DAY 1: Leaving for London

Friday 13 th . lucky? Maybe. We finally managed to get away from Peterborough at about 1pm , some four hours later than planned, after numerous last minute tasks on the car, most of which we thought had already been carefully planned for.

The drive down to London was the first long run which the car had made since coming out of the workshop, where the suspension had been overhauled and the vehicle had undergone a transformation from a fairly stately looking car into somewhat of a beast, with the modified bonnet, bullbars and sidesteps fitted. The normal 1 ½ hour journey finally ended some 3 hours later, after having stopped to get the wheels balanced, a daft oversight, and the reset the suspension computer, which was showing a fault.

We checked into the hotel, just off Trafalgar Square , and moved the car down into the underground garage, where, along with the other 120 cars, it would have the brandings applied by a specialist team.

The evening was spent at the premiere of the film "Six Days in May" followed by a party with many star performances. Jamiroquai's Jay Kay, Supermodels Caprice and Jodie Kidd, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill's legendary director Quentin Tarantino with film star Daryl Hannah, and Bez from 'The Happy Mondays'. Another 4 thousand people joined the Gumballers for an unforgettable night that lasted well into the early hours of Saturday morning.

DAY 2: London the Start

We were up bright and early for breakfast wishing we hadn't stayed quite so late, Maybe the race in the 3 wheeled taxi bikes around Trafalgar Square wasn't such a good idea after all but I suppose the look on the driver of the Ferrari Enzo's face as this bike came towards him will stay with me a while, I may just have to avoid during the Gumball.

After breakfast we loaded the car and set out for the short journey to Waterloo Place , where 80 chosen cars would spend the day on display. During the day we noticed the gradual increase in public presence, not actually realizing that we were only seeing a small fraction of huge numbers of people who had come to London just for this event. After lunch we had the Drivers meeting where we were told what we should expect over the next 7 days, Hard driving, Hard partying, living on energy drinks and junk food and of course when we do finally reach the end of each leg of the rally a 5 star hotel awaits, during the drivers meeting we had a word of warning from the police saying they would be out there doing there job, umm maybe we would have to wait till France before putting our toe down.

After the drivers meeting we were told to go to the cars and wait until the flags dropped at six great only an hour left to check we had everything packed I think we had about 60 bottles of energy drink with us just in case

6.00pm

Jenson Button is at the start to see us off, but what actually amazed me were the thousands of people that had turned out to see us leave London, it wasn't until we reached the start that the sheer scale of people that were there, at least 30 deep both sides of the road and going on for about 1 ½ miles, we did hear on the news that up to two hundred thousand people were out from London down to the Channel tunnel, I had never expected this even Paris last year didn't have anything like this it was absolutely amazing and I would like to say thank you to everybody who came to see us off it.

We finally made it out of the crowds for about 7pm and left for the Channel Tunnel, we have a fairly hassle free drive and kept within the speed limits and arrived at about 9.15, all the way down people were gathering on the overpasses "absolutely amazing".

We drove on to the train and waited in anticipation for France we knew we could put our toe down as we had to make up for lost time getting out of London .

300m to go to the finish in Prague

The centre of Prague

Day 1 second leg Channel Tunnel - Chatelet

After our short journey we arrived in France, and almost immediately the cars were screaming towards Belgium, it was getting late and the roads were totally empty so being on the Gumball you have to do what Gumballers do, watch for road conditions and be courteous to other drivers and put your foot to the floor whilst obeying the local speed limits "now are those speed limit signs in mph or kph" if it says 120 I best do 120 as it is a long way to Chatelet.

We pretty much had a hassle free journey down to Chatelet, for a time we were losing water somewhere, suspension failure and one of those weights shot off from the wheel, so now we 150 miles into the Gumball with a car that's starts to have teething problems, no problem think positive at the next pit stop buy lots of water "this must be the only car on this Gumball that has natural spring water in the radiator, nothing but the best for this car" as for the suspension we plug in our borrowed diagnostic computer (thank you Garry) clear the faults caused by a temperamental pressure switch give it a clout with the hammer so it can release itself and will sometime during the next few days get the wheels re-balanced.

During our journey on the train we got talking with some Belgium drivers who warned us the Belgium Police are on the look out for any Gumballers who break the speed limit by even 1 mph will be arrested and cars impounded for the duration of the Gumball, so with this in mind we took it nice and steady up to Chatelet only to find the roads had been blocked as over 6 thousand cars had taken to the streets, we had a police escort into the town and then had to fight our way through the crowds, the car was totally surrounded, this was crazier than London, there the police used barriers here the crowds wanted to be as much part of the Gumball as we did.

We did finally make it into the grounds of the Chateau where dinner was awaiting us, 5 star treatment again, this is the life, but then we had to leave again, oh no not the crowd again, maybe there was a back way out through the fields or something, we did have a 4x4, so with a quick talk to the Gumball organizers who suggested going through the woods to escape because the crowds were going wild and some of the cars had already been engulfed by these people and were going nowhere fast.

We left Chatelet very quietly and on towards Germany, we kept to the speed limits and even managed to get pulled into a Police checkpoint, I couldn't believe it I thought this was it Car impounded, passport confiscated end of the Gumball but no, the Police wanted to take photos of the cars, they were as much into the cars and the crowds earlier had been they had a quick check to see if we were using any illegal radar detectors or jamming equipment, but one look in the car and seeing all of our gadgets of Sat Nav, DVD players, cameras, monitors and numerous other items they just let us through and told us to drive carefully, I told them we always do and made our exit from Belgium

Germany

We entered into Germany with steady pace the car running well, on towards the autobahn where we had no worries of the Police, now we could make for lost time, the car drives perfect at 125mph even the wheel wobble had gone and so was the fuel, these 6.3 litre engines do like the taste of petrol at high speeds, I think we managed to get to about 10 miles to the gallon but we really were making up for lost time so it didn't seem to matter to much.

Our satellite navigation works really well and even last years Gumball didn't let us down once but today was going to be different, with Maximillion Cooper on our rear bumper in his Ferrari we took the guidance of the sat nav "At the next junction turn left" the road looked empty, very empty why wasn't anybody else turning left ? but the Sat nav had never before really took us the wrong way so we proceeded down this brand new tarmac road, with Maximillion on our bumper we had no choice but to "Race" I know it's not a race but a rally, but there was no way Maximillion was going to get past without us putting up a good fight, well it was good whilst it lasted "7 seconds" we tried but I suppose we were asking a lot from our 6.3 litre Chevrolet that is as aerodynamic as a breezeblock! But lady luck was in our favour this time about 2 miles down this brand new road it came apparent that it wasn't quite open, and as the Dodge Viper that came flying past us found out when the tarmac turned to hardcore, even max had stopped but the Viper was going too fast, the front spoiler hit the ground and came away they slide to a halt we slowed down to make certain they were ok then we were off only to be pulled by 2 very nice German police in a VW van, we could have out run this thing in about 5 seconds flat but decided against it, best keep the right side of the law.

They were very good, they told us we shouldn't be on the road yet as it was still being built, no problem we followed them to the new but unopened slip road they pointed us in the right direction and we again were off, there was no sign of Max or the Viper. This was one race we won.

We went onwards towards the Czech Republic with no other incidents until the border control!

Arriving in Budapest

Is it 60 mph or kph?

Are these yours?

Dave - the hardest Gumballer of them all!

Gumballed!

Dubrovnik Old Town

Czech Republic

On arriving in the Czech Republic on Sunday morning it has been completly manic, we had trouble at the border as checking documents took 30 minutes as owners hadnt brought there car documents with them so they were turned away and had to go to the next check point, as for us we sped towards Prague, the roads were exceptional and absolutly no police so we were able to make up lost time, we finally arrived in prague after some of the best driving so far, we were met by large crowds of Gumball fans, we were getting asked for our autographs time and time again it was just so surreal!

In the evening after dinner we went to explore what Prague had to offer, we ended up in a bar where we met up with Caprice and Pepa who are also part of the Gumball.

We left Prague the following morning again with large crowds waving us off as we sped towards Vienna wher the most amazing thing happened at the border, all of the Gumballer obeyed the speed limit, there were a couple who took the risk but were soon pulled up and given very large fines. some of the most amazing supercars keeping to the speed limit, it was like the scene form the original film "cannonball Run" cars travelling along at 40kph through the police check points "just amazing"

Vienna

Nothing could have prepared us for the greeting that was in store for us as we drove into the city of Vienna, there was a police roadblock where thousands of prople had gathered to see the Gumballers roll into the city as the police waved us into the cordened city center we were besieged on all sides by the people who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle as Austria is a very  "green consious" country, not that you would believe it by the thing they said to us, asking everyone revv thier engines and burn rubber. We stayed for a quick lunch and left for our next checkpoint, again fighting our way back through the fantastic crowds and trying not to go even 1kph over the speed limit.

Once we had cleared the city, we made our way as quickly as was reasonably possible, to the border, knowing that we still had another waypoint before making it to our hotel in Budapest, Hungary.

Once we had crossed the border into Hungary it was foot down all the way to the famous motor racing circuit, the Hungaroring, where we got to the cars on the track for a few laps, which was great. Whilst in the car park we were messing around with the suspension and "jacked" the car up onto one side to show what can be done with our most amazing suspension system, and within two hours there was a photo of it on the internet saying that we had crashed, not the case at all as you can see were still on the move and keeping well up with the leaders in the pack.

We left the circuit at about 7pm and went back to Budapest to our hotel for a good dinner and drinks, with the regular stories of the days happenings. We left Budapest at 7am the next, Tuesday, morning for a very long drive down to the Croatian Krka National park and falls, which, despite the rain, were the most awsome arrangement of natural water falls we could have imagined. Allthough the roads in Croatia can be somewhat unpredictable, we made good time and enjoyed the great scenery on the roads, especially on the very narrow winding lanes leading down to the falls.

We had an outdoor buffet for lunch, still in the rain, and left for a 300km drive to the old town of Dubrovnik, the road was the ideal sunday drive, but we needed to make up time and passing was very difficult, the 309km took about 5 hours.

We entered the old part of the city and as we were the guests of honour of the city. The Mayor had laid on a reception for us, again we were greeted by huge crowds, all loving every car. The Mayor was very proud to have our visit and asked that we all return to visit for longer in the future,we left after another lovely meal for the ferry terminal and an overnight berth, to arrive in Bari, Italy the next morning.

Wednesday
Port of Bari, Italy
After 8 hours on a tin tub I was more then pleased to get back into the driving seat again, we had roughly a 500 km journey which we estimated would take 5 hours to complete, how wrong we were, the first 300 km were excellent with good wide roads and not very much traffic around until the roadwork’s. We had roughly 200km of single carriageway, all of the Gumballers were stuck behind lorry’s, cars and even a couple of tractors, this was by far the worst drive of the whole event, this was hard work and the concentration on the road conditions was a nightmare for us all.

We finally reached the port of Reggio di Calabria and boarded the ferry for Sicily when upon arrival everybody put foot to the metal heading towards the sleepy town of Toarmina. Our hotel was I the actual town and we were overlooking the sea it was perfect; we rested by the pool with cold drinks discussing our driving of the day.

Thursday
Toarmina - Rome
Breakfast was alfresco this morning, on the high terrace of the Grand Timeo Hotel in Taormina, overlooking the beautiful bay. At 9 a.m. we had loaded our kit into the car, grabbed a route card and made our way back to the ferry port where chaos ensued, our sat nav decided to play games with us and we ended up in a holding park, there the ground was very wet after a downpour of rain and whilst I tried to make a quick turn around in the car we found ourselves doing power slides “wicked” after 10 minutes of this and the Police watching on we decided to make a quick exit but somehow during the mayhem we and most of the Gumballers found ourselves on the wrong ferry and the operators could not manage to back-up the traffic so just left us alone and ferried us across.

We arrived on the mainland and as soon as we were clear of the terminal we just wanted to get onto the main road and make some distance, unfortunately this did not happen, as for what seemed about two hundred miles was nothing but road works and we dragged along in single file traffic behind lorries going at speeds as low as 25mph, not good. Eventually we got onto the A1 and Mark wasted no time in getting us up to our normal cruising speed, about 110, kph of course….not. Where the Italian roads are good, they are great fun to drive, as they do not just run along straight for miles, but twist and turn and go through tunnels, making for good, interesting driving, regardless of what type of car you have, be it a super sports car or sensible family estate.
So finally we make it to Rome, hoping for a big reception from the Romans, but we found ourselves a bit under whelmed by the numbers, although we may have been out done by the Star Wars film premiere which was starting nearby, but Myself and Paul managed to woo some of their crowds over by standing on the roof of the Overfinch and throwing out packets of Top Trumps, a very amusing sight but the crowds that had come to see the stars in the Star Wars premier soon found themselves running for the packs, it was amazing suddenly all these people were there yelling for these cards, next time we should sell them, money for the ever increasing fuel bill.
We checked in and went to dinner, at the local McDonalds, and not really having had any junk food for a few days, we can all say we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Friday
Rome – Monaco

The day started early with yet another cold buffet breakfast, 7 days and 7 buffet's you can have too much of a good thing, not! We loaded the car early for quick get away only for the gumball organiser to tell us that we couldn't leave till 11am as we would arrive into Monaco before the roads actually re-opened after the Friday F1 qualifying session. So with a couple of hours to kill we decided to go sightseeing and when in Rome do as the Romans do, go to the coliseum, we were told it was only a short walk and seeing we had just had six days sitting on our backsides it was time we started to lose some of the flab we had gained by eating too much chocolate and burgers.

Well after 20 minutes of walking we decided to get a cab, now which was a good idea as we never would have made it to the coliseum and back again for the start.

On our return to the start line the crowds had gathered which was quite impressive after the previous afternoon when only a hand full of people came to see is arrive, maybe they had heard about the free of charge top trumps cards.

At 11.00am we was given our route card for our check point for the historical city of Florence, we set the destination into the sat nav and we were off, now normally when you set off from the start line other car drivers would let you cut in and generally help you get out of the city quicker but no not here no chance we even got cut up by a idiot with a death wish driving a fiat 126, we could have gone over him but no we stayed calm until we hit the major motorways. Here we encountered another Italian pastime “lane changing without indicating” we must have had at least 15 close calls with other Italians who would be minding their own business wondering all over the road “Scary”.

Well we made it into Florence without too much fuss to another cold buffet. No time to lose so had a glass of water jumped back into the car for the last leg of the rally. By now we were getting reports that Gumballer's had already arrived into Monaco, I dread to think what sort of speeds they must have been doing do get there so quick.

We arrived into the outskirts of Monaco only to be stopped by the Police checkpoint, they were looking for Radar detectors and jammers, and they took one look inside the car only to be met with all of our gadgets, with the look of amusement the police just waved us through.

We found the checkpoint at Casino Square but were disappointed that James Bond wasn't there to greet us; I was looking forward to some gambling lessons from him but not to worry maybe next time

Well the Gumball was over for this year, the car managed to complete 3000 miles without any major disasters, I know we did have the little episode at the Hungaroring F1 Circuit whilst showing off with the suspension, I still cant believe how quick the car was to appear on the internet but after a couple of hours the car was fine and we did manage not to show off anymore.

We will be having an award ceremony later on next month for all the drivers to collect there trophy's but as of today's date the French customs still have them impounded, they couldn't get the cars so they nabbed the trophy's instead.

Well all we had to do now was relax and get some good seats for watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix for Sunday, but before I go I would like to say a big thank you for following us around Europe and keep watch for new updates as we still have lots more to tell you about the 2005 Gumball 3000 Rall.

Turn your dreams into reality, we did!

Regards,
Mark Shaw, Paul Shaw and Robert Andrew

MAPS

Day 1
London to Prague route report
London to Channel Tunnel
Calais to Belgium
Belgium to Czech border
Czech border to Prague
Overview - London to Prague
Prague - Vienna
Austrian border (detail)
Vienna (detail)
Vienna - F1 Budapest
F1 Budapest (detail)
F1 Budapest - Centre Budapest
Budapest (detail)
Overview - Prague - Vienna - Budapest
Day 2
Budapest - Zala Hungary
Zala Nagykanizsa Hungary
Zala Nagykanizsa - Zagreb - Karlovac Croatia
Karlovac Croatia
Karlovac - Siibenik Croatia
Sibenek Croatia
Sibenek - Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik - Croatia
Overview - Budapest - Dubrovnik
Day 3
Dubrovnik Croatia - Bari Italy
Bari Italy
Bari - Marzi (Fuel Stop) Italy
Marzi Italy
Messina Ferry
Marzi, Italy - Toarmina Scily
Toarmina Scily
Bari, Italy - Toarmina Scily
Overview - Italy - Scily
Day 4
Toarmina - Santo Terase (Fuel Stop)
Santo Terase - Messina Ferry
Messina - Tarsia (Fuel Stop)
Tarsia - Cassino
Cassino- Rome
Rome- Lazio Centre - Rome
Sicily - Rome Report
Day 5
Rome - Florence
Florence
Florence - Monaco
Monaco
Rome - Monaco (Overview)
Rome - Monaco (Report)
Summary
Gumball 3000 complete
Gumball 3000 14th-20th May
The journey home!