2008 Gumball 3000 Dates and Route Announced

The Gumball made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2007, when a pair of participants plowed into an elderly couple’s car. The woman was critically injured, and the man died of a subsequent heart attack. This year, the glittering spectacle will travel from San Francisco to Beijing, with an overnight stop in warm-and-fuzzy North Korea. Think anyone will be able to get a shot of the Ryugyong Hotel? Get all the details in the press release after the jump.

Gumball 2008 press release from Max
19th February 2008

The dates and route of the “10th Anniversary” Gumball 3000 Rally are officially announced.

The
Gumball 2008 will take place in August this year starting in San
Francisco and finishing 8 days later in China at the Beijing Olympics.
Dates of the rally are August 9th-16th 2008.

Being the 10th
anniversary this route is nothing short of spectacular, and ground
breaking to say the least! Setting off from San Francisco, the Gumball
2008 route incorporates Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas, with
checkpoints each day and VIP parties each night. From Las Vegas all 120
vehicles (low-riders to supercars) will be flown on 3 of the worlds
largest Antonov Cargo Planes to Nanjing, China; and all participants
will get to experience an unprecedented 1 night in North Korea as part
of a global ‘friendship’ initiative, getting to watch the Mass Games
(their version of the Olympics) en route to rejoin their cars in
Nanjing. From Nanjing the Gumball 2008 route heads north to Shanghai
and then Xuzhou, before crossing the Gumball 2008 finish line in
Beijing during the Olympic Games.

Gumball 2008 entry fee is
£60.000 (90.000 euro or 120.000 dollars) per car (2 people) and of
course includes everything throughout the 8 days, incl. hotels,
parties, flying the cars around etc…and tickets to the Olympics.

The
clock is now counting down to the launch of Gumball’s completely new
website that goes live on April 1st. The new site will represent all
elements of the ‘Gumball 3000? lifestyle, incorporating a social
network to bring fans all over the world together, along with a user
generated videos section (so you can show us what you get up to), as
well as celebrity blogs, and a fully loaded store with the new Gumball
3000 Apparel Collection, and a Gumball Cars ‘for Sale’ section to
advertise your classic, super or daily run around to the masses!

Along
with daily news, and everything you’ll ever need to know about the
rally and everything automotive, the site will also cover everything
else that we love, including news and reviews on music, films, sports,
sneakers, street art and entertainment.

Maximillion Cooper