>First Published: The Sydney Morning Herald
> Friday, June 16, 2000
>
>Socialites, well-heeled, wide-boys and other
>yuppie scum terrorised motorways and
>mountain roads in four European countries
>in a 330km/h road rave - and laughed off a $47,000 fine.
>
> A bunch of well-heeled Britons driving flash, fast cars has
> been caught after wreaking heart-in-mouth havoc in an
> illegal road race through Europe.
>
> Two men, nightclub owner Tom Combrinck and gold bullion
> trader Brett Trevillian, now have the dubious honour of being
> hit with perhaps the world's stiffest speeding fines - 18,000
> and 10,000 ($47,000 and $26,000) respectively.
>
> The Ferrari-fanging toffs eventually were stopped at an
> autobahn roadblock. Irate German police took the extreme
> step to end what they described as one of the longest,
> fastest and most dangerous car chases ever recorded in
> Germany.
>
> Organised yobbery had crossed the class divide, thundered
> The Times of London, reporting that car enthusiasts with
> more money than sense unsettled the police, motorists and
> other law-abiders with their high-speed blast through Spain,
> France, Italy and Germany.
>
> Combrinck and Trevillian were among the 70 participants in
> a loosely organised Cannonball-styled event called the
> Gumball Rally, which started last year but proved so
> dubiously popular that this second running became a
> must-do social focus for many of Britain's filthy rich and
> famous - financial whizkids, entrepreneurs, showbiz types
> and the odd mogul.
>
> The madness began at a Spanish airport, where the
> participants and their sporty cars had been flown.
>
> There, said The Times, between take-offs and landings at
> the busy airport, two of the visitors amused themselves by
> racing their Ferraris along the strip at speeds of 280km/h.
>
> The Gumballers headed for the narrow, twisting roads of the
> Pyrenees, scaring other motorists witless as they dashed
> around blind corners at three times the speed limit.
>
> Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and a London financial
> journalist were among those caught speeding in the run to
> Cannes.
>
> "We had convoys of several cars each doing more than
> [240km/h]," declared one oaf.
>
> The brakes went on when the rally roared over the border
> into Germany, home of unrestricted autobahns and usually
> quite generous to those who travel quickly but responsibly.
>
> The sound and fury of two V12 Ferraris overtaking on inner
> and outer lanes, speeding along the hard shoulder and
> straddling lane markings rattled the usually understanding
> German police.
>
> Two pursuing patrol cars expired in their fruitless chase of
> the disappearing Ferraris.
>
> The police then resorted to blocking the autobahn and all
> exits to stop and arrest the rich British bovver boys.
>
> Combrinck and Trevillian showed neither contrition nor
> concern for the lives they put at risk.
>
> "Until we were stopped it was a fantastic drive," Combrinck
> told The Times. "In Germany I got up to speeds of 330km/h.
> The police cars were behind us for the best part of 160km -
> we were filming them with a video camera."
>
> Meanwhile, the London Daily Telegraph reported that
> 20-year-old Formula One driver Jenson Button was caught
> doing 238km/h on a French motorway - or 108km/h over the
> limit.
>
> Stopped near Montpelier in a BMW 330 diesel belonging to
> his Williams BMW team, Button was given an on-the-spot
> $1,300 fine.
>
> Short of cash and followed closely by police, Button drove
> at modest speed to an ATM. The gendarmes treated him to
> a coffee and a chat at the police station before sending him
> on his way.
>
> One officer said that Button's "good humour" impressed
> him.
>
> David Robertson, his manager, said: "I didn't think the car
> he had would go that fast."
>
> The BMW's top speed is given as 227km/h. Until he is 21,
> Button is permitted to drive only diesel cars on the
> Continent.
>
> Button was stopped after a test drive preparing for the
> Monaco GP. His father, John, said when the police realised
> who Jensen was they took him for coffee and "let him off the
> penalty for not having his driving licence".
>
> "Instead," he said, "they asked him for some autographs
> and then wished him God speed. He was relaxing on the
> beach half an hour later.
>
> "He couldn't believe he [reached] that speed, but he owned
> up and was friendly and the police seemed to like him."
>
> Button senior said he would have been less sympathetic
> than the French police. "I'll send him to bed without his
> supper for this."
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