If this doesn’t make you proud to be American, go and live in Switzerland*:
The Cannonball Run record has been broken seven times over a five-week period after illegal road racers took to the empty streets during coronavirus lockdown to drive from New York City to Los Angeles.
The newest record holders, who have not been named, completed the 2,800-mile cross-country journey in less than 26 hours, beating last month’s record of 26 hours and 38 minutes.
That’s only a little less than twenty extra hours’ time spent flying from NYFC to LFA (taking into account the total time needed to get to the airport early, waiting around, boarding, taxiing to the takeoff point, and the flight itself, about six hours usually).
It’s also a whole lot more fun withal.
The rally has also become a lot easier to evade traffic cops, seeing as said fuzz are too busy ejecting families from parks, enforcing lockdowns on bars and florists, and all the other useless shit the various government entities are amusing themselves with.
All these new records — essentially breaking the law each time — make my chest swell with pride. More, please.
*Switzerland, despite having some of the best roads in Europe, absolutely hates cars, and most of all fast driving. Swiss speed limits are the lowest in Western Europe, and are savagely enforced with astronomical fines, confiscation and even imprisonment for transgressors. Oh, and all motor racing is banned. Fucking pissant wankers.
Motor racing banned in Switzerland? The same country where every citizen once had, at government expense, a select-fire military weapon, just in case?
I wish I’d read that before I had my morning quart of bourbon, I really shouldn’t have another until lunch…..
(Yeah, I stole, and personalized, Kim’s line about his morning pint of gin. )
A quart MAY be overdoing things a tad… but we’re all adults in this room, let’s not get judgey.
I’d be interested to know what cars were used in these valiant efforts.
I know one was an A8 Audi, any American cars I wonder?
I must be getting old. I find the idea of doing what, 150 miles an hour, at night, on strange roads is scary.
Maybe in this?
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/a32627323/2020-lincoln-aviator-grand-touring-review/
You’d need to be followed by a tanker truck. The Aviator gets, at best, 16mpg.
Traditionally the cars are equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, with the only stops being for well choreographed fuel stops using two pumps. So not only are you averaging over 100 MPH, you are doing it in a car loaded with 70 Plus gallons of flammable liquid in the truck.
more info here from one of the past record holder ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-bhmioV5NQ