They were promised an ”unforgettable adventure” but on Monday night the mainly British owners of 70 high-performance cars who entered a Cannonball Run competition across Europe were desperately trying to get their vehicles back from the Spanish police.
Police in Girona, north-east Spain, said they had impounded Ferraris, Porsches and Rolls-Royces, hauling in the drivers for taking part in what they claimed was an illegal race on public roads. ”We caught two of the cars doing more than 200 kilometres an hour along the motorway,” a police spokesperson said on Monday night.
Police patrol units across the north-eastern region of Catalonia had been warned to keep an eye out for a further 50 cars, all carrying race numbers, which were thought to be taking part in the event, she said.
The spokesperson said that only the two speeding drivers had been arrested. The others had their cars impounded when they reached a motorway toll gate near Girona, and may be obliged to pay traffic fines to get them back.
The drivers, including some from the United States, Denmark and Germany, had paid £3 000 to take part in the Cannonball Run Europe, which is inspired by the road races across the US that generated several films.
But Tim Porter, organiser of the Cannonball Run Europe, said on Monday night that his clients were not racing and were simply on a holiday drive from London to Benidorm, where the mayor was waiting for them.
”We are being treated like terrorists,” he said.
”All of a sudden my clients are being given a public flogging.”
Porter said the only place Cannonball Run Europe participants were meant to drive fast was at a racetrack in Albacete that they had hired for a day as part of what he termed ”a driving holiday”.
Porter insisted the event was not a race. He said that, in previous years, disabled drivers had taken part and money had been raised for charity.
The event’s website also said the Cannonball Run Europe was not a race, advertising it as ”a driving adventure, a physical and mental challenge, a meeting of man, machine and mayhem”.
It said that participants would be given daily target times, all achievable without speeding, for reaching checkpoints.
”Just taking part is an achievement, winning is nothing short of life-changing,” the website claimed.
”Outrageous driving machines, the very best driving roads and an ‘up for it’ crowd,” it went on.
”An unforgettable adventure with luxury hotels, quality dining and the infamous Cannonball parties staged at top nightclubs along The Run.”
One of those nightclubs, Porter said, was in Benidorm. It was unclear on Monday night how many participants were going to make it there. – Guardian Unlimited Â