police in countries they passed through, cars have been confiscated and the 2007 rally was cancelled after participants in the rally were involved in a fatal accident.

Basically, driving high performance cars at excessive speeds on public, open roads. It is a miracle nobody got killed earlier.

This is nothing more than the rich-guy equivalent of joyriding on an estate. Personally, I hope that the drivers get to do some serious jail time and that the race is banned outright.

[gar]

Originally Posted by Nexxo

The Gumball 3000 is:


Basically, driving high performance cars at excessive speeds on public, open roads. It is a miracle nobody got killed earlier.

This is nothing more than the rich-guy equivalent of joyriding on an estate. Personally, I hope that the drivers get to do some serious jail time and that the race is banned outright.

Totally agree with you there, Nexxo.

[specofdust]

Normally I'm not into the banning of things, but since the majority of what goes on at the gumball rally is illegal anyway, banning it would be a hell of a shortcut. Anyone who's seen the shows covering the 3000 knows full well that the majority of competitors(let's be honest, that's what they are) are speeding at crazy speeds.

[KMS-oul]

Originally Posted by Nexxo

The Gumball 3000 is:


Basically, driving high performance cars at excessive speeds on public, open roads. It is a miracle nobody got killed earlier.

This is nothing more than the rich-guy equivalent of joyriding on an estate. Personally, I hope that the drivers get to do some serious jail time and that the race is banned outright.

Agreed

[ArtificialHero]

Sure looks fun though. The kid in me wants to go, the adult in me knows that even if I go and have all the fun of the parties and touring in a nice car within the law, by paying my entry fee I would be supporting the event and the other drivers who participate and act less responsibly.

[Krikkit]

Personally, I love the Gumball. It's wrong, speeding on public roads, especially at the kinds achieved by Gumball competitors in supercars, it's ridiculously dangerous, but I defend it. Alright, it's mad, but most of the time the competitors are taking as many precautions as possible to not have an accident, and avoid other people, probably more-so than the casual driver because they're cruising around in hundreds of thousands of pounds of car.

The two drivers that crashed the 911 and killed those people acted the opposite way to how I would expect most people to: own up and face the music, not run and hide... To be honest it's a deplorable way to act even if it's scratching someone's car in a car park, nevermind wrecking someone's car and killing several people.

I hope it doesn't get banned, but the competitors learn some responsibility from this.

I know I'll get flamed, but there it is. I'm not an irrational person by nature, but the Gumball just gets me.

[specofdust]

I can see why you say what you say krikkit. Ordinarily I'd be against the banning of this thing, I mean, there are already plenty of laws that ban the things these drivers all do(perhaps they should just be enforced far more strictly). OTOH, I don't agree that the majority of the racers are taking precautions not to crash. From the shows I've seen covering the rallies they're taking as many precautions possible to avoid being caught for speeding, and doing their best to go as fast as they can, as far as they can.

[Krikkit]

They do take a lot of precautions not to speed, but let's be honest: If any vehicle is best for avoiding an accident, it's a supercar, with a possible racing-driver at the wheel, it represents a much more feesible way to get out of the way of trouble. Now, granted, all the drivers in the Gumball aren't racing drivers, but a lot of them have racing licences or at least a decent amount of experience with high-performance cars.

Some of the participants are fools, but that shouldn't spoil it for the more responsible people in it imho.

[ArtificialHero]

Originally Posted by Krikkit

If any vehicle is best for avoiding an accident, it's a supercar, with a possible racing-driver at the wheel, it represents a much more feesible way to get out of the way of trouble. Now, granted, most of the drivers in the Gumball aren't racing drivers,

Fixed, and an expensive car does not a good driver make.

I'm still really on the fence about this. I've still got an offer of a drive in next year's rally, but I really don't know whether I'm still up for it. I have looked into this matter pretty extensively, and it seems that the general opinion of the other gumballers close to the drivers of the TechArt 911 involved in the accident is that they were going below (or trivially above) the speed limit, and (with the greatest of respect), the golf driver pulled out into the fast lane without due care. Not to excuse their subsequent actions, but fear can do surprising things to a person's principles, and I know I would be absolutely shitting myself at the prospect of being banged up in a foreign prison. And whether or not the gumball drivers were at fault, chances are that would be the outcome.

AH

P.S.
Seeing as how the cars were all fitted with GPS devices that track their progress throughout the rally, would it not be possible to check the speed at which the 911 was travelling when the accident occurred?

[Krikkit]

Originally Posted by AH

*snip*

True enough AH, I'd take the place tbh.

I hadn't heard that the car had switched lanes, I read/heard (wherever it was) that the 911 went a bit awry going over a crest, and crossed the lane.

[Bindibadgi]

Just rich kids with nice wheels doesn't mean they know how to handle them.

There's no recording devise onboard and it depends how often the GPS updates their progress through the central server. Whether they pulled out fast or not, I still don't think it's much excuse for what they did subsequently. But then again, everyone assumes they were speeding (because most Gumballers do, all the time).

[ArtificialHero]

Agreed, bindi. I'm just saying that IF they weren't and fault and given that they might have a limited level of confidence in the reliability of the local justice system, trying to get out of the country might have been a consideration. I don't think I would have done it, but I do think the case for doing it is arguable.

AH