Millionairs Arrested For Unlawful Racing

[matcom]

<snip>

FIVE multi-millionnaires were arrested at the weekend for driving at speeds of more than 200km/h in an unauthorised, high jinks road race in the Catalonia region of Spain, local police said today.

The annual, yet illegal car race known as the Gum Ball 3000, is famous for attracting participants with an appetite for big-engined cars and life in the fast lane.

Among this year's participants are British actor Adrien Brody, model Jodie Kidd, the singer Jamiroquai and a nephew of Saudi Arabia's king.

The five drivers - all men - detained by Spanish police yesterday are from Britain, Canada and Belgium and are all between the ages of 30 and 50.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9529096%255E13762,00.html

[MaineDem]

1. Cool!

:thumbsup:

:evilgrin:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Does Spain ROCK or what? (nt)

[jmowreader]

3. It's been done

Ever see The Cannonball Run?

Well, that was "based on true events." The Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was Car and Driver Magazine Editor Brock Yates' protest against the 55mph speed limit. They did it four times, in 1971, 1972, 1975, and 1979. The Cannonball Run was actually run twice in 1971 but the first trip was made only by Brock Yates and his son.

All you had to do was to get a decently-fast car (average speed the first year was in the mid-sixties; most any good car can do that) and a week off from work. You drove from Manhattan to Redondo Beach, California, as fast as you possibly could.

In The Cannonball Run, a lot of different kinds of cars were used. And so it was with the real Cannonball; the last one featured a Rolls-Royce (which took over 50 hours to make the Run) and a bread truck (which needed over 60).

The Cannonball was permanently retired after the 1979 Run because someone did it in 32 hours, 51 minutes.

[TheMightyFavog]

4. IIRC

It was Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough who won that race.

[jmowreader]

5. Yes it was

In a Jaguar XJS.

But Bill Broderick and Company had it figured out: Bill Broderick, Phil Pash, Bob Carey, Joe Frasson and Pal Parker ran the first three "open" Cannonballs (remember, Brock Yates and some friends did it once alone as route reconnaissance) in a 1966 Travco motorhome. The Union 76 Travco Motor Home team was launched to create publicity for Union 76's luxury truck stops. Which, as anyone who's ever driven a motor home knows, would have been visited very frequently on a drive like this. They get horrible gas mileage when driven at 55; the description of the gas mileage you get when you drive a motor home floorboarded for 3000 miles requires an obscenity that hasn't been invented yet.