warleydaddy

Just looking around,and i found the little journal things Me,Sean B,and Rich did when we did the GUMBALL a few years ago with Martoon,Porkie,Reanton,and Sona..

So good reading what we wrote,its all coming back to me,and id LOVE to do it again 1 day (well actually do it,not be a scrubber,and fuckin blag everything)!!

Cheers guys for a WONDERFULL trip!!!


http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/upload/22...gumball-2.html

UPDATE, this time from ZOO Motorsport (HELL of a story but WELL worth the read!)-



Official ZOO team update.

Hi Guys, Rich, Pete and Sean here in sunny Marbella

The GUMBALL for us started at 11:30 on Tuesday morning when we got the call about the gearbox being busted. Bear in mind that Rich (T16ger), Pete (Warley Daddy), Kev Catt, Monte, Mike Rainbird and me (Sean is doing the typeing) were due to be on the train over to Paris to simply watch the start and give best wishes etc.

So the decision was made to try and get the box fixed. BIG UP PORKIE who just said "What ever it takes, and what ever it costs, we just have to get the Escort back on the road" So we needed a plan.

Firstly which gearbox do we use. At this time the keys to Martins workshop were unobtainable and the only person with a half strong MT75 was Monte, so the first idea was for Monte to Taxi it with his box to Warterloo station and then all of us train it over as originally arranged.

This became fraught with problems though as Martin needed a million and one special little bits and bobs to get Montes´box to fit (centre push hydraulic clutch etc etc etc)

So we basically needed another better plan.

By this time Martin had tracked down his dad who had the keys to his workshop and he was driving home from Telford so that we could pick them up. The plan was to go to Martins workshop take the Quaife box out of Porkies car and get the R&D and a load of tools and stuff and drive it all to Paris.

The three of us going from Brum (Me, Pete and Rich) would ditch the train and go in a car to Paris Monte, Mike and Kev went by train as original plan. Next was which car do we go in, it obviously needed to be big to fit three of us in it with all of the tools and 2 gearboxes, plus it needed to be half fast so that it didn´t take us all day to get where we needed to go. The only option was to hire something, so a few calls were made and the only suitable thing we could get hold of was a Fiat Ulyses (spelling) people carrier.

So the plan was coming together. We all (Pete, Rich, Me, Brom) jumped in another of our mates cars and first stop was the ZOO workshop to get a load of tools and oils etc that we would need.

Then off to Martoons Dads to get the keys to Martoons workshop. The on to Martoons to get the boxes.

We dropped Brom and Pete off at Martoons workshop and Rich and I went over to Birmingham airport to pick up the hire car. It probably took us about 30 minutes to drive from Martins to the airport, pick up the car and get back to Martoons.

In this time Brom and Pete had taken the 2nd quaife out of Porkies car and eaten lunch!!!!!!

We ripped the two back seats out of the 400mile old hire car (that is now trashed by the way) and loaded the quaife, the R&D, loads of tools, jacks, our three lots of kit etc etc etc all in the back of it and we were off.

Rich and Pete got on the blower and sorted us out a channel crossing while we were driving down to dover. The time as we left Martoons workshop was probably 17:30. So in 6 hours we had made a plan, got dressed as we were all in our pants and Brom was still in bed when the call came in, got the keys, got a car, got the box out of Porkies, loaded up with a zillion things and got our asses on the way to Paris

We made it onto the 20:30 train to Paris and pulled up outside the GUMBALL hotel in Paris at 12:30 (Paris local time)

Porkie was waiting outside for us and we then met up with Kev, Monte and Mike R.

Porkie the SUPERSTAR had got us all sorted into the opening party which was SUPER BLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to say the least. A round of ten bottles of Fosters cost a hundred and twenty five quid!!!!!!!!

Porkies bar bill at the end of the night was over a grand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, forgot to mention that Martin had managed to remove the busted gearbox pretty much single handed with very limited tools and borrowed jacks and stands and stuff while we were driving over!!!!!!

Day 2

Got in from the party at 04:30
Got up at about 08:30 to change the gearbox.
Got to the GUMBALL hotel at 09:30 after a physcho taxi ride with the angel of doom behind the wheel!!!!

When the six of us got into that bloody Gumball garage we were totally speachless, it was the most awesome site I had ever seen. Pete had a quick count and we conservatively estimate over 24 million pouds worth of cars all in one place and that was only half the field and the cheap garage (only one Enzo in here and a Fiat 126)

We got our arses into gear and got the new box in the car, we put the 2nd Quaife in instead of the R&D and the car was driving under its own steam by about 12:30

We then all got into the hotel bogs to have a wash. I am sure the site of four stripped off blokes standing in the loos of the blingest hotel in Paris was quite a site.

We all then blagged our way into the drivers briefing which again was totally awesome, the atmosphere was absolutly electric. Maximillion is one seriously cool bloke. He knew about Martins gearbox troubles and knew that we had driven over and fixed it and was happy to speak to even us lowly peasents.

By now the decision to follow the first leg down to Marbella had been made. I tried my hardest to talk all 6 of us into coming along in the van but due to work and family commitments only me, Rich and Pete were gonna make the trip.

We all then trooped over to the start at the Eifel(sp) tower, as you have seen the pic´s already. What a site it was to see 180 GUMBALL car´s all ready and rearing to go....They all blasted off into rush hour Paris traffic and the GUMBALL 3000 2004 had begun. Only problem being that route cards are pushed into your hand as you leave the start line, so no one knew where they were going and GUMBALL´S were going right, left and straight on in the vein hope of finding a quick route South out of the City, as that was all the directions said.

Big up Renton who managed to get us a route card and pushed in into my hand as he drove past.

The race(sorry Rally) was on........

So we watched everyone leave the start except for Elenor(Gone in 60 Seconds - Shellby), the poor girl didn´t want to start...So up stepped the Magenta Saff dude and swapped batteries and basically said if you need anything else take it....

So with Elenor started all 180 GUMBALL cars were on there way and so were we.

First check point was the Mas Du Clos, so with some very special directional work from Rich-Sat-Nav, our 5.99 Europe Atlas and a lot of luck we found our way our of Paris and onto the right road going South.

Directions are very hazy and they basically list town´s on the way and they said the Race track was close to Ambusson(a quite looking sleepy village - well until GUMBALL turned up that was), well it was about 25 kilometers outside....but hey that´s GUMBALL.

So we managed to find our way to the race track again via some very special Rich-Sat-Nav directions, some flat out driving from me and some very interesting communications between Pete and the local´s (Well Pete speaks German - but that´s not much use in France, even though he was trying....!!!)

So BIG-UP the GUMBALL staff as all we had to do was explain who we were (i.e the dude´s that fixed the gearbox) and we were allowed into all places and trated to the same food and hospitality as the offical entrants....

We´ll pick up the story of how far in front of Martin and Dan we were later.....

In Marbella, going out to see Babe´s, Beaches and more beer.......

See ya later.........
_________________
OFFICAL ZOO MOTORSPORT GIRAFFE BITCH!!!

ALSO--

Martins hit 187mph (GPS) now, agaisnt the Enzo again, but theres too much traffic so keep having to slow down! 187 is the fastest its ever gone so far with the whaletail on and some fookin achivment with that fookin great thing on! They still think 200mph wont be a problem soon as there no lorries in the way!

And finally....

.................................................. .........................

Another VERY funny, and i think drunken, update from the ZOO Motorsport boys--

Ok were back for part 2 of our trip!! and im telling you the best is STILL to come!!!

Right were now at this LUSH country house eating FREE food,and drinking FREE drinks,and with only a pocket size europe a2z we "somehow" managed to beat martoon AND dan to the 1st checkpoint by neerley a hour!!!

Anyway,as were "blagging" the whole thing,and doing very well at it i have to say,we decided to wait for the others till they get there,just to make sure that the escort and the skyline are running ok after the 1st 300mile,and they said all was good.

So as they go in for free drinks,and shit,we decided to make a move onto the next leg of the trip,Madrid!!!!!

Ok,as Sean had been driving for ALONG time (prob 10 hours) so Rich got his head down in the back to get some zee`s so he could take over in a bit.Ok with Rich asleep we were 1 down on the old manual sat nav,so i took the reigns.We follow a few galardo`s out of the rack track to at least help us to get out bearings,but as you can imangine our 2ton 1.9 diesel people carrier aint keepin with them! So were on our own!! Anyway we miss the turning we needed and ended up puttin about a hour extra on out journey,Sorry sean

FOOK ME!!!!!!!! i swear to god we went through bum ****,if we break down we aint gettin found just raped land!!! And that is NO JOKE!!!! Now i didnt know this,Sean doesnt like scarey movies,so i thought id start telling him about the Blair witch project. Now you have to bare in mind,its ****IN ****IN IT DOWN,wipers are going ten to the dozen,and its 3am in bum **** land!! Sean AINT liking what im telling him,so on a raod thats no wider than a nuns chuff,we start to go round these lanes at over 60mph as He`s SHITTIN it and wanst to get out!!! Mc Rae would of been proud of us,we were "properley goin man"!!!!

Ok,so Seans now asleep in the back of the car and Rich has taken the reigns,its 5 in the mornin,i (pete) havnt slept hardley at all,cus i dont want to miss ANYTHING,so im feelin abit worse for wear,but Rich is refueled and ready to make the final journt to Madrid!!

Now no offence Rich but automatic cars dont have clutch peddels As Seans asleep on the back seat of the van,rich thinks everytime we need to slow down,he needs to push the clutch,(which aint there) its the break,so Sean has come **** BALLING of the back seat,in to our seats,and is like (WTF is going on)!!!! After that inciedent,sean is now asleep on the floor!!!

Ok,daylights here,and were WELL on out way! There are some AMAZING roads in spain i have to say,and if any of you get a chance to drive a decent car round there, DO IT!! We came through the pyrnese (sp) ( the mountains) and its snow all over the place,couldnt belive it,we were SO HIGH UP and the views were AWESOME!!!!!

Weve now passed a few more gumballers on the way,but were stickin to a steady 100/110mph (sorry ima ) as we come in to madrid

There was some fooked up traffic on the way in,so i decided to get chattin to some fit spanish bint in the car next to us! WHAT A BABE!!!! was worth coming just for that!! Rich is now trying to negotiate his way round spain as NO 1 over there has EVER past any kind of driving test,MENTAL they are!! ANyway we find the Real Madrid stadium and we go in for refreshments!!

While were in the we can see thick black lines outside from where CPU 1 had been doughnuting!! And as we walk in,Tony Hawk is sitiing right next to us,so was good to see him too!! Me and sean get a pic took ( by porkie,cheers mate) in the ground in what had to be the royal box area,man did we feel cool!!!

CAN I PLEEEEEASE STILL POINT OUT WERE HAVE NOT ENTERED THE GUMBALL,WE ARE BLAGGING ****IN EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!

Ok we leave madrid and porkie asks me if i want a rid in Martoons car,so OBVIOUSLEY i say yeh!! You wouldnt belive the looks you get driving around town,really is unbeliveable!!! Cheers Martoon!!!

Not alot really happened from madrid to marbella,didnt really see many gumballers (well the 7series mat black bmw came past poppin flames)

So we arive in Marbella,and MAN IS THIS PLACE LUSH!!!!!

We book a hotel just about 1k down the road from the official GUMBALL hotel,and i aint akiding you,its BETTER than theres!!! TOP CLASS nice 1 Sean and Rich for sortin that 1,good work!!!

We eat,shower (hadnt showered for 3days) and get ready to see how the hell were going to blag into this 1!! When from out of nowhere,porkie calls us and says "get your arses down here now,ive got you wrist bands to get you into the Party"!! OHHHHH BABY,WERE IN!!!!!

JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive never seen sooooooo many rich people in 1 courtyard in ALL my life!!! Martoons had a few red wines by now,so the buffet that was on was havin abit of a beating,and the banter with other gumballers had begun!! (hey dont **** with us brummies,we`l mince with ANY1)

We had to take a minute and look round,and have abit of a realality check really,HOW THE HELL had we got soooooo far and not paid a ****in penny,we must be the luckiest men on EARTH!!!! Treated like kings,and paid fook all,now thats what i call business!!!

The guys decided to show us around there hotel,so as we walked through reception,the yellow enzo had JUST pulled up 6hours behind!!! Rumour was he had been to a local Ferrari dealership,and had some "mod`s" done,as he wasnt happy of the fact that a Escort was keeping up with him!!!! So Martoon and Porkie go over and ask him how fast he was going when then went for it,and he said around 173mph,so if a ferrari speedo says it,its GOT TO be true!!!!So Martin gets in this enzo (****ed up) and starts sayin to the guy,"bit shit in here aint it,fook me you aint even got a carpet,what a rip off,but nice seats though"!!!

So we start to walk back towards the room,as cwris "im a boxer you know" eubank,pulls up in a bentley! We ask him where his truck is,and he wreckons he only used that for paris as it was a publicity thing.Now this WILL make you laugh,Porkie (whos also beered up by now) says to Cwris "hey your Benn fights were on sky last week,man they were good,but i wreckon Benn would have beat u in the 2nd 1,you were lucky there you know cwris,ohhhh well he beat u in the gladiator thing,so alls fair" Ol`Eubank WASNT happy with this,so at that we walk (well ran) off! Aso before i forget as we were walking down we say Jodie kidd too,and gave her a little wave (aint i just the cutest)


Martoon,Porkie,Dan and sona,decided to call it a night,and go to bed,so the ZOO "Porpers to players GUMBALL tour" was now in our own hands!!!!!!

AND BOY DID WE PARTY!!!!!!

The drinks were flowing,the women must have been courierd from heaven cause they were ALL GORGEOUS!!!!! Well i tell a lie there,we found out later,that they were ALL prostotutes!!!! (Sean get ya card out)

When you watch the DVD there will be some English guys in a union jack bentley,BOY DO THESE GUYS PARTY!!!!!!!!

We found a piano in the bar area,i opened it up,and started Richard claderman,and great balls of fire,with these English guys,Sean and Rich ALL in full voice,and man EVERY1 in that room loved us!! Well every 1 apart from the manager,who bollocked us,and told us to **** off!!

So we ended up going down to a little gumball stage thing that was erected for Maximillion to do a speach on,and started belting out beatles,oasis,lennon,rolling stones you name it,we sang it songs,and the GUMBALL film crew came over and filmed us,so im keeping them crossed that were going to be on the DVD!!!!

To be honest,there isnt really alot ANY of us can remeber from last night,so i wont keep on,il call it ady there!!

But im sorry to say our gumball adventure is now OVER!!! THe hire company wouldnt give us insurance on the car to drive it to Africa (where they are now) so weve stoped for a few days break here in Marbella,and we will be on our way home sunday.

The GUMBALL rally is the GREATEST hing that has EVER happened to motorsport,its AMAZING!!!!!!!!! All i can say is,re mortgauge your houses,sell you wife`s/kids,start saving,and be there for the next 1! This really has been the GREATEST experiance ive EVER had,and TBH Sean,Rich and myself have been soooo lucky to see,meet and do things that other GUMBALLERS have done,we coulnt of asked for more!CHEERS GUMBALL..

All 3 of us, (and the 2 cars) would like to say thanks to every1 for support,and im sure ISH will keep you updated from now on (top work chap)

So from Marbella,this is the "Porpers to players" GUMBALL rally team signing out.

See you all soon..

Pete!!!!!!!!!!

P.S in answer to some questions,Martoon and Porkie have video footage of races,and we have over ahours worth too,so NO 1 will miss out on the things weve seen,

See you all soon,

Pete,Rich,Sean....

MAD EVO 4

what a brill write up

warleydaddy

It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I remember sittin at the PC in the hotel writing it,pissed,and tierd,but didnt wanna sleep,as i didnt wanna miss anything!!!

Prob 5 of the best/funniest days of my life....

Pete..

jr

Remeber reading all the car 51 or 52 ? update posts in the thread written brillaintly

Munch

sounds like a PROPER experience


good write up

PT

Well worth the read. What an adventure. Even more so because it was so random.

Loved this - "What ever it takes, and what ever it costs, we just have to get the Escort back on the road"

Dannn

Good memories of that trip Pete - kind of regret not going all the way down to Marbella! Anyway I still got the pics i took from Paris lying around on one of my computers here - perhaps I dig them out later....

warleydaddy

Pete...

Charlie Chalk

iTrader: (1)

Never realised you was in the Gumball too...



*lucky wanker*

warleydaddy

Dan,remember going round all the bottles of moet at the end,treyin to rag the dregs out of them,as it was Ł11 for a bottle of fosters,and no 1 hardley had a drink!!!!!!!!!!!

Or was that just me and Kev Catt!!!

Pete...

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

There you ge Pete..

andyt

iTrader: (1)

steviecossie

cozzymatt

Fucking awesome write up mate..

FasterFords

Funny you should post this, I just finished watching the original Gumball Rally film with the Cobra and Ferrari

Rich_w

I got that a while ago. Its better than the Cannonball films IMO

Funny you should mention the 04 Gumball. Ive just finished reading Alex Roys book "The Driver" Theres 1 page on the Reyland accident. Safe to say he's no fan.

Gatecrasher

warleydaddy

Cheers mart...

Heres a few ive got....










And heres a scarey thought...You behind the wheel of a ENZO!!!!!



Pete..

kjc300

iTrader: (1)

This was my "backwards over the head" shot!!!

steviecossie

nice shot

Nath

Great write up

Dan

Wicked read Pete, top quality thread too!

warleydaddy

Kev!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was probabley the funniest thing ive ever see you do!!!!!!!

Pete...

NEEDFORSPEED

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

awesome right up Pete.

one unforgetable trip,it sounded spot on.

xr-stu

fuckin awesome mate, i cant even imagine what an awesome experience that was!!! jammy fooker!