Gumball 2007: Second victim of the Gumball crash
The international rally Gumball 3000 claimed the second victim today - Margarita Chepunjoska, the wife of Vladimir, who died two days ago, has passed away today in the Skopje Clinic Center.
Margarita was severely injured in the accident that took place on Wednesday, when a participant of the rally crashed his Porsche into the car driven by her husband.
British citizen Nicholas Morley was speeding in his Porsche at the Struga-Qafasan road, when it collided head-on with Chepunjoski’s Golf.
Yesterday, an investigative judge of Struga Court ordered 30 days of temporary detention to Nicholas Morley. The Police filed a formal accusation against him for “heavy violation of traffic safety” and “failure to provide help to an injured person”.
Macedonian police told today that no charges will be raised against his co-driver, the British citizen Matthew McConville.
View the video of the accident here.
Our thoughts go out to the family and friends!
May 4th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
And our thoughts are with Nick. 5 years for each case of vehicular manslaughter (at least). And the event itself - it should be fined at least several millions (I wish someone drains every single penny the organizers ever made on this stupid “race” )
May 4th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
It was only a matter of time.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I hope Nick gets buggered in a macedonian jail.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
You all need to get some perspective on this and stop blaming the easier target!
The gumball does not promote speeding, it does not condole speeding! and the organisers are certainly not to blame!
500 people a day die in road accidents these 2 people are just a small %.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
If it does not promote speeding, why do they have a “winners” award?
Everyone knows full well that there are a group of drivers that drive at stupid speeds whenever possible, competing with each other…it’s on the TV FFS.
If Gumball was so anti-speeding, these idiots would have been banned because of their behaviour along time ago.
Gumball is shit anyway, full of “Top Shop” cars and rich toffs with plums in their cheek. I mean just look at the name of the organizer, what a muppet, does he demand to be called Maximillian or is Max okay?
May 4th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Simon, if Gumball did not promote speeding, all violators would have been banned from the so-called “race”. Then it would not be a “race” anymore, but just a tour around the countries. Instead, the organizers pretended not to know about speeding and not to do anything with it, silently encouraging people to enjoy the race as they please (money talk). The fact that they never prosecuted violators make them directly responsible for the accident (same as street-racers responsible for the damages they cause), hence they have to pay (I hope a lot).
True, people die in road accidents, but I do not remember F1 car ever crashing into the oncoming traffic. nor a NASCAR, nor true rally car. Racers die, accepting the risk of the sport, but never other drivers that just go on the public road on their own business.
Gumball organizers intentionally put public in jeopardy, therefore they should be punished. As for Nick - manslaughter is manslaughter, I hope he gets convicted and imprisoned for several years.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:23 am
i hate these tools that jump on the bandwagon..
we’re hearing news reports and making judment calls on this when no one actually knows the truth.
i reserve judgemen on nick (maybe other driver had something to do with it?), and gumball (maybe max wasn’t getting clear info himself to issue a proper release.etc).
so have a think guys before you follow the sheep.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:35 am
At the end of the day, the arsehole who decided to drive on the wrong side of the road, then hit a little golf at full stuffing speed AND THEN try and jump the border should burn in a jail cell. I have absolutely NO RESPECT for Nicholas and he deserves every bit of law thrown at him.
I DO NOT for one second put blame on the Gumball 3000 at all. They were not the ones who killed those two innocent people.
As Simon said, stop going after the easy way out.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Your thoughts should not be with the two pricks who caused this accident by driving a car on the wrong side of the road but with the 2 dead locals whose family will never see their parents/grandparnets again.
2 typically rich arrogant idiots in an expensive car have cost two lives, this race should be now be banned.
I hope the driver serves at least 10 years in a foreign jail and then maybe he will be abale to ponder on the lives he has ruined in his adrenile rush to prove he is the best driver.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:18 am
There are actually lots of really nice people that participate on the Gumball Rally - there is an element of wankers, but also some really good people too. Its so easy just to wrap everything up into one neat package and judge everyone the same. It is really childish just jumping on the band wagon - before this happened millions of people where enjoying watching the ‘close shaves’ and 100s of videos of the spectaculer Gumball crashes. Now someone has been killed everyones pretending they never watched them. Dont think so. Law of averages was that someone would die - it is just a shame it wasnt one of the drivers.
May 5th, 2007 at 10:22 am
While driving through Holland, Belgium and Germany already 7 driver licenses were confiscated and 2 vehicles as well by police. So I think it is a bit weird that (another) Simon is doing like this is just a traffic accident like any other.
May 5th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I think this ego bulls*** has gone to far!
My opinion is that the next Gumball rally should be with NON-STOP police escorts so this accidents could be avoided!
The people of Macedonia, don’t hesitate to show their anger for the spoiled Englishman, and they are right!
Also they were very disappointed to read that the country is called FYROM in all the offical texts, a reason I wrote sooner!
We will see, what will happen in the next 30 days, I hope that this won’t we swept under the rug!
May 5th, 2007 at 11:39 am
This is a very sad story.
I really am a big Gumball Fan, but I think that this was only a question of time, when a “big” accident would happen.
I have to say that you should not blame the whole Gumball participants, but if there is one, I have to say IDIOT, who is not able to drive carefully, you have to blame this person, because the other participants do not have a blame anyway. It is also sad that he injured (murdered) people who had not to do anything with Gumball 3000. And after the accident: THIS IS THE MOST STUPID THING I READ!! WHY DID THEY RAN AWAY!? DIDN’T THEY KNOW, THAT THERE COULD DIE PEOPLE, BECAUSE OF NOT HELPING THEM!????? Bugger… *sorry*
So, it is very sad that a second victim passed away.
My respect to Maximilian Cooper and the Gumball organisation, who stopped the whole rally at Bratislava. I think it is the right decision.
I hope also that this is not deciding for never coming back with a Gumball Rally anyway. We have now to wait till next year, and I think the Participants should be chosen more carefully´the next time.
R.I.P
So long, Steven
May 5th, 2007 at 11:53 am
There’s some pretty strong opinions on here!
My view is that yes Nicholas was incredibly stupid. And it was ultimately his responsibility to drive responsibly and within his limits. That in my opinion means that the Gumball organisers etc are not at fault. You can’t hold somebody responsible for somebody else rank stupidity.
The Gumball organisers stipulated a policy of not breaking speed limits and driving responsibilty which in essence is all that they can do; they cannot enforce the laws themselves- thats the job of the police.
I don’t think comments along the lines of lock him up and throw away the key are also fair- Nicholas did not intentioanlly go out to do this. Yes he should be pinalised for his actions but with a view to provide justice - not to make a political example.
Gumball has never been promoted as a race- it is a Rally for car ethusiats… Its just sad that a small minority treat it as a street race.
PS the main prize that is awarded is the way in which complete the gumball, not for the fastest - the paris one was won by a driver in a 2cv that did no more than 60mph!
May 5th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Well everyone should at least realise that this has highlighted a very important fact that we all should be taking note of, and that is that you are better off being in a porsche than a golf…
May 5th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Not sure if any of you noticed that that golf was a 2 door. Very nice project car that. I know a guy that took one of those and did a VR6 Turbo charged conversion to it. Being a very light body it really stuffs off… pity it is so buggered, dont think they can really re-use it as it looks like the chassis is bent…
May 5th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Firstly Jay your an idiot “it is just a shame it wasnt one of the drivers”. You should rot in hell for saying that. Yes they have probably caused the sad deaths of two beautiful people but to want death on other people is wrong.
I think they should definitely be sentenced for a lengthy spell from crashing and from running. THe running will really hurt them whihc was a cowardly and stupid thing to do. Those people for all we know could have been saved by them.
Also I think many people on here are jealous of the fortunes of some of these drivers most notably Matthew Hawriliw. Jealousy is a powerful thing.
May 5th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
everyones making good arguments about what should be the punishment, i am a huge gumball fan and have been following it for a long time, ive been at the starting and in some cases the finish line of about 5 gumballs, but yesterday i have never felt so betrayed…the fact that gumball tryed to cover up what happened made it worse, fine everyone knew it was coming and gumball should have been better prepared for what happened, they really let us all down……
May 5th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
OKAY I FEEL THAT SOME THING HAVE TO BE SET STRAIGHT AS THERE ONLY SEEMS TO BE ONE PERSON ON THIS FORUM THINKING OF THE BIGGER PICTURE, BEING SIMON
FIRST TO Matthew Hawriliw, THE WINNER OF GUMBALL AS ALL FANS KNOW IS “SPIRT OF THE GUMBALL” WHICH IS AWARDED TO THE PEOPLE THAT BEST INBODYS THE GUMBALL, LAST YEAR BEING THE GUY WHO TRASHED HIS ROLLES ROYCE PHANTOM, AND WHEN HE GOT TO AMERICAN WENT OUT OF HIS WAS TO BUY ANOTHER ONE TO FINISH THE RALLY, AND IT WAS HARD FOR HIM AS HE LOVED HIS PHANTOM, OR THE YEAR BEFORE WHEN IT WAS THE GUYS IN THE CITREON 2CV ALSO THE FACT THAT ITS CALLED A RALLY NOT A RACE SHOWS THAT THEY DON’T ENCOURAGE SPEEDING OR LAW BRACKING WHAT SO EVEN, THIS IS ALSO INCLUDED IN THE TERM AND CONDITIONS OF JOINING THE RALLY, WHICH EVERY PERSON MUST READ AND SIGN, IT ALSO GOES ON TO SAY THAT PEOPLE FOUND NOT ABIDDING T THESE TERMS WOULD BE THROWN OFF THE GUMBALL.
TO Good luck May I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD BUT THE GUMBALLERS DO GET PROSECUTED FOR SPEEDING AND RECKLESS DRIVING AS THERE HAS BEEN MANY TIMES THAT GUMBALLERS HAVE FOUND THEM SELF PAYING RIDICLOUSLY HUGE FINES AND ENDING UP EAITHER IN JAIL CELLS WITH THERE CARS INPOUNDED OR BEING ESCOURTED TO THE BORDERS, AND LIKE IVE SAID BEFORE IT’S A RALLY NOT A RACE, SO YOU CANNOT COMPARE IT TO A NASCAR RACE OR AN F1, ITS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, ITS MORE LIKE A VERY EXPENSIVE ROAD TRIP, ALSO THE CLAIM THAT GUMBALL PUTS THE PUBLIC AT JEOPARDY IS JUST PLAIN STUPID, THEY BLOCKED OFF 2 KILOMETERS OF ROAD IN LONDON THIS YEAR WITH BARRYIERS SO FANS WOULDN’T GET INJUERED WHILE THE CARS DROVE PAST, NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF LONDON CITY HAS THAT MUCH STREET BEEN CLOSEDDOWN OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS….ONE MORE THING, MANSLOUGHTER WOULD BE INSANE TO BE CHARGING NICK, DEATH BY RECKLESS DRIVING FOR SURE BUT MANSLOUGHTER IS WELL OVER THE TOP.
NOW I COULD GO ON ALL DAY BACKING UP THESE GUYS, BUT I DON’T HAVE TIME, I SAY WE CAN POINT THE FINGER ALL WE WANT BUT ALL WE CAN REALLY DO IS WAIT FOR THE OFFICIAL IVESTIGATION TO COME OUT WITH THE EXACT TRUTH, THERE SEEMS TO BEEN A LOT OF DIFFERENT VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENED GOING AROUND AND I FEEL THAT PEOPLE WHO MAYBE NOT TO BLAME ARE BEING CAUGHT UP IN IT ALL…..
May 5th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
If I remember, there are no “winners” awards for first place, only Spirit of the Gumball awards.
May 5th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Hey Everyone!
Thing is that MOST PEOPLE participating at the Gumball (I met all of them personally) were really kind and low key. People BELEIVE that they are arrogant, perhaps some were - NOT ALL OF THEM!
The drivers are REQUIRED to sign a contract where they agree that they will NOT SPEED and not break any laws. The gumball organisation has no responsibility if the drivers choose to break that contract. Ofcourse people will speed, anyone would in cars of these calibers. Dont beleive for a second that IF YOU WERE IN IT YOU WOULD TOO!
The gumball DOES NOT, I REPEAT DOES NOT HAVE A WINNERS PRIZE!!!!!!!!!! This is what makes it a RALLY and NOT A RACE! There are prizes for “best spirit”, BUT NOT A WINNER AWARD!!! I KNOW THIS FIRST HAND!
This is a terrible situation, especially since the drivers left the accident, but also even worse that they tried to leave the country! This is terrible, and the Gumball organisation does NOT stand behind this type of behaviour!
May 5th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
What i don’t understand is if people are so anti gumball why do they even come on this website??!! Why don’t you stop judging people that you don’t even know! If it is found that it was Nicks fault then he should serve his time, but no-one knows the details, so don’t judge until you know the facts, it seems to me that it smacks of jealousy! Just because they drive nice car’s doesn’t make them posh toffs! I commend Maxamillion for actually making something of himself and building up an event that up until the accident was the envy of many, just look at the sponsors he got on board!!
Sorry but rant over!!
May 5th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I think they are just criminals, they don’t look to other’s life, they think that they are god just because they are rich.
I love cars and supersportcars, but I like them in a track or in correct places, not in a road, because a road is for travelling, not for racing. This kind of ilegal races are bad for the automovilism prestige.
They think that they are very good drivers, but they are just crazy people, please think before drive.
That deads are not only Nike’s fault they are gumball3000 fault.
The worst thing is that they run away in stead of helping that two inocent people.
Sorry if my english is not good i’m Spanish
May 5th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
there are no winners in gumball…gumball is not a race…its a rally, and any fan of gumball will have heard that 40 times already. what happened happened, yes its really sad that they had to die. and its not true that gumball doesnt tolerate speeding, but that the dont promote it. read the terms and conditions of entering the rally in the gumball3000 sight and u will see that that the drivers are responsible for any and everything they do, which includes speeding, lost licenses, crashes, and in this case death. call it bad luck more than anything. although i do consider the driver of the porsche a pussy for trying to escape the accident. thats just plain immoral. the gumball will continue, and max will have more than enough money to pay any fines. so no matter what u say, it will happen again next year. dont hate the game…hate the player.
May 5th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Both cars seem pretty intact despite a (rumoured ?) head-on crash at (rumoured) 200kph.
Just curious, are these experienced drivers ? Each year, the Gumball has more sponsored rental cars, with inexperienced drivers. Accidents are bound to happen.
May 6th, 2007 at 2:36 am
I’m really tired of people pretending that Gumball organizers has nothing to do with it.
Gumball as the event: a driver who showed any sign of unsafe driving during F1, NASCAR or any other reputable race will be banned from participating in future races. Now, there could be an argument that in F1 every driver is visible, making it easy to scrutinize performance. True. But at the $50,000 entry fee Gumball organizers could easily install a $500 GPS device in every car, banning every speeding idiot. Most rental car places have it on $50/day cars, so the only reason I see not to have it on $50,000 entry-fee race is to turn a blind eye on speeding. $50,000 entry fee and other perks, why stop them? The bottom line is, there are plenty of ways to monitor driving of every single car in the “race”, and there are tons of way to race safely away from public roads. The organizers chose to facilitate a typical street race for rich, hence the organizers, Max Cooper in particular, are directly responsible for the crash. Millions (or tens of millions) should be awarded in a case against the Gumball event.
Nick: he has to face charges for vehicular manslaughter, unsafe driving and abandoning the crash scene. I think, several years in Macedonian prison + huge fine to the family should be fare.
Nick’s passenger should face charges for abandoning the crash scene and not reporting the crash.
Arsehole that picked them up should face prison term as an accompanist with attempt to hide the fugitive.
Too bad they will go away.
In any case, Gumball is just another type of street racing. The best thing to do is to set up a police cordon and confiscate every speeding Gumball vehicle (nice pay out day for the police force) and put their drivers to jail for street racing.
May 6th, 2007 at 3:51 am
I keep looking over those pictures of the tragic incident, and I cant see in anyway that Porsche was doing 200kph, roughly 120mph. There are plently of other drivers who can testify to crashing their cars at that kind of speed, and they ended up with a car that looks like a big ball of jagged metal. The porsche looks far from this condition, or the VW if it had been hit at that speed.
I hope the Police will be able to release the details of their traffic report soon, so we can find out the exact details, rather than read rumours.
May 6th, 2007 at 10:59 am
The driver was in the wrong, not the organisers,I expect he signed all required disclaimers with his entry and therefore if he was speeding and on the wrong side he must except blame.
May 6th, 2007 at 11:41 am
There are some seriously Childish comments on here lets look at the so called facts shall we:
1. Speed doesn’t kill people - drivers do!
2. For a high speed crash there is VERY little damage to the cars! Was it really high speed??!
3. Accidents happen everyday
4. The couple were old - How many times have you been cut up an aged person with failing eyesight?
5. Some reports have even mentioned that the couple were responsible for the accident and pulled out on the car.
6. Nobody deserves to die and speed kills apparantly?!
7. Anyone who trusts anything reported in the press is stupid - Its called sensationalism and it sells newspapers!
8. Cancel the race - blame the organisers Yes lets all live in small cottonwool bubbles and become a completely risk adverse society shall we? With this kind of nanny state attitude man will evolve into a lump of blubber attached by wires to his food/internet/tv.
9. Yes they left the scene - however if you read reports it was after the emergency services arrived.
10. The jealousy shown in this thread of “rich people” is hilarious! They all had the same breaks as you fat boy! Instead of wasting your time on here moaning - how about getting out there and making yourself some cash? Maybe you can join them next year?
It was a tragic accident that we don’t have all the details for yet. I am sure the driver will be facing his own demons without a bunch of idiots like some of you baying for his blood without any understanding about the accident or the situation in the first place!
May 6th, 2007 at 11:46 am
I know its flogging a dead horse and I think i’ve covered most of what everyone else has said but the gumball is about the adventure, not racing.
A case in point is when the 2cv, london taxi cab and icream van took part.
If people choose to race then its their own fault. I cant imagine people would care so much if this was a normal porche driver not on the gumball.
It really is a bad thing but people die on the roads all the time, you can hardley keep banging on about how its all maxs fault. Was he driving? Did he tell that guy to speed.
Driving talent doesnt allways improve with the size of your bank balance.
However I think that Nic is going to be in some seriouse trouble. Crashing, yes bad but running. Thats insane. However I had a friend do the same and later he said he just became scared and confused and just acted on instinct. I’ve crashed and your brain goes all screwy.
All you haters out there, just remember, your all assuming things. Like the other guy said. IF you dont like the gumball. Then why on earth are you looking at a site about the gumball? Just so you can trash talk?
I’d be interested to see a police report or something. I’ve seen old people drive, they can be pretty dangerouse themselves.
soz for the essay style comment
May 6th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Something you guys should look into, a test was carried out a while ago (in the UK i think) where they compared elderly drivers to drunken drivers to sober drivers,and the reaction times and kinds of responses that the elderly drivers had were the worse. The test showed that you were less of a risk as a drunken driver on the road than a “elderly person”. So the comment that was made about actually knowing the whole story is true, the elderly couple could very well have been the cause of the accident. The Golf was hit on the left front fender. This to me indicated a T-bone like scenario. That would imply they were turning out infront of the porsche. Secondly I have written off a golf and that was caculated as an impact at 55Kmh. They had to use tow trucks to pull the two cars apart and then use the jaws of life to cut the passenger out of their car. My Golf was not much beter off than that Golf. That would mean that there is no way what so ever that golf was hit at anything over 100Kmh. A friend of mine had a accident where he was hit on the front right fender by someone shooting through a intersection from the right, he had a Golf Mark1 just like that one and his damage was about the same. The person that hit him was caculated as having hit him at not more than 90Kmh. So the fictional speed of 200Kmh is absolute Bull.
So Lets summarise:
We have a elderly couple with dangerously slow alertness driving a car that was hit from the front left hand side (possibly due to them turning in front of the porsche), and where the porsche was possibly doing 120 and ended up slowing down to about 100Km befor the impact. That does not sound as clear cut as some would make out.
We have to await the police accident report as most of the media’s report is bull.
May 6th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Why doas everybody say that it was only a matter of time for someone to die and why do you accept it as normal? It’s an unusual rally on not-closed roads and people died who actually had nothing to do with this event. I think it’s crazy to put this crazyness into culture and to accept/olerate the destructive behaviour of all involved people. How crazy can our culture be?
May 6th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I can hardly imagine that any country will allow the rally to use its roads in the future. Which is probably the best way to end it all. The many examples of misbehaviour that we have seen during the last weeks, show that the majority of the participants lacks both experience and self-control. Let’s put it this way: I could have caused the accident because I don’t drive Porsches at high speeds every day. And that is why I don’t participate in such an event. People who are blunt enough to ignore their own limitations will have to bear the risk. At least he will have ample time to reflect on his decision.
May 6th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Instead of argueing. Why dont you post comments wishing the familiy of the 2 locals ur best. Think about their family, they have lost 2 loved ones. Although i do hope that in sum way the family is compensated for their loss, i know it will not bring anybody back but it will help the family pay for their funerals and maybe help them in the future.
May 6th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
R - what I meant by it being a shame it wasnt one of the drivers who died was that yes, it was inevitable someone would get seriously hurt / killed and that then the organisers would look differently at the safety of the Rally - the drivers do the rally at their own risk and if one had been killed these issues would be looked at - but the GUmball would not be getting the bad press it is now. Because it was a member of the public, the Gumball is getting alot of bad press that it does not deserve - obviously the best scenario was for no one to die!! But if it had to be anyone it is a shame it wasnt one of the drivers - get it? I have read 6 different newspapers today with COMPLETELY different stories! I mean totally different - and people are latching on to each story as if its the word of God…….. people read what they want to read and believe what suits them.
May 6th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Nick Morely and his brother Oliver are both arrogant pricks, they believe that they are above the law. The Morleys and their clan of rich, ‘car crazy’, ego centric mates are all the same, they clearly feel the need to show off with expensive cars to make up for a lack of something in their lives, constantly trying to ‘out-do’ each other with something faster, more expensive and rarer. They strutt around Cheshire posing and speeding in their flashy cars, they drive how they like, park where they like and basically put two fingers up to the law knowing that they can pay their way out of any fines cast upon them. They bragg about their use of Private Jets and it looks like trying to escape on one certainly backfired for Nick here, no doubt Ollie funded that particular escape plan.
Crashes happen, sadly a fact, however it is Nicks subsequent cowardly behaviour in running away and trying to escape that sums up this guy. No doubt, as always he believes that his inherited wealth will get him off scott free, which will probably happen as unfortunately if you chuck enough money at anything you can usually get the result you want. I can’t see him being sent to prison and the fines won’t be a problem to him… will he learn, will it change his attitude or his driving??
All I know is that if someone killed both of my parents in the name of ’speed-crazy, rich kid’ fun then ran away leaving them dying and alone I would demand justice and make it my lifes ambition to ensure it happened and saw him punished for his behaviour. They must have seen the state these poor people were in and chose to run instead of help and offer some comfort to them in their last moments, I hope that image will haunt Nick and his equally cowardly friend forever.
Justice has to be done and lessons have to be learned. Fast cars belong on tracks not on normal roads where normal drivers are put in danger without even realising it. Imagine what carnage would be created if touring car ralleys took place on roads that hadn’t been closed off to the public for the duration. If gumball is to continue, then at least the roads should be temporarily shut off for normal traffic until the danger passes, its madness not to do this….
My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the deceased couple.
May 6th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
I dont know who you people think you are, yes what has happened is most regretable but to stand there and say that the organisation (Gumball) should be fined and in some way blamed for what happened is totaly uncalled for The Gumball team cant be blammed for the fact that Mr Morley wasnt driving in a safe and controlled manor when you enter the Gumball you are specificaly told to obey all local speed limits this is a fun event not a flat out blast accross the country. Nobody can stand here and condem Mr Morley we wernt there so we cant comment but you cannot hold the Gumball resposible in any way they do not control everyone who enters the rally.
May 6th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
The only thing i can see from the pic is the vw got hit in the side not head on !!!!! leavin the accident there is no excuse for that
having compeated in rally events in europe why didnt the organisers time the route at correct speed limits to check points where cars would arrive with time card if found to be outside expected time disqualified if excess speed proven !!!!! oh yes but its not a race is it !!!!
May 7th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Here’s just a quote from the rally of last year. Make up your minds speed freaks…
30.04.06
Team Polizei is 22 miles from the Chateau Beloeil Checkpoint. They were just pulled over for doing 110mph in a 60 zone. Two miles behind them, the black SLR driven by Oliver Morley was pulled over again for speeding. Night has fallen over the pack and there are SEVERAL Police helicopters in the air as well as many ground units along the different roadways leaving France.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I say it’s time to leave it alone.
Everybody’s got their own views, most of which are based on speculation and sketchy reports. Surely people should really make their strong opinions once the necessary authorities have completed their investigations.
Gumball organisers cannot be held responsible for the actions that caused this event to happen. Its the drivers of the two cars that were responsible for their actions. The gumball team do everything within their power to prevent irrisponsibility on their event, but they cannot themselves enforce any laws.
If a football thug whent on a package holiday to a forgeign game, then caused a fight and ended up kiiling somebody and tried to run away… we wouldn’t hold the tour operator responsible would we?? Or the game organisers?? People are accountible for their OWN actions.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
ditto to the last remark. You cannot blame the organizers for 2 drivers who clearly dismissed the rules of the rally and the LAW. Any person driving thgrough a small village should take extra precaution of children, animals and other cars,ect. The organizers wereVERY CLEAR in explaining this to all drivers. I was there and remember!!! Huge, huge tragedy but not the fault of Gumball organizers.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Hey Pancho, but still a sign to do stuff like this on close roads in the future, right?
May 8th, 2007 at 8:55 am
My condolences to the families of the deceased, it is a sad situation.
While I am sure 99% of the Gumball 3000 drivers are highly skilled and don’t take unnecessary risks, there are always a small number of people who screw it up for the others.
I live in the States and we are not able to have a high speed rallies due to the amount of police and liability laws in the USA. IF this crash happened here the driver would be facing 15-20 years in prison for vehicle homicide and could be sued for millions.
It is too bad a few always ruin it for the many. They used to serve beer in Major League Babseball clubhouses after games. Last week a Wanker player was smoking weed and drinking and talking on his cell phone at 5:00 am and hit a tow truck and was killed. Now this week most of the clubhouses have banned giving players beer after a game. It’s just like high school parties, some idiot always ruins it for the responsible people.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
As an ex insurrance assesor. I would like to say the damage to the VW is not consistent with a supposed speed of near 30MPH i would say try tripling this and you may be in the correct region.
If the VW has supposedly pulled out in front of the Porsche at a junction. Ecessive speed would be the most likely cause. As the driver would have seen the Porsche a few hundred yards and reasoning if it was driving at the correct speed he had time to pull out.
If this is the case i hope the full weight of the Law comes down on the driver.
May 20th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Simon, someone should run over your parrents to show you yust a small % you dum ignorant!!!!
May 20th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Xzibit’s Gumball Gallardo on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=120122707014
May 30th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Artefact, you write with true hate in your words.. i think you need to calm down and be careful before you talk such slanderous words to nick and oliver Morley as they are friends of mine and many other people, and you odviously know them from the outside as if you did know them they would never leave those people in the golf, it was a tragic accident for all concerned and nothing more, which has been spun by the press! be patient and objective not judgemental so easily and i promise the truth will come out after nicks trial.. you may think they are mindless,rich and irresponsible but that is very far from the truth.. jealosy is a dangerous thing and these guys are just enjoying life, they don’t want to upset anyone but unfortunately we live in a country where success is sneered at not congratulated or maybe you think anyone who has worked hard and enjoyed success should sit at home for fear of upsetting people like you!! We only live once and you odviously share a passion for fast and exotic cars as we all do on the website, so may i suggest don’t get so bitter get out in the real world, earn it and enjoy it, and most importantly share with your friends, and then you may start to enjoy your life rather than being bitter about other peoples!!
and by the way money is not just for cars and toys its also for helping your friends and family when they truly need it, something i hope you learn with your own…
June 8th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Okay.
I’d like to publicly apologise for what I said.
I stated something without knowing the facts and came to a wrong conclusion.
I hope no harm has been done and that the people involved get back to normality as soon as possible. It has been a horrible incident and something that the Gumball could have done without
Again Apologies to Nick for running my mouth.
June 8th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6734417.stm
June 9th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Nicholas Morley car accident, Macedonia, May 2nd 2007
STATEMENT OF FACTS AS FORMALLY ISSUED BY THE MORLEY FAMILY JUNE 8TH 2007
• According to two expert crash investigators, the vehicle driven by Nicholas Morley was travelling at no more than 47mph (76kph) at the time of the accident
• The initial accident investigation was carried out by a professional Macedonian investigator. His findings were reviewed and confirmed by Dr Richard Lambourn, an established expert in the field
• Dr Lambourn was an accident reconstruction specialist at the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory for 23 years (1973-1996) and is currently a principal consultant at TRL, an independent, not-for-profit transport research firm and consultancy. It was the firm that reconstructed the car crash that caused the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
• The cause of the crash was a second vehicle pulling out of a minor road without warning and into Nicholas’s path. The cause of the crash has not been disputed by the prosecution
• According to the defence expert witnesses, Nicholas had 1.6 seconds to respond to the second car’s sudden appearance, causing him to react reflexively and swerve violently to the left. The defence experts concluded that the accident would have been unavoidable at 30mph (50kph)
• The court declined to hear the evidence of the defence expert witnesses, although the testimony of the prosecution expert witness was heard
• Macedonia is party to the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 6 of which provides a detailed right to a fair trial. Under the Macedonian Criminal Code, the defence has a right to submit evidence
• The prosecution’s accident investigator is not a professional in this field. He admitted in court that he is currently unemployed. He further admitted in court that the police sketch of the crash site on which he based his findings is inaccurate
• Dr Lambourn concluded that the accident investigation report relied on by the prosecution is “fundamentally flawed in its physical and mathematical reasoning.” He further concluded that it was “quite impossible” that Nicholas’s car was travelling at the 100mph (161kph) alleged by the prosecution
• The family of the Mr and Mrs Cepunjoski, who were tragically killed in the crash, have called for the court to release Nicholas
• Following the accident, Nicholas and his passenger, Matthew McConville, attempted to disentangle the vehicles and offer what assistance they could. They only left the scene after the injured persons had left the scene in local vehicles. Nicholas and Matthew then travelled to the border to alert the police
• Nicholas Morley and Matthew McConville spoke to the investigating judge at Qafasan, on the Macedonia/Albania border
• Nicholas Morley did not try to flee the country. He was released on bail, with no conditions or restrictions attached. He was free to leave the country
• Nicholas Morley, 30, is not a millionaire; he does not work in property
June 13th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Your thoughts and prayers are with Nick???
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
How about those two poor old bastards minding their own business and got killed cause poor Nick wanted to drive like Nigel Mansell with a hangover on a public road? I think them and their family deserve the thoughts and prayers. Only thing Nick deserves is a phone call to his favorite lawyer from his jail cell.
June 24th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
yeah tragic only a matter of time !!!!!!!!!!!!!
doesnt everyone know the saying everything happens for a reason! youll get a fast car on the road over here crash in to someone yes its tragic it happens but its every day life if it hadnt have been a gumballer that went into him it would have been someone else !
June 27th, 2007 at 12:21 am
wait until next year for the first drivers to get shot by angry mobs of gumball haters. and nick is a plain heartless mad driver, trying to escape from an accident. maybe his’s dads influential friends will get him out of jail, but a burning hell is waiting at the end of the ladder once he is done with his life. and for all other gumball dudes around: you nothing but a bunch of spoiled rich boys without any control of your behaviour. if you could behave, you would not race like that and try to justify being part of such an “accident”, by trying to play it down. and you would not apply censorship to the discussion by deleting critical opinions. all that there is left to mention is the fact that all gumball racers are just not competent and skilled enough to make it onto a real race track. they cannot compete with the real racecar drivers so thats why they need to drive their cars on public roads. they can’t even afford to rent a racetrack for a single day. seems to me that those rich kids are just poor little puppies.
July 20th, 2007 at 2:23 am
At the end of the day the fault is on the people who were killed and not the driver participating in the Gumball Rally.
So get off your high horses and shut up.
January 1st, 2008 at 6:02 pm
gummballers need two realise that there \are other pepole on the roads but at the same time have fun in there exspensive cars we say things coz we think thre showing of in ther sports cars but other pepoel in les powerful casrs do the same