Hamburg, 10.08.2008: Sie sind wieder unterwegs - dutzende PS-Verrückte (120 Wagen) aus aller Welt haben sich am 09. August in ihren SLR, Enzo, F430 Scuderia, Ford Mustang Eleanore, Lamborghini Gallardo etc. im Rahmen der weltbekannten Gumball-Rally auf den Weg "einmal um die Welt" gemacht. Im Kalifornischen San Francisco viel mit jeder Menge Tamtam der Startschuss für die erste Etappe nach Los Angeles. Von da geht's weiter nach San Diego, Las Vegas, dann mit den Transportflugzeug ins Nord-Koreanische Pyongyang, weiter nach Shanghai (China), Xuzhou (China) bis am 16. August Peking erreicht wird. Den vollständigen Ablaufplan findet ihr im Anschluss. Ach ja: der 2008er Spaß kostet die Kleinigkeit von 120.000 USD pro Team, dafür kann man sich in den Luxus-Hotels auch mit David Hasselhoff unterhalten, der mit dem Original-KITT ebenfalls am Start ist.

In der Galerie gibt's die ersten Bilder vom Vorabend, sowie Impressionen vom Start. Weiter unten findet ihr außerdem noch ein Video vom Start. Und wer wissen will, was letztes Jahr so los war, der wird HIER (Gumball 2007) fündig! Wir drücken die Daumen, dass dieses Jahr niemand zu Schaden kommt.


8th August 2008 - San Francisco
Today the Gumballers arrive at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. After the required team registration the cars are put on display and the Gumballers gather for the champagne reception and Gumball 2008 launch party.

8th August Timetable:
11:00 - 18:00: Driver Registration (Fairmont Hotel)
19:00 - 23:00: Cars on display (Mason, Sacramento & Taylor Street)
23:00 - 02:00: Gumball 2008 Launch Party at Temple

9th August 2008 - San Francisco to Los Angeles
Tomorrow morning the Gumballers have to be up and ready by 9am for the usual drivers briefing. For the first time since 2003 the Gumballers don’t spend the nervous last two hours before the flags drops in London. At exactly 12am the flag is dropped and the first cars head off towards the first checkpoint. After around 5 hours the Gumballers will arrive at Buttonwillow Raceway for some tracktime before continueing to Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

9th August Timetable:
09:00 - 10:00: Drivers Briefing
10:00 - 12:00: Drivers & Cars at the start grid (Mason Street)
12:00 - 13:00: Gumball 2008 Start
16:30 - 18:30: Buttonwillow Raceway
20:00 - 23:00: Gumball arrives at Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood Boulevard
23:00 - 02:00: Gumball Party at Tropicana at the Roosevelt Hotel

10th August 2008 - Los Angeles to San Diego
After a night in Hollywood the Gumballers leave Los Angeles between 9 and 10am for a day filled with checkpoints. First up is a checkpoint hosted by Lux5 Events in Huntington Beach, after the brief stop in Huntington beach the Gumball rally continues to a checkpoint at HRE Performance wheels in Vista. At the end of the day the Gumballers make an appearance at the SoCal Euro Gathering at Qualcomm Stadium on their way to the Ivy Hotel in San Diego.

10th August Timetable:
09:00 - 10:00: Gumballers depart the Roosevelt hotel in Los Angeles
09:45 - 10:45: Lux5 Checkpoint in Huntington Beach
11:15 - 12:15: HRE Wheels Checkpoint in Vista
14:30 - 15:30: SoCal Euro Gathering at Qualcomm Stadium
16:00 - 18:00: Gumballers arrive at the Ivy Hotel in San Diego
22:00 - 02:00: Gumball Party at Club Envy at the Ivy Hotel

11th August 2008 - San Diego to Las Vegas
For some of the Gumballers the rally ends while for some others the adventure only just begins. Today the Gumballers who signed up for the whole thing drop off their cars at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, so they can be loaded onto the freighter plane that takes the cars to Hangzhou, China. Those that dropped of their cars for the Asian leg will be flown from Victorville to Las Vegas while the other teams that are only in it for the US leg steer their cars to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The end of the US leg is celebrated with a party at the brand new club ‘Wasted Space’ in the Hard Rock Hotel.

11th August Timetable:
08:00 - 09:00: Gumballers leave the Ivy Hotel
12:00 - 14:00: Victorville Southern California Logistics Airport
14:00 - 18:00: Gumballers arrive at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
22:00 - late: Gumball Party at Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel.

12th August 2008 - Las Vegas to Pyongyang
Today the drivers from the Asian leg have to get up early (or pack their bags straight away after the party) to catch the plane to North Korea. The remaining teams can relax and look back at the days that passed.

13th August 2008 - Pyongyang
Even though the Gumballers left very early on tuesday they arrive late afternoon on wednesday in North Korea, local time that is. In Pyongyang the Gumballers will join the dictator Kim Jong-il to watch the Arirang Games aka Mass Games. The night will be spend in one of the state controlled hotels.

14th August 2008 - Pyongyang to Shanghai
After a 2 hour flight from Pyongyang to Hangzhou the Gumballers are reunited with their cars. With a special set of license plates and seperate Chinese license the Gumballers are allowed to drive their vehicles on Chinese roads. From the airport in Hangzhou the teams head to Le Royal Meridien hotel in downtown Shanghai.

15th August 2008 - Shanghai to Xuzhou
After an early wake-up call the teams drive down to the Shanghai F1 Circuit for some tracktime. After a couple hours at the Shanghai International Circuit the Gumballers will experience what it’s like to drive cross-country in China on their way to Xuzhou. Here they will stay in the New Century Grand Hotel and put their cars on display.

16th August 2008 - Xuzhou to Beijing
Saving the best for last, the Gumball 2008 will finish with a killer leg from Xuzhou to the Chinese capital Beijing. When the last Gumballer has crossed the finish line at the Westin Hotel in Beijing the awards ceremony will kick off the last party of the Gumball 2008.

Gumball 2008 Teil 2
Arab Run 2008: Die Wüste bebt