German police impound four Gumball rally cars

May 1, 2006, 17:29 GMT

Wuerzburg, Germany - German police impounded four high-powered sports cars taking part in the private Gumball 3000 rally Monday as they sped down the autobahn bound for Belgrade.

The annual event for millionaire car-lovers began Sunday in London and includes transfers by a jumbo cargo planes for a second stage in Thailand and a third stage in the western United States. In an event inspired by the 1976 movie Cannonball, racers stay in luxury hotels.

Police in Wuerzburg, southern Germany, said they counted 44 Gumball participants driving Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and other luxury cars and pulled over about a quarter for exceeding local speed limits.

Much of the German autobahn system has no speed limit, but in some places limits are signposted. Four of the cars were impounded while the rest were allowed to proceed after drivers deposited the amount they were likely to be fined for speeding.

Police, who set up speed traps after checking out the Gumball website, said participants in the unofficial rally observed limits after that. Racers were also stopped during last year's event.

Gumball 3000 is billed as a 3,000-mile (4,900-kilometre) fun race with supermodels on board and nightly parties in luxury hotels. On the first stage, the racers were proceeding via Austria to the Serbian capital Belgrade.