Gumball 3000

Team Polizei’s Alex Roy, coast-to-coast record holder and Gumball 3000 veteran is driving coast to coast again. This time Alex Roy is joined by Autoblog’s Damon Lavrinc and friend Davey Johnson. They are not out to attack Alex Roy and David Maher’s record time of 31 hours and 4 minutes from New York to Los Angeles but to test technology for future projects.

This technology includes a live video feed incl. live chat that was also used by Team Arbuckle in the Gumball 3000 and a Google map that is updated real time from the car.

The route of this coast-to-coast drive will be totally different from the record run. The three left NYC this morning at 11:15 EST and are headed down the I-80 all the way from the George Washington Bridge in New York to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. From there it’s only a short drive down to Monterey where they will attend this weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

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After the first three days of this years Gumball 3000, only 22 teams are still in the ‘race’ to Beijing. The other teams are relaxing in Las Vegas after their participation in the US leg of Gumball 2008. One of our favorite teams in this years rally, team Driver Side, is still among the 22 teams that’s flying to North Korea today to see the mass games, and they supply the world wide web with frequent updates. Meanwhile the Gumball staff is trying to get all 22 cars cleared by the Chinese customs in Hangzhou before the Gumballers arrive in China tomorrow.

Gumball 3000 participants dropping their cars off at the Southern California Logistics airport in Victorville for the cars to be transported to China:

Photos copyright Dan Loveridge

All Asian Gumballers:

Team #007 1993 Jaguar XJ220

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The last three days we created a list of all the Gumballers and cars in this years Gumball 3000 Rally. Most popular cars in the rally this year are the Rolls Royce Phatom Drophead and the Ferrari F430 Spider. At least five of both supercars were present at this years Gumball 3000, followed by three Lamborghini Gallardo’s and three ‘normal’ Ferrari F430’s. The total number of cars in this years rally adds up to about 65, showcars excluded. Only a very small group of teams signed up for the full trip from San Francisco to Beijing, most of the teams displayed below only did the US leg or one day of this years Gumball 3000.

More information / teams and photos will be added over the next couple of days. If you know a team that did the Gumball 3000 but is not yet in the list or if you have additional information / photos / videos than please contact us.

The Gumball 2008 Team Portfolio:

Team #007 Jaguar XJ220 (white)
Gumball 3000 Founder
Driver: Maximillion Cooper

Team #009 Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead (CCCP)

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Today the Gumball 3000 heads from San Diego to Las Vegas. The participants who are also doing the Asian leg of the rally have to drop off their cars at the Southern California Logistics airport and are flown from there to Las Vegas. The other teams that only entered the US leg of this years Gumball 3000 continue driving to Las Vegas and finish at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Yesterday took the Gumballers from Los Angeles to San Diego with stops at four checkpoints. The first three checkpoints were at Huntington Beach, HRE Wheels in Vista and Rancho Santa Fé. The fourth checkpoint (SoCal Euro Gathering at Qualcomm Stadium) was cancelled last minute and the Gumballers headed from Racho Santa Fé straight to the Ivy hotel in San Diego.

Gumball 2008 Day 3 Updates:

Update 1 8:20 PST: Team Arbuckle left San Diego together with Ashley van Dyke and Eric Ward in the Mercedes E-class. Follow them on the road to Las Vegas at the live feed.

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After an easy and according to some slow first day of driving the Gumball 3000 arrived in Los Angeles. Last night Gumball hosted a party at the Tropicana club in the Roosevelt hotel and Gumballers met locals and celebs. Meanwhile the Gumball cars and a large number of show cars gathered crowds on Hollywood Boulevard outside.

Today the Gumballers will leave Hollywood and head out to San Diego. On the way Gumball set up a number of checkpoints including a checkpoint at the SoCal Euro Gathering in San Diego. Between 4 and 6pm tonight the teams are expected to check-in at the Ivy Hotel in downtown San Diego.

Gumball 2008 Day 2 Updates:

Update 1 13:24 PST: Team Arbuckle arrived first at the second checkpoint of the day at HRE Performance Wheels in Vista.

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The Audi R8 of Gumball 3000 team Driver Side just witnessed the crash of a Ford Excursion with a trailer just north of Calafia on the I-5. The Ford Excursion lost control, spun and the trailer flipped over. According to police sources on sight 2 other vehicles crashed into the Ford Excursion but all drivers and passengers were unharmed.

In the crash, that was captured on film by team Driver Side, were no Gumballers involved. The I-5 is blocked due to the crash and other Gumball 3000 participants will have to find an alternative route. Watch the video of the crash below:

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David Hasselhoff entered the Gumball 3000 with his legendary buddy KITT from the Knight Rider. David Hasselhoff also brought his Audi R8 to the start of the rally and picked the Audi supercar to drive the first leg in. KITT was said to have some technical hiccups and arrived at the checkpoint in Hollywood a bit later.

‘The Hoff’ hooked a little camera up to the net and filmed his journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles on the Gumball 3000. Watch the video below!

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With a 45 minute delay the Gumball 3000 kicked off in downtown San Francisco this afternoon. The first checkpoint of the day is at Buttonwillow Raceway along the I-5 interstate. After a couple laps on the track the rally will continue to the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. There the cars will be on display at Hollywood Boulevard from 8pm onwards. For a full list of checkpoints and a timetable go here.

Below you can find a number of videos and photos from the start and the latest news from the road, frequently updated.

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Team Polizei just shared a brilliant piece of modern technology. One of the teams on this years Gumball 3000 Rally, Team Arbuckle, has a camera onboard that submits live video, paired with a GPS transmitter this delivers the video / location feed you can find below.

Team ‘Driver Side’ of Trevor Traina and Adam Jackson also has a live video feed from their Audi R8. You can watch both feeds below and of course discuss what’s happening in the comments.

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Team Polizei mapped all the Gumball 2008 checkpoints in Google Maps. They promised to keep updating the Gumball 2008 Google Map during the rally with interesting locations and events.

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The wait is over, today the Gumball 3000 flag drops in San Francisco and sends the teams and their precious supercars on their way. Last night some of the Gumball cars were on display in front of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and our friends from San Francisco took some pictures of the supercars while the Gumballers enjoyed the kick off party at Club Temple.

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We almost forgot but in less then 24 hours the flag drops in San Francisco to mark the start of the 2008 Gumball rally. We gathered all the information supplied by our Gumball friends and made the Gumball 2008 timetable displayed below. For all the Gumball fans in California, make sure you don’t miss it!

Last year the Gumball 3000 rally came to an early end after a fatal accident in Macedonia involving one of the teams. However the show must go on and the Gumball rally returned to the USA for the fourth time. This year the Gumball 3000 leads the participants from San Francisco to Las Vegas with stops in LA and San Diego before flying to North Korea and China.

8th August 2008 - San Francisco

Today the Gumballers arrive at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. After the required team registration the cars are put on display and the Gumballers gather for the champagne reception and Gumball 2008 launch party.

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