An excentric rally like the Gumball 3000 attracts excentric participators. The participators range from PC-Gurus, rockstars to company's executive directors. But they all have wealth in common. A brief snapshot of the most "famous" gumballers makes an interesting gallery.
The "brain" behind the Gumball 3000 Rally is Maximillion Cooper. Max was a former BMX rider and skateboarder during his youth. At the age of 18, he was still a fanatic thrill-seeker, a weekend racing driver, studying fashion during the week. His love for cars and racing grew and in his twenties, he dreamed of owning a Formula 1 team. Cooper states that "Most F1 is actually quite dull and corporate, and I dreamt of something unconventional. I thought I should get all my friends into one room and pitch them the idea of a cool, rock’n’roll F1 team". As he did not have the financial requirements he decided to organise an unusual fund raising party for his friends. He invited 50 friends to take part in a 3,000-mile drive across Europe with a party every night. This was the launch for the Gumball 3000. This rally brought together everything that Max finds interesting: fashion, wheels, music, socialising and fun. He continues to take part in every rally, last edition (2004) in a limited edition Ferrari, painted orange in Dukes of Hazzard style. Together with his wife Julie and his assistant Laura he manages the fantastic race.
Max Cooper's hand and personal assistent is Laura Watson. She is in charge of the extensive international planning. All the logistics of the gumball sound difficult, as she deals with different countries, sponsors, schedules and time zones. Her overall responsibillity is running Max's life, professionally and personally. He travels constantly, so there is diary management, hotels and meetings. "He has the ideas and I try to make them hapen. I have the perfect job: every day, I wake up excited by the thought of going to work. You can't argue with that"
The most famous Gumballer of all times is Kim Schmitz, also known as Kimble. This German self proclaimed hacker is a youngster with a lot of money. In the late 90's, he was sent on probation for two years for some computer crimes involving dealing with stolen calling cards and credit card fraud. Following his mispent youth, he moved into the stock market and helped some companys. So Kimble now has a spicy bankroll, and he is gathering fame through his decadent lifestyle and expensive events. Now he is generating wealth through his project "The Kimpire" (more info on www.kimble.com). Schmitz is also popular in the street racing scene, especially Gumball. He won the prestigious race in 2001 with a Mercedes Brabus EV12 Supercar and in 2004 with a Mercedes CL3000. Next year, Kimble is going to organise his own rally: The Ultimate Rally, a spin-off version of the Gumball 3000. He calls it "the world championship of street racing", an unprecedented experience. Schmitz claims that he is not entirely satisfied by the Gumball, and that is why he is going to organise his own rally.
Another remarkable team of drivers is Team Polizei Gumball 144. This team consists of one main driver, Alex Roy, and 2 other navigators: Jon Goodrich and Amanda Kinsley. Alex Roy is an unknown American movie-producer, who inherited his fever for cars and racing by his father. Every Gumball, he redesigns his car into a police car of a specific country. In 2003, he won the rally with a customized BMW M5, decked out in German police gear. In 2004 Roy went on to win the Style Award, dressed as a Canadian Mountie. Then in 2005 he drove throughout the rally in his "Guardia Civil" BMW M5, finishing second as a Spanish cop. This "Police Customization" always comes in handy: slowing down other Gumball participants by putting on his siren so they have to pull over, clearing the road in a traffic jam. With more then 247 traffic offensives, more then 250 euro speeding tickets, 9 escapes from the police and a top speed of 297kph in 2005, Alex Roy has become a true Gumball Legend.
Two UK based Gumball Veterans, who call themselves Ant and Pete race every Gumball with the "D3", a diesel-powered BMW 3. Veteran Rob "Lonman" Kenworthy drives a Porsche GT2.
Over the years, many famous celebrities have entered the rally. In the 2001 edition, the well known Jackass crew from MTV entered. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius and others drove an 80’s rusted out Jaguar XJ6 and taped their adventures during the race and aired them on television. This particular episode was the best show MTV aired that year. A few years later, in the 2004 edition, the Asian Jackass crew called “Ai Ya” Boys did the same, but they entered with a Winnebago.
Other famous drivers over the 7 editions include actors such as Billy Zane in a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, Jason Priestley in a Lotus Esprit V8, Matthew McConaughey in a, Bruce Reynolds in a Bentley, Daryl Hannah and Adrien Brody in a Porsche. Music artists drum and bass legend Goldie in an Aston Martin V8, Dannii Minogue in a Porsche Boxster, the Happy Mondays in a Jaguar and the famous rock band Placebo in a Lagonda. Former sport stars also like the rally: ex Boxing World Champion Chris Eubank drove the 2004 rally in a truck, Motocross World Champions Travis Pastrana and Carey Hart, skateboard legends Tony Hawk in a Dodge Viper and Bucky Lasek. Models Jodie Kidd, Amy Wesson and Rachel Hunter, fashion designer Donna Karan and It girl Tara Palmer-Tomkinson in a Jaguar XK8. < Grammar A few years ago, in the 2004 edition, a remarkable young Belgian dude stole the show. Steven “Spillie” Spillebeen, a former winner of the TV-show “Big Brother” entered in a pure yellow Hummer, together with DJ Ghost, a famous Belgian DJ.
Apart from the celebrities,there are also a lot of unknown guys and girls who participate. The only thing they have in common is that they are really rich and wealthy.