johna's automotive blog

Stockholm Agadir race

2022-11-12T12:00:00+10:00

Due to my interest in Volvo V40s, I recently heard about another attempt to start a new Cannonball Run style race in Europe this year (2022).

This event starts in Stockholm, Sweden and finishes in Agadir, Morocco. Along the way, entrants go through eight countries and two ferry crossings.

There are a few categories for vehicles: sub-1000 Euro, sport car and normal car.

Unfortunately, for the inaugural running, only the organiser himself ended up doing the race. Of course, the same happened for the first running of the original US Cannonball Run, so wishing the organiser more success next year.

On one leg of his run he managed to travel 805 km without stopping, which is impressive for both the driver and the 21-year-old turbo Volvo.

The event website is stockholmagadir-race.com/ and some videos have been posted on YouTube (youtu.be/EbG83kb1FxI).

An Australian Cannonball Run in 1984?

2016-04-09T12:00:00+10:00

I must be living under a rock because I have never heard of this race. But apparently in late 1984 a race took place from Sunbury in Victoria to Perth, Western Australia.

Charlie Kovacs, who I have heard of from Ute racing, was first across the line driving (would you believe?) a Holden ute, but according to John Crowle it was disqualified and the official winner was a Holden Commodore VK driven by himself, Ian Bray and a third unknown driver.

However, Kovacs claims to have the winners cheque, which he has framed as a memento as it bounced (there was a $10,000 first prize but it never got paid because the organiser went bankrupt).

Crowle claims that they did receive a trophy as the winners, which was presented by ex-Skyhooks lead singer, Shirley Straughan.

Kovacs' vehicle was a six-wheeled Holden HX ute. He said of the race, "I saw an advertisement from someone who was going to start a race across Australia. I was interested, and at that time I had a six-wheeled V8 Holden HX aluminium tray ute so I ran that."

"One of the secrets was not stopping for fuel very often, so we made a purpose-built aluminium fuel tank which carried quite a few hundred litres. We went to Melbourne to start the race and it was in a paddock down by a gully somewhere out of eye shot, very secretive. I think it took us 31 hours to go from Melbourne to Fremantle."

The (possible) winner's Commodore was an ex-police interceptor, still in yellow, with a modified engine and an extra fuel tank, which was home-made and mounted in the boot.

Other vehicles participating in the race included a supercharged Ford Fairlane ZL (owned by Graham Funston and named "TransAust"), Chrysler RT Charger and a Holden LJ Torana V8. There was also reportedly a VH Commodore with a 5 speed gearbox out of Peter Brock's experimental stock (possibly unbeknownst to him).

Some competitors were able to complete the event in under thirty hours, despite the fact that the Western Australian police were waiting at the border for the entrants, which made speeding there almost impossible.

According to Google Maps the trip shows as 3,427 km and an estimated time of 35 hours. Now imagine what that would be like in 1984!

Update: There is a lot of incorrect information here. I have set up a website for this event, actually titled The Australian Cannonball Cup, where we can create a permanent record of this event. Go to www.cannonball.info

Capricorn Run 1986 - From Australia's Playground to Perth?

2016-04-07T12:00:00+10:00

As you may have read elsewhere on this blog, I am a big fan of the old US cross-country illegal road races like the Cannonball Run and Gumball Rally, as well as the later events (but to a lesser degree).

I know there was the (legal) Australian Cannonball Run in 1994 but I hadn't heard of any events closer in spirit to the original US events. Until the other day when I was reading through an old Motor Manual magazine from February 1986 and came across an advertisement at the back for this event: Capricorn Run 1986.

The advertisement reads:

It is said that the Cannonball Run (in the USA) is the most exciting event ever to be organised. Believe me it is! Nowdays, just to be able to say that you competed in the Cannonball Run is demonstration of the high standard of the participants driving skills.

Unfortunately for Australians, no one has ever dared to come up with an event as exciting, unless you consider Wynns Safari, which basically was designed for the roughest, toughest 4WD's around.

However, Murphy Clark International have decided that it is time. Time to show Australians that they haven't been forgotten, and to give them the time of their lives! After all, if the Americans can do it... why can't we?

Murphy Clark International proudly present to you...
The CAPRICORN RUN - AUSTRALIA'S PLAYGROUND TO PERTH
Having read this I was excited to find out more about this event but I could find nothing at all searching online, either by searching for the event name, the organiser's name or even the address!

The text makes it sound like the organiser has participated in the US Cannonball Run so I looked through the race results for the name Murphy or Clark but there were no entrants with either of those names.

Based on this lack of information, I'm guessing that the race never went ahead. I know that Brock Yates advertised the first Cannonball Run in a similar way but I suspect an advertisement like this in Australia in 1986 might have attracted attention from public officials and been stopped.

I'm guessing "Australia's Playground" might be the Gold Coast. Google Maps shows this as a 4,373km trip (in 2016) and a time of 45 hours (at the speed limit). There is only two routes suggested by Google so there isn't quite the variety of route options that the US cross-country races offer, and it would probably be easy for the race to be stopped by road block.

I am hoping someone out there has some information they can share about this event.

Update

I found this question raised in Parliament on Wednesday, 21 May 1986.

Ms MAYER -My question is addressed to the Minister for Transport. Has his attention been drawn to recent Press reports of the high speed car race entitled the `Capricorn Run' in which the target time for the distance Brisbane to Perth is 29 hours, requiring an average speed of more than 100 kilometres an hour without a break? Given that road crashes cost the economy $3,000m annually and 3,000 Australian lives, what action is possible by Government to prevent this lunacy?

Mr PETER MORRIS -I have seen the report to which the honourable member has referred and I think everyone in this House who has seen it would share my sadness that this kind of competition is being promoted. All honourable members would agree that the most horrific social problem in this country is death and casualties on the road. The article to which the honourable member referred was published in the Daily Mirror and was entitled `Brisbane to Perth in 29 hours'. As she correctly said, to achieve that target time would require an average speed in excess of 100 kilometres per hour. That speed could not be achieved within the law and, sadly, the example it sets for young people to emulate is the very thing which is most likely to lead to death or serious injury on the roads. The article goes on to say that most vehicles competing in this race would have as standard equipment radar jammers, radar detectors, citizen band radios and brake light isolator switches, and that some participants have even invested $5,000 to buy infra-red night vision devices which would allow them to run without lights, thereby avoiding visual detection.

Mr Goodluck -Who is sponsoring this?

Mr PETER MORRIS -It is called the Australian Cannonball Run. I have not got a list of sponsors; I would have to check that. Budget Rent A Car System Pty Ltd appears to have entered a prestige fleet in the race. I will get the honourable member a list of the firms later. This kind of exercise encourages the very antithesis of the things we are trying to develop in young people who use the roads. Rather than developing responsibility, it will encourage irresponsibility; rather than encouraging a cautious safe speed, it will encourage high speed; it will also encourage driving long distances in a fatigued state-

Mr Donald Cameron -What are you going to do about it?

Mr PETER MORRIS -I am drawing attention to the dangers that are involved in this race, to the very flouting of the law that is proposed in order to achieve the target of this competition, and to the risking of young people's lives that is involved. We, as a government, have given very clear direction and priority to changing community attitudes and behaviour and driver attitudes and behaviour on our roads in an effort to reduce the level of road casualties. Car racing belongs to the race track, not to the highways or the roadways of this nation. I have every expectation that the State police and enforcement authorities will be very vigilant about this exercise. I want to see them do everything they can to ensure that the law is complied with and that the requirements and regulations are followed by the participants. I make one last appeal to those people who are associated with this exercise: Have another think about it, draw back and retire from it, and instead use your resources to encourage people to use the roads safely in an effort to reduce road casualties.
There is mention of an article in the Daily Mirror newspaper entitled 'Brisbane to Perth in 29 hours', but I can't find that article.

This also suggests that the race was to start in Brisbane.

Cannonball Bike Run... That's right... For Bikes!

2012-01-17T12:00:00+10:00

I just came across some old issues of my favourite motorcycling magazine, Performance Bikes, a UK publication.

In the December 2006 issue there is an article about the Cannonball Run for motorbikes which was run for the second time, in 2006. Performance Bikes magazine put together a bike to enter the race, a Kawasaki ZZR1400, with Dale Lomas to ride. Although the event is publically promoted as a navigation rally, it seems that some of the entrants including Dale were treating it as an all-out road race.

The "rally" started in Germany, went through Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, then finished in Germany.

However even before Dale and a group of other UK riders made it to the start, they were stopped before they boarded the UK to France ferry and warned because they were identified as Cannonballers!

Even before the start in Wurzburg, Germany one British rider's event came to an end after he was spotted travelling at 240km/h where the limit was 100km/h. After a long pursuit - 40km - he was fined heavily, his bike was impounded, and he was sent home on a plane. Other entrants are also stopped and warned, and searched thoroughly for route maps and other evidence.

For the start of the race, riders leave before the advertised starting time in an effort to avoid the police. This puts the riders in peak hour traffic.

After averaging 160km/h for the first hour, Dale Lomas get's pulled over and fined for speeding, unaware of a police helicopter following his progress. Less than an hour later he pays another fine, this time for racing on the road. His route card and maps also get confiscated.

Due to the police attention the time clocks are reset for day two for a level playing field. The journey through Switzerland and Italy is without the previous day's police problems, and Dale runs flat-out racing against his main competition, a group of Finnish riders. He is able to out-ride them in the dry but they are faster in the wet. At one point he has the ZZR at it's maximum of around 290km/h and slows to 240km/h to overtake a car in a narrow gap between the car and a tunnel wall. Then he realises that the car is actually a police car and they want him to stop. He runs flat out to out run them, hoping that his 50km of fuel is enough to lose his pursuers. It is, but when he makes it to the next checkpoint he needs a new rear tyre.

The next day, departing from Venice, Dale is running flat out with another rider. They split traffic at over 280km/h and christen the hard shoulder "the Cannonball Lane".

During a photo stop Dale has a minor accident which the ZZR survives with the exception of some superficial damage.

On the final day, Dale is set on beating the Finnish riders. He again runs flat out through Croatia and into Slovenia. Once in the lead he slows for nothing, passing a police Volkswagen Golf at 240km/h and then a second police car. But later he is followed by a black BMW keeping up with him at 220km/h on a twisty section of road. He is pursued for a few minutes and then reaches a police road block, which he runs through despite the police attempting to stop him. With just a single road ahead he knows his race is done, and hides before the police have a chance to catch him.

The "race" is "won" by one of the Finnish riders and the final statistics for the 75 competitors are 8 arrests, 4 bikes impounded, 109 tickets received, 13,238 Euros in fines, 6 crashes, 2 broken bones, and 5200km.

The rally was again run in 2007, but it appears that the Swiss police were ready and were not going to put up with the same type of riding as the previous years event. In the December 2007 issue of Performance Bikes I found the story. About an hour and a half into the event 21 of the entrants were stopped by the Swiss police, whether or not they had committed any road offences. The event was stopped, and the other riders made their way home, trying to avoid capture at all cost.

Cannonball, Bullrun and Gumball Book Reviews

2011-12-15T12:00:00+10:00

For fans of the Cannonball Run, Gumball 3000, Bullrun and illegal cross-country driving, here is my review of four books on these topics.

The first title, Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race, is about the original Cannonball Run. That's right, there was a race before the famous movie.

The race was run several times in the USA during the 1970s and started as a form of protest against the introduction of the national 55mph speed limit. It was intended to prove that skilled drivers could drive cross-country at high speeds in safety.

The book is written by the organiser of the race, Brock Yates, but also features recounts of the race from the original competitors. This makes it a real interesting read in that you get to learn about the organisation of the event as well as how the race went for the various entrants.

One of the most interesting and surprising facts I discovered when reading this book was that a lot of the things in the movie (which is a favourite of mine) were based on real events. I think if the movie started with "Based on a true story" noone would believe it. But at least a few of the teams in the movie were based on actual entrants, such as the ambulance, priests and the "just married" motorcyclists. There was even an all woman team although they weren't driving a Lamborghini Countach.

There are plenty of stories about run-ins with the police, mechanical problems and great stories about what it is like to drive flat out for kilometre after kilometre (well, mile after mile) for around 35 hours or more.

Another title, Our Gumball Rally: 3000 Miles, 3 Countries, 65 Ferraris, Only 1 Volvo, covers the 2004 running of the Gumball Rally, which is an annual event in the spirit of the Cannonball Run, but not actually a race. The Gumball Rally is meant to be a navigation challenge within the road rules with a huge party each night after the days driving. Although the organisers discourage any illegal driving each year many drivers cop fines or jail time for various driving offences.

The book is written by journalist Clement Wilson and his driving partner Richard Dunwoody, a retired jockey. It tells the story of how the two got together and came up with the idea of running in the rally, securing a car, and their adventures in the rally.

The car they chose was a Volvo V70R (not that they had much choice), which was an unusual choice given that most of their competitors were in exotic supercars. But if you read the book you will find that the more discreet Volvo did have it's advantages at times.

They drove hard, they partied hard, then they crashed the Volvo. My favourite part (and probably most of the entrant's favourite part) was when they were driving through part of Africa where they were given free reign by the King to drive however they wanted. This of course meant that most drove absolutely flat out and resulted in some major accidents.

I really enjoyed the book and it is a great insight into the event. It's not just about cars and driving but the author frequently sidetracks to other interesting things just about life. And I say author because I suspect that Richard Dunwoody didn't do much writing - the book is almost exclusively from Clement Wilson's perspective.

I also read The Driver: True Life Adventures of an Underground Road Racer by Gumball 3000 and Bullrun legend, Alexander Roy.

Although I wasn't a big fan of the writing style (too much dialogue), and was often disappointed by stories that stopped short or should have been included, this is a riveting read.

Roy writes about his attempts to run his own version of Rendezvous in New York, where he sets an unofficial record for a lap around Manhattan.

There are, of course, many stories about Gumball and Bullrun antics, including the infamous "Battle of Rome".

Much of the book focuses on his attempts to break the Cannonball record for crossing the USA, which I found particularly compelling. You won't want to put the book down until the end of these chapters.

Overall, a highly recommended book for fans of this form of "motorsport"!

For the Record is a book by Ed Bolian who is the current US Cannonball record-holder, having beaten Alex Roy's time by a considerable margin.

The book is part autobiographical and Ed shares how he became a car enthusiast, his work and businesses, and many other aspects of his life.

Throughout his interest in the Cannonball record grows and his book covers preparation for the record attempt, as well as the drive itself of course.

Well written, interesting and I found it hard to put the book down and got through it in a short amount of time.

A valuable addition to the books on this topic, if not one of the best.