Team Polizei have withdrawn from the Gumball 2007
Team Polizei drivers Alex Roy and Michael Ross has announched the following message on their website:
In view of events of the past day, Alex Roy and Michael Ross of Team Polizei have withdrawn from the 2007 Gumball Rally. They are driving to Bratislava to thank the fans that have traveled from so far. They will make a further statement at 10.00GMT.
This sad news has must something to do with the accident yesterday, we post earlier. We understand this statement from Ales and Michael. Have a save trip back to home guys.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Gumball is done for this year, Maximillion announced the rally won’t continue.
Good decision imo.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Frankly, I don’t know if Alex and Michael read this, but if they do, then I commend them for doing what they feel is right. Understandably, if they are withdrawing from the rally because people are not only wrecking left and right, but because it’s no longer just Gumballers being injured, but bystanders. It sucks when anybody is injured, but when innocents, people who don’t know the rules and risks of the Gumball, are hurt, then something is wrong. I hope, though, that the rally can continue, but not before some restrictions are put in place to prevent this from happening again.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Thats really sad news. I have followed the Gumball3000 from 1999. It is advertised as a rally and not a race but everybody knows with all these exotic cars and extravegant characters there is definatly going to be some fast driving. Im fine with that because in the earlier years most competitors were good experienced drivers and took part for the right reasons. Take Alex Roy for example, I have watched his driving over a few rallies and yet while he drives fast, he also drives safely which of course is the most important thing.
This terrible incident that occured today has been reported as a hit and run but as yet I dont think anything official has been released about exactly what happened.
If this was a hit and run then I think we can safely say that Gumball3000 and Mr Cooper in particular will be in for some serious critisism. There will also have to be some big changes to the rules.
If you ask me, for the past couple of years this event has become very celebrity orientated. The trouble is that most of these guys cant drive, have no real respect for the meaning of the event and complain about the distances involved. Sadly, with all these people entering the rally for the wrong reasons (media exposure etc) something like this was probably bound to happen.
Max needs to tighten the rules big time if he wants to continue running this event in the future. I hope he does.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:29 am
[…] Me duele en el alma que un par de tarados hagan una gran cagada y le den mala imagen al Gumball 3000. Si son conocedores/amantes de los autos como su servidor debieran seguir el Gumball, es lo máximo. Que lo siento por las personas afectadas en este incidente de tal impacto que uno de los corredores más famosos del rally se ha retirado. […]
May 4th, 2007 at 5:04 am
Well said, Ben. I agree totally with you.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
It is such a shame…but put it into perspective and start planning next year…
You can not possibly stop all of this for two people…
May 4th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Team Poliezi did exactly what they needed to do and i agree with their choice to stop driving. I only hope that this is not the end of the Gumball Rally itself… now that someone has died because of excessive speeding, it calls into the question the safeness and standards of the rally. Because someone has died I think it will become considerably difficult to find countries that will sanction this Rally. I pray that there will be more rallies in future years to come.
May 6th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Hey guys…yup, I read this and almost everything else. Thanks for the kind words an support.
Best,
Alex
May 6th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Can you explain to us the nature of this rally? I’m from Macedonia and I know that our police should have escorted the cars in and out of this country, but anyway that is not a reason to drive with enormous speed on a open road. This is not a rally, this is a race….
May 7th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
What it comes down to is this is…. people like Alex Roy are true gumballers, just like the big german dude was a few years back.
But like anything with ‘free’ exposure, the wrong people get involved. Celebs and “Max and Julie” types who are more interested in displaying Elitism rather than actual enjoyment of the rally.
The gumball should be about an appreciation of driving exotic cars (safely) and ending each day with a fun party, not about ‘posing’ and trying to be seen.
People like Morley are the worst of these types, and unforunately he was the one who had the accident, and if he wasnt one of these ‘types’ he would have done what anyone else would and helped the other accident victims, regardless of whose fault it was, isnt that what makes us human……so who is ‘elite’ then?
Joe
May 8th, 2007 at 12:11 am
If these guys claim they have withdrawn, then how come the official Gumball website has slated them for claiming they won the race, even though it was cancelled?
October 15th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
money to buy the cars but no brain to drive them