Fatality puts an early end to 2007 Gumball rally
Newswheel staff :: 04 May 2007 :: Filed under Porsche, Porsche 911
Here’s hoping it’s permanent
Tragic but utterly inevitable. The Annual Competition to Find the World’s Biggest Showoff, otherwise known as the Gumball 3000 road rally, has taken the life of an innocent bystander. Two British men driving a modified Porsche 911 were reportedly involved in an accident on Wednesday in Macedonia in which a 67-year-old man was killed.
The precise details of the accident remain unclear. However, as for the “race” itself, in an act of surprising sanity the organisers have called an early end to proceedings.
Nicholas Morley, 30, and 32-year-old Matthew McConvile have been named by various news sources as the drivers of the TechArt 911. According to reports, the Macedonian man died of a heart attack in hospital following the accident. His wife is alive but in critical condition.
A spokesman for the Macedonian police told news agencies, “two British citizens left the scene of accident. Shortly afterward, border authorities found them in another (car) … at the Qafasan border crossing. They were arrested on charges of endangering traffic and abandoning an accident victim."
However, a report by the Guardian newspaper indicates that the two British men waited for an ambulance to arrive before rejoining the race. They were later detained at the border following the death of the Macedonian man.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
The Gumball rally has its roots in the US as an underground coast-to-coast race for petrolheads. No press. No PR. Just hardcore car enthusiasts. Today’s Gumball has mutated into a frankly rather repellent - and certainly extremely dangerous - festival of Z-list showboating.
MTV wannabes?
As far as Newswheel can discern, many of those taking part in this year’s event have no genuine interest in cars and commensurately non-existent driving skills. In other words, what you have is largely a bunch of drug ‘n drink-fuelled, attention-seeking Z-list wannabes driving borrowed supercars down crumbling second world donkey tracks at high speed. Nice recipe.
With any luck, this is a blow that the Gumball in its present form will never recover from. Our only fear is that this could spell the end of much more sensible GT and road rally events in Europe. Authorities on the continent are taking increasingly draconian measures in an effort to stamp out excessively dangerous driving, including fines measured in tens of thousands of Euros and nearly-on-the-spot car crushing.
Consequently, driving in Europe has become a damn sight less fun for those of us who enjoy driving briskly but safely. Quite apart from the obvious tragedy, in other words, this sad event is just another feather in the cap of the anti-speed lobby. So it goes.
Linkage:
Guardian report
Sky news
International Herald Tribune
Posted 18 May 2007, by Javier
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