Cannonball Run Europe 2012

SUNDAY 1st July - Mission 1

Start: Oatlands Park, UK

Finish: Albano Terme, Italy

Distance: 826 miles

On the stroke of 4 o/c the drivers were asked to start their engines. As they pulled onto the starting line they were given their first mission pack – a 826 mile drive to Abano Terme, Italy.

An uneventful drive down as far as the boys in blue are concerned, but as always, there were a few funny tales to tell. The majority of the drivers took the most direct route down through Switzerland, with a few of them taking the route through France. However Keith & Konstantin in their Porsche 911 decided that it was worth the 150 mile detour to go through Germany to be able to take advantage of the autobahns. It could have been a good plan except that they wrecked their tyres on the way and had to park up and wait for a garage to open in morning to get them replaced!

David and Meriel celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary in style by sharing a cup of coffee in a service station en route for Italy! Who says romance is dead?! Now is it a coincidence that the guys in Jaguars were the only ones who got to see the Eiffel Tower on the way down?! Maybe not the best Sat Navs in the world, taking them on a 75 mile detour! Talking of detours, Nick & Lyndon, in the R8 were on a mission to find Mont Blanc. Not sure if they ever did but they did manage to get a snowball fight in and to clock up 1114 miles on the first leg, only 300 miles off course!

Our first destination hotel was the Trieste & Victoria Hotel. Now two of the cars obviously didn’t have time to read beyond “Trieste” and put that into their Sat Nav, which, of course, took them to the town of Trieste, 120 miles away from Abano Terme! Should they be named and shamed?!

The sun was shining as the first cars got in at 7.50 am, 40 minutes before checkpoint opening time. Abano Terme is a sleepy little spa town, 35 miles from Venice which was a perfect place to relax in the pools and gardens of the hotel. The guys who got in at breakfast time decided that the occasion demanded beer and champagne and not the usual coffee or tea with breakfast! By the time the temperature hit 33 degrees, soon after lunch, all the Cannonballers had arrived.

At dinner the stage leader was announced and the rosettes were handed out to Andrew, Matt & Marc, Porsche 911 An early night, by Cannonball standards, was in order as we all recovered from the long drive down and the day in the sun.

TUESDAY 3rd JULY - Mission 2

Start: Albano Terme, Italy

Finish: Vienna, Austria

Via: Sella Nevea (Italian Mountains)

Distance: 404 Miles

Today when the drivers received their mission packs they found out they were going to Sella Nevea. This is a sub-checkpoint where they would then find out where their final destination of the day would be. This took them up into the winding roads of the Italian mountains. The roads were amazing and the scenery spectacular. We came across quite a few police cars today but most were just wanting to have a closer look at the cars as opposed to giving us fines. All cars made it to the sub-checkpoint by early afternoon where they found out they were heading to Vienna, 253 miles away. Shortly after leaving Sella Nevea the ‘ballers were able to feast their eyes upon the most beautiful turquoise lake, Lago del Predil . Most admired the scenery, took a few photos and moved on. The temptation however was far too great for Len & Jason in the RS4, who couldn’t resist a swim after which they managed to talk one of the locals into lending them their canoe so they could go for a ride around the lake!

Throughout the afternoon the cars arrived in the beautiful city of Vienna and checked into The Grand Wien (and grand it was indeed!) Dinner was at the very chic Albertina Passage restaurant where the Cannonballers were treated to a fantastic meal serenaded by a live jazz band. The party then carried on at a local nightclub where many danced the night away.

Stage leaders were Paul & Richard in the Jag XJR but surprise of the day was that second time Cannonballers Jon & Dan in the Yellow Ferrari, finished in second place! No-one was more surprised than the boys themselves who don’t know what country they are in most of the time, certainly never knew what time they left the checkpoint and would never consider calculating any times.....or did they? ;)

WEDNESDAY 4th JULY - Mission 3

Track Day - Hungaroring

Start: Vienna, Austria

Finish: Budapest, Hungary

Cannonballers arrived at the checkpoint this morning to receive the exciting news that they were off to the Hungaroring, home of the Hungarian Grand Prix. In just 3 weeks time, Hamilton, Button, Weber, Schumacher & co will be tearing up the tarmac trying to gain valuable championship points. Today it’s exclusively for the Cannonballers. The Hungaroring is an amazing track day track and has been described as a “little Monaco” due to it’s twisty nature.

All the cars were there by lunchtime. Following lunch and the drivers’ briefing they were ready to take to the track to try out their cars and driving skills and boy they didn’t hold back! The temperature approached 40 degrees and the smell of burning rubber and burning brakes filled the air. No spills to talk about but plenty of thrills! Another amazing Cannonball track day......

By the end of the afternoon we decided that we had given our cars enough punishment and after a day in this heat we were all more than ready for a cool beer. We headed to the Sofitel in downtown Budapest, a beautiful hotel with views on the River Danube and the famous Chain Bridge. The outdoor terrace was our meeting place where we could all share our stories and experiences of track day over a beer or two. In the evening we headed for The Mix restaurant and club where the fun and games continued into the early hours. Track day is not a timed stage, so no stage leaders were announced tonight.

THURSDAY 5th JULY - Mission 4

Start: Budapest, Hungary

Finish: Prague, Czech Republic

Distance: 329 miles

Cannonballers enjoyed a rare lie in today as the checkpoint didn’t open until 10.00. As the rather bleary eyed ‘ballers turned up at the checkpoint they found out they were off on a 329 mile trip to Prague. Nick & Jamil’s and James & Rick’s outfits of the day didn’t disappoint.

The trip was pretty uneventful for all except Paul & Jeremy in the Ferrari 360 who had a pretty hairy experience when their wheel came loose whilst hurtling down the motorway! Luckily they managed to control the car and ended up on the hard shoulder. The roadside assistance boys were called out and the car was fixed and back on the road a few hours later.

By early afternoon most of the cars were parked up in the Intercontinental Hotel. The guys and girls enjoyed being tourists for the afternoon. enjoying a stroll around Prague in the sunshine.

The evening saw us heading to Clinton & Abama’s restaurant of choice, Hergetova Cihelna, set on the Danube with wonderful views of the Charles Bridge. The heavens opened while we were there and unfortunately dinner had to be moved from the outdoor terrace to the indoor restaurant. The rain certainly didn’t dampen spirits though as we all enjoyed yet another fantastic evening.

Stage leaders today were Freddy & Mark in the Z3. The boys spent the rest of the evening enjoying the local hospitality and all that Prague has to offer!!!!

FRIDAY 6th JULY - Mission 5

Start: Prague, Czech Republic

Finish: Brussels, Belgium

Distance: 559 miles

After a pretty crazy night out last night there were a lot of sunglasses and sore heads at the checkpoint and the BlowMe boys had their work cut out breath testing all the drivers! By 8am all but a couple of cars had left the checkpoint (those who didn’t make the checkpoint closing time needed a bit more time to recover from their evening’s exploits!) They were all off on a hardcore 559 mile drive to Brussels. Chris & Alma, who have been keeping us entertained all week with their amazing outfits amazed us yet again as this morning saw Chris turning up in one of Alma’s outfits!

All the guys had a great drive up to Brussels, with the cars taking full advantage of the wonderful German autobahns, and making it into the Capital of Europe in good time, in fact the first cars were in by 3pm! As the cars crossed the finishing line throughout the afternoon and checked into The Conrad hotel in the exclusive Avenue Louise area, spirits were very high. This had been the final drive on the 2012 Cannonball Run. We now had a final night party to get ready for. By 8 o’clock the beautifully turned out Cannonballers were in the bar and the sound of popping Champagne corks filled the air. As they were invited into the Ballroom and asked to take their seats they were treated to a very special and unexpected film show. Craig & Jim (BlueJuice Multimedia) had spent the week capturing the memories on film and Craig had managed to edit a 15 minute film whilst on the road in the back seat of a car! There were cheers and shrieks of delight as it started to sink in what an amazing journey they had all been on. “Did we really do all that in just one week?!” The surprises weren’t over as all the Cannonballers were presented with a silver photo frame containing a picture of themselves and their car on the starting line.

There was of course just one more very important announcement to be made – who is the winner of the 2012 Cannonball Run Europe? This year was the closest it has ever been. Going into the last day there were 12 cars who could have won and the top eight cars were all within 1mph of one another! So, the results....

In third place, were last year’s winners Debbie & Vaughn in a Jag XKR with a variance of -0.102.
In second place was Freddie & Mark in a BMW Z3 with a variance of -0.031,
And in first place with a variance of just 0.029 were Chris and Alma in a Mercedes CL55 AMG.
All were invited on stage to receive their trophies and Champagne.

Next was the announcement of the Spirit of the Cannonball award. This award is considered to be the most prestigious award and is voted for by Cannonballers. The award went to Nick & Jamil in the Shelby Mustang GT500. The boys really entered into the Cannonball spirit and kept us entertained all week with their costumes inspired by the original Cannonball Run film.
Of course the evening was far from over as we all headed along the road to the Gallery Louise night club Champagne flowed as it has never flowed before! Luckily they had been forewarned that they needed to get huge supplies in to satisfy our insatiable thirsts, so they were able to keep up with us all night.

This was our 10th anniversary Run and it is very fitting that we are able to say that it was our best ever! The people were amazing and we were privileged to spend the week with so many true Cannonballers.
Roll on 2013!