The inaugural Blacktop Rally kicks off in Jo’burg today. Described as an epic, hard driving, no holds-barred, 3 500 km rip-roaring road rally from Joburg to Cape Town, the event is all about driving, living and experiencing South Africa as a high octane adventure.

The drivers will be putting foot from Jo’burg down to Cape Town, stopping off at Bloemfontein, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Knysna along the way. It’s not all about the driving though, as entrants will have to uncover clues en route to their next destination and spend some quality time on a race track, an oval and an airstrip getting to know their cars better and scoring points as they go.

As the journey unfolds, there’ll be plenty of entertainment along the way at the various evening checkpoints where the hottest venues in each city will feature a FHM Rockstar party for entrants and locals – the more the merrier! The next day entrants hit the road and do it all over again, for 5 days straight.

The organisers hope the first event of its kind in South Africa, fashioned after the infamous Gumball international event, will leave entrants with lasting mental images of events that are just on the right side what is legally fun.

Highway police officers in Ontario and Quebec were extra vigilant yesterday, as a star-studded, international car rally tore through their provinces. Gumball 3000 is the ultimate road trip for rich people, oozing with celebrities, horsepower and eye candy. It cost US$45 000 to enter this year’s rally. At the end of the rally, awards are handed out to drivers who embodied the best spirit of the event.

Participants zipped from Quebec City to Toronto on Thursday, the second-to-last leg of a 4 800 km journey that has taken them through London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Boston. The rally, which started May 1, continues on to Niagara Falls on Friday morning, before finishing with the mother of all parties in New York City later in the day.

Though the event is not billed as a race, police were closely monitoring the event to make sure drivers were obeying traffic laws. In 2007, the event took a fatal turn when two British rally participants collided with another vehicle in Macedonia. An elderly couple was killed. “It’s something we can’t ignore,” said Toronto police Sgt. Tim Burrows.

Massachusetts State Police cited 11 drivers on Wednesday, mostly for speeding, said spokesman David Procopio. He said most of the offenders hailed from abroad, including the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Sweden and Belgium. The speeding fines are probably a “grain of sand in the beach” for them, Procopio said.

For some participants, speeding wasn’t the problem — it was getting into Canada. Three were denied entry because of previous convictions for alcohol-related driving offences, and two lacked proper documentation, a Canadian Border Service spokesperson said.

One rally participant who was successful crossing the border was Lee Wyatt, 43, from northern England. Speaking by phone from the passenger seat of a BMW Z8, Wyatt admitted that he and his rally partner, Richard Wharram, had each been cited for speeding during the rally. But Wyatt, who has participated in the rally once before, said he was having an “awesome” time. “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. All work and no play makes Lee a dull boy,” he said.

Adapted from MontrealGazette

Puma will hit the pavement for its third consecutive year as a partner for the Gumball 3000 Rally that started yesterday and runs through May 7th. The 4800-kilometre roadtrip will kick off in London and stop in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm before making the hop across the pond to Boston. The rally will continue to Quebec City and Toronto before ending in Times Square in New York City.

Puma will bring its mix of sport and lifestyle to this high-octane road trip with special events and activations along the way, as well as host three cars in this year’s rally. Team Puma features actress and award winning recording artist Eve, actor Idris Elba, and James Bond, sneaker and street style influencer and co-owner of the legendary sneaker shop UNDFTD. In addition, all 120 cars in the 12th annual rally will be branded with Puma’s signature formstripe and iconic Puma cat logo as part of the Official Gumball 3000 Sticker Kit.

Some of the finest and most exotic cars in the world are entered into the rally and spectators along the way can be sure to catch a glimpse of Bugatti’s, Rolls Royce’s, Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s all customised with Puma’s iconic branding for this global event.

Puma will also release two limited edition sneakers to celebrate the successful partnership. An exclusive SL Street Gumball 3000 will be available puma.com. PUMA and UNDFTD will also release a limited edition Comp-Star-Gumball 3000. A special PUMA Gumball 3000 tee shirt will also be available in select US cities where the rally will be visiting and via Puma’s website.