Gumball driver flees death scene

[faceless]

Gumball cancelled after death
Thursday, May 3, 2007

Organisers of the Gumball 3000 Rally closed the race down following a fatal traffic accident involving two British drivers. The pair reportedly left a man dead and his wife fighting for her life in an alleged hit-and-run accident during a controversial high-speed rally. Nick Morley and Matthew McConville's ultrahigh performance Porsche 911 was said to have veered on to the wrong side of the road and struck Vladimir and Margarita Chepulyoski's VW Golf. The Britons were said to have leapt into another car taking part in the Macedonian leg of the Gumball 3000 rally and headed for the border.

Rally organisers announced that the event had been called off in Bratislava a day early following the accident. Maximillion Cooper, the founder of the rally, said in a statement: "As a sign of respect we have decided that this year's Gumball 3000 Rally will not travel any further and will end in Bratislava. As the organisers of the rally we feel that it should be stopped as a mark of respect to Vladimir Cepulyoski who died today after an accident involving one of the participating drivers. We are very saddened by what has happened and feel that it would be wrong to continue. On behalf of Gumball 3000, we once again extend our deepest sympathies to his family and we are doing everything we can for them. This is the first time anything like this has happened in nine years of travelling through over 40 countries with thousands of drivers and it is with deep regret that I make this announcement."


Nick Morley

The pair were stopped by guards as they tried to cross into Albania, police said. The crash happened as five of the high-performance Gumball cars travelled in convoy near the town of Struga. The twin turbo-charged Porsche was going at high speed, according to police. Mr Chepulyoski, 67, died of a heart attack on his way to hospital, while his wife was in a critical condition in intensive care in hospital.

Morley, who was driving the Porsche at the time of the crash, was remanded in custody for 30 days. He faces charges which may lead to a one-year jail term, while Mr McConville was released. Rally organisers insisted their car was not speeding and the pair left the scene for 20 minutes because they were in shock. Founder Maximillion Cooper said: 'Both drivers are extremely traumatised.'

This year's Gumball 3000 sees 120 supercars travelling 4,800km (3,000 miles) through 16 countries over eight days. But the celebrity rally has sparked safety fears in the past with some countries warning the drivers they would not be welcome.

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"Left the scene for twenty minutes because they were in shock"? Yeah right, that's why they were arrested at the border. The scumbags.

[Marcella-FL]

so they smashed into the car, got out of their car and walked 20 minutes to the border? ... in shock? ... schmucks!