Gumball 3000¹s Œ10th Anniversary rally was nothing short of epic!

San Francisco, USA - Beijing, China. August 9-16th, 2008

On Saturday 16th August, over 100 exhausted and exhilarated superstars and
supercars crossed the finish line in Beijing, China, having driven 3000
miles as participants in the 10th Anniversary Gumball 3000 Rally. 120 of the
most amazing cars, driven by film stars, musicians, sports stars,
billionaires, and the cast of MTV¹s Jackass all set off from San Francisco
on Saturday 9th August taking part in this incredible eight day drive with
parties each night incorporating Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, a
24-hour stop-over in Pyongyang, North Korea, Shanghai and Xuzhou as part
of this whirlwind road trip adventure!

The revelry kicked off in San Francisco, when Gumballers donned their Puma
driving shoes and set off in car culture heaven as David ŒThe Hoff¹
Hasselhoff led a parade of over 120 spectacular vehicles through the city in
his original 1982 Knight Rider Pontiac Trans Am better known as KITT!
After waving the flag, all vehicles headed south to Los Angeles, via an
incredible drive on the 58, before a legal burst of speed at Button Willow
raceway on route to the Hollywood Boulevard stage finish line. Hollywood
went Gumball crazy as tens of thousands of fans turned up to cheer in the
cars, with favourites including Travis Barkers 1965 Ford F250 custom
low-rider, the stunning Gumpert Apollo GT, the 1960 VW T1 custom Samba
Campervan, Maximillion¹s Œtooled up¹ Jaguar XJ220 supercar, not to mention
KITT!

Following a night of partying as DJ Fredwreck spun the tunes at the
Roosevelt, Gumballers set off for the short but action packed drive to San
Diego. From the LUX5 Œbikini fashion show¹ checkpoint in Huntington Beach,
to HRE Wheels in Vista; lunch followed in the most idyllic setting at Rancho
Santa Fe, followed by a gathering of over 1400 cars at Qualcomm Stadium and
a ŒPresidential style¹ police parade to San Diego¹s Gas Lamp District to
cross the finish line at the stunning Ivy Hotel. The Ivy hosted an amazing
party on the rooftop, with Barry Peters and DJ Este entertaining!

From San Diego a drive north through the desert to Las Vegas brought the US
stage to a close, with Gumballers dropping off their vehicles at Victorville
Airport, to be flown on cargo planes to Hangzhou, China, for the adventure
to continue.

The Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino hosted the wrap party of the US stage
in ŒWasted Space¹ where the Cuban Brothers and MSTRKRFT entertained, as
trophies were awarded in the shape of Nixon watches to all participants.
Other prizes awarded were the HRE ŒBest Car¹ Award going to Ben Abrams and
Gregory Langlais in the 2007 matt black Ford GT; and the US ŒSpirit of the
Gumball¹ going to Yo Œmegaphone¹ Esbensen and Jasper Watts from Rogue
Status, driving and entertaining the crowds in a 2008 Scion XB.

The following morning saw another early set off as Gumballers boarded the
ŒGumball Air¹ Boeing 757 Œall first class¹ plane to North China on route to
Pyongyang, North Korea. In North Korea Gumballers got to spend an
unprecedented night in this undiscovered city to watch the incredible ŒMass
Games¹ - their spectacular display of arts - as a global Œfriendship¹
initiative. Following the Mass Games, the North Korean Minister of Culture
hosted Gumballers for dinner, followed by a night of karaoke and an early
morning skateboard session led by legendary skaters Bam Margera and Sal
Barbier.

Upon safely exiting North Korea and a short flight on Koryo Air to Hangzhou,
China, Gumballers were reunited with their cars and ready for stage two to
begin with a 3-day drive north to Beijing. With full Chinese Government
support, roads were closed off in spectacular fashion and the route into
the super-futuristic city of Shanghai resembled a scene from Blade Runner
with almost surreal fork lightening striking the skyscrapers overhead!

From Shanghai the rally headed north to Xuzhou, before crossing the finish
line in Beijing on Saturday 16th August, in time for the Gumballers to watch
a week of Olympic finals!

Entrants included MTV¹s Jackass stars Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn and Loomis Fall
filming for a Jackass Special, David ŒThe Hoff¹ Hasselhoff, male supermodel
Tyson Beckford, comedian Orlando Jones, Death Race movie bad guy Max Ryan,
and action sports legends Todd Richards, Rooftop Escamilla, Sal Barbier and
Bucky Lasek…driving everything from Ferrari Enzo¹s to Rolls Royce
Phantom¹s, to old Mustang¹s, Low Riders and even a Donk!

The wrap party took place in the amazing Beijing Westin Hotel, and Œgold¹
Gumball Olympic medallions were awarded to all participants, with Œspecial
awards¹ presented as follows; The Mechanics Award went to father and son
entry Breson and Richard Delator; the ŒGreen¹ car award to Arkady and Ilya
Golubovich in the hybrid Lexus 600L Sedan; Best car was awarded to non other
than ŒKITT¹ the 1982 Pontiac Trans Am Firebird (despite sadly breaking down
on route to Shanghai!); Best Car Graphic to Dimitry Zelenov and Alik Gold in
the Russian Œhammer and sickle¹ Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead; the Veteran
Award went to Karta Healy, for participating in all 10 Gumball¹s; Most
Stylish went to Œthe Sheikh¹ Amro Kayal; and the main accolade for 2008
ŒSpirit of the Gumball¹ was deservingly awarded to Dave Carrington and
Phillip Wright in the 1960 VW T1 custom Samba Campervan (complete with
Porsche engine and nitrous!)

This was by far Gumballs most spectacular event to date everyone that took
part enjoyed a safe and epic Œonce in a lifetime¹ journey! Thanks to Puma,
Monster Energy Drinks, Nixon Watches, Spy Optics, Top Trumps and everyone
that helped to make this event happen.

For more information go to www.gumball3000.com bringing you the latest
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