Gumball 2007 - Accident in Macedonia

errr that is a pic of a Ford GT
 
I'm not going to defend the Gumball or the typical attitudes of the people taking part but I'll say this; be careful of reading one or two news articles full of "allegedly" and half facts and concocting a full picture out of it.

The official line from the Gumball hq (i presume they got the explanation from the drivers) is that the Golf driver pulled out from a stop sign, the porsche tried to avoid him but couldn't swerve around.

The worse part is the presumption they ran for the border. The further details say they got out, called the authorities, waited with the car until the ambulances arrived (the man in the Golf was alive at this point). They then left the scene as passengers. It was only at the border they were told by the police/found out the man had died (the man died of a heart-attack on the way to hospital) and were taken in by the police force. They didn't run away from a fatal accident, or leave a dead man.

Like i said i'm not going to defend anyones actions but everyone in internet land seems to be jumping to conclusions based on one or two articles. It'll take weeks before enough facts are out and corroborated for us to make judgements on blame or their actions after the accident.

That's a very different take on the accident - and if those are the facts (the Gumball official line could be just as guilty of twisting facts as the media can - after all they've got a large financial interest in portraying one side of the story to suit them) it does change my opinion of the actions of the competitors involved.

However - it doesn't make this race any less reckless.
 
All participating vehicles are abiding by all laws and road regulations of each country they are traveling through.
Can't find the statement anymore in which they claimed that anyone breaking the law will be thrown off the rally, but that clearly didn't happen. Does anyone have a list of the participants of the previous rallies? Or does anyone know in which Gumball Nick Morley participated? Was he one of those who started in 99?

[edit] Addidas has stopped supporting Gumball now too.
 
Last edited:
The worse part is the presumption they ran for the border. The further details say they got out, called the authorities, waited with the car until the ambulances arrived (the man in the Golf was alive at this point). They then left the scene as passengers. It was only at the border they were told by the police/found out the man had died (the man died of a heart-attack on the way to hospital) and were taken in by the police force. They didn't run away from a fatal accident, or leave a dead man.
Where did you get that information? Most sources I've read say that they fled, which would fit with the arrogant rich shit-for-brains stereotype. But if they notified authorities and left as passengers then there would be far less to criticize on behalf of the drivers. And would make all our furious rants seem a bit silly. :blush:
 
Second fatality

Second fatality

Gumball 3000 claimed another life in Macedonia

Skopje /04/05/ 17:49

The international rally Gumball 3000 claimed the second victim today - Margarita Chepunjoska, the wife of Vladimir, who died two days ago, has passed away today in the Skopje Clinic Center.

Margarita was severely injured in the accident that took place on Wednesday, when a participant of the rally crashed his Porsche into the car driven by her husband.

British citizen Nicholas Morley was speeding in his Porsche at the Struga-Qafasan road, when it collided head-on with Chepunjoski's Golf.

Yesterday, an investigative judge of Struga Court ordered 30 days of temporary detention to Nicholas Morley. The Police filed a formal accusation against him for "heavy violation of traffic safety" and "failure to provide help to an injured person".

Macedonian police told Makfax today that no charges will be raised against his co-driver, the British citizen Matthew McConville.
source

Just read that the accident claimed another death.
 
Man I used to think Gumball was cool but I was just awestruck by the exotics. These guys are total d*ckheads. I think I realized that in the 98 or 99 rally video when the person driving the Rolls or Bentley with the upright grille pulled a dead bird caught in mid flight out of his grill and all the lowlives started laughing. OK, there's some humor there but I don't laugh about the death of animals (also why I disliked the Camaro-car incident in series 9, although granted Jezza didn't kill the cow). Then is when I realized they're a bunch of Paris Hilton era self-absorbed pricks with more money than brains.

When you're driving on shoulders and passing semis at 150 mph on public roads you know something bad like this was due to happen. Even worse that they killed an innocent person and not themselves. Take it to the track, dipshits.
 
Someone was always going to die eventually.

On the one hand I think the Gumball is fun and exciting and entertaining, but on the other I do get sick of the pretentious 'we can do what we want because we're rich' types that enter it.

Money shouldn't buy them the right to get away with the things they do, or entitle them to drive like lunatics, of course it does make a difference in most of the countries they drive in though.

If they did try to run then they deserve jailtime, a lot of it, they killed two people and were almost certainly breaking the law by speeding excessively at the time. If they didn't try and run they still deserve severe punishment, they still killed two people!
 
Man I used to think Gumball was cool but I was just awestruck by the exotics. These guys are total d*ckheads. I think I realized that in the 98 or 99 rally video when the person driving the Rolls or Bentley with the upright grille pulled a dead bird caught in mid flight out of his grill and all the lowlives started laughing. OK, there's some humor there but I don't laugh about the death of animals (also why I disliked the Camaro-car incident in series 9, although granted Jezza didn't kill the cow). Then is when I realized they're a bunch of Paris Hilton era self-absorbed pricks with more money than brains.

When you're driving on shoulders and passing semis at 150 mph on public roads you know something bad like this was due to happen. Even worse that they killed an innocent person and not themselves. Take it to the track, dipshits.

gumball didnt start till 99

i believe that thing you are talkin about was either 2002 or 2003

one of the american ones and i cant remember whether it was on the first gumball dvd or if it was on the tekademics video, it was probably on the tekademics come to think of it, i dont think they would of put that in the official DVD.

the influx of celebs and their need to pump their ego's and out do the next celeb really has trashed the event, that and alot of new money riff raff with no idea what theyre doing. and of course they attract all the big money sponsors and tv coverage which tacky-fies the event completely.

also i know its fun and interesting to go to all these countries, but alot of them dont have the roads for driving super cars, and i think more importantly theyre all hooning about on roads that are completely alien to them....its easy to get caught out.

i feel sorry for people like jodie kidd, JK (if he does it) and Alex roy.... they dont get ideas above their station (99%) of the time and drive sensibly. Roy even kits his M5 out with all sorts of mods like brembo brakes and kelleners suspension because he knows his cars gonna take a pounding. these guys pay their money and do it properly, then the dorks with the collective mental ages of about 10 ruin it.
 
Yesterday, an investigative judge of Struga Court ordered 30 days of temporary detention to Nicholas Morley. The Police filed a formal accusation against him for "heavy violation of traffic safety" and "failure to provide help to an injured person".

This sounds VERY different from the Gumball HQ?s version to me!
 
Max is now blaming the dead couple (the wife also died sadly) saying they pulled out in front of the Porsche and the Porsche was doing normal speed. Bollocks, the roof of the Golf has obviously collapsed and the front is destroyed beyond recognition. A techart Porsche has some of the best brakes in ther business too, if it was on the limit the impact would not have been anywhere near as catastrophic as the one you see.
 
i am sorry i am a quiet person on this board but i need to say something here

after reading all your posts i have noticed a bit of a trend you all are blaming a motoring event for the death of 2 people, when really it was the actions of 1 person that caused this, i feel bad for the family of the victims and what they are going threw and i do not wish that on anyone (i personally went threw something similar) i also feel for the person that caused this, he is the one that has to go threw his life knowing that his actions have ended the lives of 2 people.

you guys need to stop believeing everything you read, news outlets are out for 1 thing and that is to make money so the stories are going to change from day to day and they are going to make up things to make more money. Wait till all the correct info comes out before you make your decision on what has happened.

i am not going to lie i am a fan of the gumball and i love watching the movies and TV shows that come along with it, where else can you see these cars do what they were ment for, yes they are doing some stupid things on the roads but you know what every single 1 of you have made some stupid mistakes behind the wheel from time to time, hell i have and a couple of times i was lucky to get away with it and i only drive a slow ass grand cherokee it can happen to everyone and it does,
 
No disrespect but have you been to eastern europe, or southern for that matter, to know the condition of their roads?

Yes... I have been to Southern Europe but not Eastern... your point is? Regarding my comments on Eastern Europe, I'm just basing it on what Gumball has said and several articles I have read (unrelated to this issue).

and I realized I missed reading the entire last page and more information has surfaced since, therefore I have editied certain parts of this post.
 
Last edited:
i hope GraemeH take on this incident is the true one, the other story is sickening,

hopefully truth will avail, and not some made up, shock factor story, or some covering up nonsence

whatever the case this whole situation stinks
 
after reading all your posts i have noticed a bit of a trend you all are blaming a motoring event for the death of 2 people, when really it was the actions of 1 person that caused this, i feel bad for the family of the victims and what they are going threw and i do not wish that on anyone (i personally went threw something similar) i also feel for the person that caused this, he is the one that has to go threw his life knowing that his actions have ended the lives of 2 people.

The event itself has to bear some responsibility for this - all the bullshit Max says about "it's not a race" - oh please, he creates an environment where people are encouraged by the nature of the event to drive recklessly fast, and then seeks to attract the very people and cars that he also knows will drive like that. So of course the event has some responsibility. It's like me walking into a room of alcoholics and leaving bottles of vodka for them. Sure I didn't make them drink, but I definitely created an environment in which they're encouraged to do so, and provided the means by which they could drink.

If Gumball was just a nice drive through the country, with people driving responsibly it wouldn't be the "success" it has become - the lawlessness is a major reason for that success. Max knows that, and doesn't try and stop it happening - he knows it has to happen for the event to be successful.
 
Last edited:
The event itself has to bear some responsibility for this - all the bullshit Max says about "it's not a race" - oh please, he creates an environment where people are encouraged by the nature of the event to drive recklessly fast, and then seeks to attract the very people and cars that he also knows will drive like that. So of course the event has some responsibility. It's like me walking into a room of alcoholics and leaving bottles of vodka for them. Sure I didn't make them drink, but I definitely created an environment in which they're encouraged to do so, and provided the means by which they could drink.

If Gumball was just a nice drive through the country, with people driving responsibly it wouldn't be the "success" it has become - the lawlessness is a major reason for that success. Max knows that, and doesn't try and stop it happening - he knows it has to happen for the event to be successful.


your right everyone does speed and it is associated with the gumball and if they did drive the limit it wouldent be as sucessful as it has been, but who is to say that the driver in the golf didnt cause the accident? the guy was 67, how often is it that you hear of some ederly couple smashing into something because there reflexs arent anywhere near as good as they used to be, dont get me wrong i am not defending the actions of the drivers in the porsche but there is no evidence as to what has happened yet, who knows what could have happened, dont make assumptions as to what happened till you hear all of the story.

and did you ever think that maybe the reason the organizers of the gumball were hiding the info about the accident to keep those involved from being slandered on the internet by a bunch of hypocrates that believe everything they read. i generally tend not to believe what the news channels say because there is always something untrue about what they are reporting
 
Top