BullRun07 LineUp Dear Friends and Family, I am pleased to announce the 2007 line up for Team Darkcyd who will be participating in the 2007 Bull Run. The run is from Montreal to Key West starting on May 12th and will include 3 main cars, one spare, a chase vehicle, and believe it or not, an all black 18 wheeler race team semi with full garage, living quarters, and room for 4 cars. We have really gone out this year on many levels, and I anticipate this will be our second to last US based rally as it is simply is too costly from a licence and potential insurance perspective. For 2007 we have upgraded my Main car to an all Black Mucielago with Black Maya rims. ![]() This car has about 575 HP and looks evil just parked, without even hearing the 6.2 liter engine. This car has been in prepped for two weeks now after a full service was done which included pulling the engine , and thanks to my good friend and master car prepper Jimmy Lowry and his team, the car is complete. It has all the goodies including jammers, scanners, detectors, Navigation, Custom sound /ipod Hookup etc. and new for all our team cars, real time GPS tracking. So everyone with a password will be able to go to http://www.gps-snitch.com/ and log in with a password to track our progress in real time. The username is gpstracking@darkcydracing.com Password is darkcyd Joining us is again is an international team with members from Germany, Turkey, and Canada. Line up is as follows Driver Navigator Robb Rill / Tara Rill in the Darkcyd Murci Peter Kolb / Bulent Akkaya our fearless European rally drivers will be in the Darkcyd CLK DTM, Alex /Danyell Fima our laid back California Cool friends will be running in the Darkcyd Gallardo Geoff Wall / Aaron T our internationally reknown navigator who won the Vail stage and several top 5 finishes last year will be running in the Darkcyd Navi as chase/recon. Last to round it out will be Patrick and Linda in the 18 wheel Mobile Darkcyd Garage which will hold spares and the Darkcyd Twin Turbo Esprit as a back up car. ![]() Unfortunately,Bart "The Bomber" Colson who was running in the Darkcyd SLR had a last minute personal matter to attend to and had to drop out. We are excited, but it has been a significant amount of work getting to this point, and we are still not done. There is still equipment to get, electronics to be trained on, and logistics to sort out. Cars should all be in Vermont by Thursday and the team should be crossing to Montreal Friday morning for final prep. I also have to reflect on the recent deaths during the Gumball 3000 over the last days, and although I do not know all the details and it is easy to judge, it is quite bothersome knowing what I have witnessed on past events with people doing well beyond what is appropriate endangering peoples lives. It is a rally, not a race, and people take it to extremes. Getting a little aggressive, depending on conditions and surroundings can be ok, going all out with hard lane passing and all out racing to be first at all costs is not. It's one thing if you want to kill yourselves doing something you love, but killing or hurting others is just not acceptable. I would like to think people will learn from the recent events and those thoughts will keep them in check before they are about to do something stupid. I plan to do daily write ups as I always do as the action progresses, and if for some reason you do not get the email, please check the our site at www.darkcydracing.com for daily write ups, pictures, and video which eventually will get posted after editing. I was hoping to have a sneak preview for everyone ready of last years Bullrun event , but it is still in editing, and no date for release has been set. Hope you enjoy the action as it unfolds, as we enjoy creating it. Cheers, Robb
Brief Update Gonna be brief update this morning before start to catch you guys up. Everybody got to Burliungton safe and all cars without a problem .The problems started later. The Darkcyd crew ran as a convoy abiout 12:00 to Montreal to cross the border and this was thenot 20 minutes in Alex and Danyell in the Darkcyd Gallardo got pulled for over 90 as alex was not paying attetnion to his radar detector. Plenty of people had border problems inclding a guy named Frank we were helping who has 10k in cash taken for not declaring. Rob Ferretti who had brought a car for someone to rent also was denied entry because it was a rental. customs was all aware of Bulllrun and it only got worse . We actually all cleared but I was taking the Murci to Jon Scotti Lmborghini to has a low brake fluid problem topped off. On the was to the dealership, I lost the entire clutch which uses the same fluid as the brakes. no hydrolic fluid at all.The reason it was low was not good. ![]() Meaningwhile, I had sent Todd my brother in law and Geoff with the Darkcyd Navi to fetch My Twin Turbo esprit whiuc we left in Vermont since we could not bring over the border on the Darkcyd semi without a 3 day customs hold and carnet. while I was dealing with fixing the Murci, they were denied reentry. I spent 2 hours trying to get powers of attorney and letters explaining we owned the car and they were allowed but they would not allow it.On my way back to the hotel I called the only guy I thought would have the connections to not only get me a part few Lambo dealing with my main problem of fixing my main car looking for a part most dealers do not keep in stock and have a mechanic willing and able to handle this job now. Well thanks to Ferreti and my team we were able to get things taken care of . We got the car loaded on the Darkcyd race semi and Patrick, Linda and myself crossed the border in the early morning with the car which we were worried would not occur because of 3 day customes rule, but I could not drive the car under its own power across. To our shock the customes offical was very acomodating even thought on the other side they were quite unfriendly to my other team member who had to leave the Lotus at the border. So we got across , the Darkcyd Semi drove all night the Murci is on the way to NJ and should arrive by 9AM to be worked on all day and night until it is done. It will then be reloaded to catch up with us. I got the lotus acrss the border myself with no issues althought I was told It would not happen since the car was registered to my wife, and it is being stickered up as we speak. we handled this all while throwing a priovate surprise Bd party for Tara last night thanks to the help of my good friend andrew from Toronto who handles most odf the details. So over all we in good shape and all the cars are going to be lined up for the start about 5 minutes from the ritz Carlton hotel for the start which should occur about 11. Once agin huge thankis to rob ferretti and Sgtever for making the impossible happen on saving the Darkcyd Murci which I expect to be running in by tommorow night. i`m sure today will be just as interesting. we shall see. cheers, Robb ![]() ![]() ![]() Day 1 Day 1
Ok -today was another event filled day. some bad some good. Several thousand fans watched us all off about 5 minutes from the ritz Carlton, and we jockeyd for a good grid position. there were several thousand fans and it was really exciting to be som well received. The entire Darkcyd team was one of the first cars off the grid and worked well making it through the border before almost the rntire pack. ![]() The good nerws is the Darkcyd Murci is being worked on still as we speak and shall be ready to go in the morning. Once again huge thanks to Steve and Rob Ferreti for pulling off the impossible. If all goes well will be loaded on the Darkcyd Race Semi and on the way to me at our destination by tommorow night. Not bad considering the engine had to be pulled and the part was not to be found anywhere especially on a weekend. On a sad note Team Caanda in the 928, who went through great lengths to get their very modifed car to the grid caught on fire . The should have another car deleivered to them by tommorrow, and we wish them the best. We are currently in Boston, met some cool people from Tokyo in the rally who had some tire issues and may end up helping them out with a ride if need. ![]() Was a pretty big party at a place called Felt and the girls gone wild film crew was there which is not our scene , so we quickly left, aolthough tthe place was nuts and most were having quite the time. Tommorow will probably be a chill day overall as I am expecting my main car back and want to simply enjoy things. Till then, Robb
Day 2 Well today was honestly not very fun overall. We all left Boston at about 8:30 and as soon as we were off the cops grabbed almost everyone. The darkcyd DTM got pulled over twince for equipment violatuions, beasically meaning trumped up charges because the car looks like a race car which it bascially it is, but since Peter and Bulent were not speeding they wanted to get them for something so having a German tag on the car was enough. Tara got pulled over since I did not drive at all today right in the morning just because we were part of the event . She has never had a ticket in her life and this really was a mild form of harrassment. Alex and Danyell did not realize they were supposed to catch a ferry , and overshot it by about 50 miles and basically skipped the chekpoint.We ran very slowly to the ferry which we took to Long Island. We then went to a wine Vinyard off route 48 and stopped for lunch, where the entrances were blocked to prevent people from leaving early. Peter and the Navi chase which made it top 5 too the winery were able to escape the block and were able to run without any problems getting to the Trump Marina in about 250 miles away in 3rd place and I think 5th. On the way I received the good news that Patrick and Linda were going to be loading the Darkcyd Murci and would meet us in Atlantic city by the time we were expected to get there. Ironically , as we hit traffic with Tara drving, the Lotus had a small issue of the accelerator going completley to the floor. I knew it had to be the cable but was not sure how to access it so while I was arranging transport with Patrick, I called Jimmy Lowry who simply said check by the accerlarator pedal as that would be the most common place for the cable to pop off and low and behold he was correct. I fixed it in about two minutes and we were off. We drove through Manhattan, to get to Ac and traffic was horrible, and arrived at the hotel about 7:00 way behind most people. The hotel is absurd so instead of going to the Bullrun dinner which previously was excellent, we ran to the Bogetta Hotel which is first class and had a proper meal with Clausse of CEC and his long time friend from Mexico city jochim who is new to this rally scene with the whole most of the Darkcyd team. By the time I got back to the hotel the car arrived in the Darkcyd chase semi and I was excited to get both the car and Patrick back. This guy basically babysat the car while it got repaired over the last day and a half. ![]() On an interesting side note, it was announced at the beggining of the run that Team Ricci challenged Richard Rawlins of Bullrun fame to beat the coast to coast record from Ny to La of 32 hours initally done by Cannonball Baker who basically invented these type of events. This record which I beleive has been held since 1979 is now on track to be broken at last report. I personally did not think it could be done since they need to average about 100 mph non stop which with traffic and stops is not technically impossible but in reality almost impossible. If they win they will get $50k. we shall see and although I do not beleive they wil lmake it, I am rooting for them. I know people have not been able to track us on GPs but we should have both the Murci and the Navi online for tommorw, so check in with us. ![]() Its now past 2 am and i'm pretty tired so I wil rap it up. Looking forwar do ttommorow and glad today is over. Cheers, Robb
Day 3
Today was one that turned it all around. Despite having the strongest urge to stretch the legs on the Darkcyd Murci after test driving it last night when it was delivered in Atlantic City last night, I showed my restraint and gave it to my wife and Danyell. I really wanted to drive but knew it was better not to . so I jumped in the car with Alex in the Darkcyd Gallardo and boy o boy did we have an experience. After giving Tara about a 2 minute instruction on how to drive the Murci, the flag dropped and we were off. We ran with Clause in his Super Turned all white Cayenne, Mike in the 430, the safety car which is a hopped up new Mustang with lights on it, and the Darkcyd DTM. On a scale of 1 to 10 for aggressiveness I would rate it a 9. ![]() We made the lunch checkpoint after about 220 miles #6 rolling in together with Bill Wu while The Darkcyd DTm came in second. We ended up at a place call BullRun park which had a catered lunch truck for us to grab some snacks. Patrick pulled up shortly after in the Darkcyd Race Semi and we after the girls rolled on in about 15 minutes later in the Murci we put all the cars together for some team shots. Jason and Jerry who are some players run buddies dropped on by to meet us at the checkpoint and we chilled for about in hour before moving on. Since we crossed Virginia and it is known as a particularly bad state, we decided to roll very slow which can easily be vi wed by people tracking on GPS. I believe it was working and confirmation would be great. The best part was a surprise to us. ![]() ![]() The bizarre part was when we went to dinner a couple blocks away. we asked for directions and the answer was follow the crowd. I was shocked to see the streets lined all the way to the Restaurant which was only for Bull Runners like they were waiting for the president or something. I went upstairs to make a private call on top of the restaurant, and as I was looking out of the window, there were girls everywhere trying to get my attention, as if I would let them in the restaurant. I just never understood why they waited. I guess there is just not a lot to do here. Those hundreds of people simply waited outside of the restaurant I simply smiled and continued my conversation, and then went down for dinner. Dinner was first rate and I have to say Grace from Bullrun did an excellent job of coordinating things. After dinner, we were all escorted to a club called Clock Tower and it seemed it was very important for the locals to get entry, because many were pretty aggressive. We were escorted to the private party in the back, and I think it was funny that Bulents comment about the ratio of girls to guys, "like fishing with dynamite", and I think it was accurate. there was quire a show with some BullRun girls dressed in police uniforms and dancing like there was no tomorrow and the pictures are priceless. ![]() Our world renowned Darkcyd Navigator Aaron had 3 girls approach him in no time flat, since it was clear he wore the coveted Lanyard around his neck. I intentionally did not wear mine as it felt bizarre, and I bet I could have sold it for 500 bucks. I also slipped him the keys to the Murci in case he wanted to show the car to any of his new friends. I have no idea what happened after because we left early since we needed to be up early tomorrow for the marathon stage. speculation is we end up in Savannah which is a 10 hour drive by normal car. I am really hoping for the Blue Ridge mountains, and will have to see what car I end up in. I think Alex and I will start in the Darkcyd Murci and the girls will drive the baby Lambo tomorrow. we shall then switch it up somehow. On a related note I am pleased to announce the Richard Rawlings and one of the Collins brothers broke the sea to shining sea record by beating it by just over an hour. the sad part is this record which is almost 30 years old got no news coverage and the potential Leno appearance did not pan out. a link to the record can be viewed here http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/14/bullrun-participants-may-have-broke-cannonball-nyc-to-la-run-rec/ Cheers, Robb
Day 4 Yesterday was alot of fun especially in the morning. We all lined the cars up and while people were milling about got the status report after we left the club. Well apparently the locals were quite upset that they were kicked out of the club for no reason I could discern other than somebody wanted it to be for just Bull Runners. I thought this was a really bad move and we left as soon as it was announced. So when the party venue for alot of people changed to outside the club at house party's which Tara and I had no part-( we went to bed) So it appeared there was going to be a fight, and although I do not now what transpired, I was told their was some pretty shocking behavior going on primarily initiated with the locals and some Bull Run participants, and we will leave it a that. The local guys were a little upset about their treatment and the apparent friendliness the Bull Runners were receiving from some of the ladies. So it appeared there was going to be a fight, and at least some of my guys left before anything involved them.Alex and I lined up at the start in Staunton Virginia for the first stage, and Tara and Danyell drove the Darkcyd Gallardo. Since I was not going to drive and Alex was looking to try out my car I was happy to see what the car could really do . We were headed to the Blue ridge Parkway and I was excited because this is some of the best driving in the united states. We launched and very quickly were in the top 10 running to Concord north Carolina motor speed way. The cops were pretty aggressive, and their were at least 2 arrests that I know of in Virginia, which they all should of known was a bad state to speed in . Bulent and Peter in the Darkcyd DTM got pulled over and harassed for over an hour because the cop insisted they had a radar detector , which is illegal in the state. ![]() ![]() Alex and I we so happy about our position which after about an hour was top 3 running with "Dr Wu" in his Purple Murci , Team Ricci in their CL65, and us that we forgot to take the route for the Blue Ridge parkway and that was a huge penalty for me as I wanted so badly to drive the Murci there. On the way we needed to make a pivotal turn from one highway to the other and a guy named Mark from the Bull Run TV show (which I think is really bad and has nothing to do with the rally), who was helping us and his daughter by running ahead in a rented unmarked car needed to know whether to go left or right. The Darkcyd Race Semi driven by Patrick who was ahead of us told me one direction which was left, but my navigation was saying right, so I instructed Alex to tell Mark left while I was on the phone, and at the last moment I shouted no-right and we switched and veered hard right which was way too late for him. He thought we intentionally cheated him to beat him and his daughter was driving th Trans Am on from the reality show. I apologized later for the mistakeand all was forgiven. We eventually rolled into Concord 1 2 3 togther and about 2 miles from what was the destination our tank read 0 miles left. So rather than have a huge problem running a very expensive car out of gas which would not be a simple refueling because we would have an issue with the fuel injection system which would be costly and troublesome, we abandoned our position to get gas. It turns out had we not, we would have run out for sure because the Navigation point I said up was about 7 miles too short, and there is no way we would have made it. It also turns out our 1 2 3 place was usurped by clausse in the Porsche Cayenne once again, who took a differnt route altogther. My pal Clausse is quite the mad German. Like Peter, driving must be in their blood. ![]() The girls were not too happy with us because they rolled into the speedway about 20 minutes later and felt we ditched them. My comment was what kind of idiots would ditch 2 very pretty girls driving a Lamborghini. all was forgiven for that as well, and Tara drove the Darkcyd Murci to the final checkpoint in Savannah at the Mansion on Forsyth Park (one of the nicest boutique hotels I have ever been)which was uneventful, since we kept the speeds relatviely low which is also one of the prettiest cities in the states. the only issue I had at thwe hotel was when I walked into the Bar who was one of the two guys who broke the sea to shining sea record. I went up to him and said basically you are a cocky guy guy and I did not think you would break the record but not only did you do it you beat it by an hour" He was ok with that comment and we shook hands. I then commented how I thought is was shameful that them breaking a record, and they got no significant press. I thought what he did was a significant achievement breaKing a record almost 30 years old, and he just snapped. He started freaking out on me and it really come close to blows for no reason. Thank goodnes he partner who also broke the record Dennis Collins was a little more rested understood correctly that I was not dissing them,but rather simply stating I thought they were short changed, and he backed off. He later apologized and I having a pretty good idea of the stress he is still feeling, easily forgave the incident. We got word last night that our Japanese friends had their car impounded out of Atlantic city for registration problems. I do not know the details but feel really bad for them. This morning we cross in to Florida and I know the end stop is in Orlando. I thing it is highly probable our lunch checkpoint is at Gainesville Raceway because I know we have a track day today and there is not many options based on Geography. I thought it would be Robling road just outside of Savannah, but it was confirmed a motorcycle event is there. ![]() so for our friends in the Orlando and Gainesville area, we hope to see you there. Cheers, Robb
Day 5 Yesterday was quite the fun day. We started out leaving the hotel in Savannah at about 10:00 and heading north to what was technically a race track on Hutchinsonn Island but in reality looked like an abandoned development before the contruction started on thbe houses. It had dust everywhere as I started off powersliding the Darkcyd Murci around the first corner with Joaquim in the car, who was Clausses friend from Mexico, I realized a needed to be very careful before I would smash this thing into a wall. The traction control was useless because it kicks in way way to early, and the car has haracteristics that I don't understand yet making it difficult to really push the car around a corner at high speed without the steeringfeeling smooth, but rather abrupt contrantly fighting it to keep it in line. Anyway it was fun none the less, and we were gone shortly after in a chase for the border. This was the only planned time I was going to drive as georgia is the only state with no reciprocity with other staes relating to p[oints. So Joaquim and I headed out for the destination checkpoint which was about 200 miles in Orlando. I knew everybody would be heading I95 South but since the police would be waiting I had a contingeny plan to take I -10 west and then 121 south to I -75 and then the turnpike on down to Orlando. While I called my office and had them confirm it was indeed about an addditional 50 miles, I felt the time loss could be made up by running solo. As soon as we heading out, I realized there were Georgia police everywhere waiting for us. ![]() Because of this I pulled over right away and switched with joaquim. He got in a was drving at exactly the speed limit, when we were pulled. we did not even have rally decals on the car except for Darkcyd Racing. her then harrassed him for about 5 minutes and freaked out because Joaquim had a Mexican liscence. He told him, he could not even read it which is pretty funny because last time I checked they used the same alphabet as english. anyway he asked my if I had a valid liscence and said he could not drive in the startes which is Bs but I was not going to argue with his ignorance. So I drove away and after about 15 minutes, we switrch again. As we heading down to I-10 Icalled ahead to my firedns at IMV films and coordinated a convoy to meet us at 75 and help us make up time. While I was working on that, we saw 3 Police cars running in a pack with a tow truck behind, and I was certain we made the right call too take the longer route even though it was 50 extra miles. The next problem we had is were for some reason had to stop for gas even though I filled up the car in the morning. This I learned was a fault of the Murci because the pump clicks off way way too early even though it is not full. so we jumped into the gas station, threw the doors up and did a indy 500 pitstop. the problem was the credit card machine would not take my card (the first time tin the rally I had abn issue and I had to run in). This lady who is in a town with a poulatioin looked at us like we were either aliens or fugitives, or both, I texplained were were just in a big hurry but get that damn pump on NOW and threw a 100 at her, and said keep the change. she was beside herself. I always quickly ran back for some peanut M and M's and a diet coke (I did not eat breakfast-give me a break). We bolted out of there like an champ car and were off. 121 was a beautiful two lane road with no traffic and we were making up great time. all of a sudden we see two M3 's flying the other way at a very high rate of speed in tandam and pulled 180's as soon as they passes us for the cahse. Joaquim did not know who the hell they were and got spooked and I reiterated this was Sav and his crew that was goiong to give us some team support. we ran in a convey through Gaineville, hit 75 and I then instructed them to put on in front and one in back , stay in the left lane, and lets go. Meanwhile, I get a call from Tara saying they atre no longer hiding on the cemetary and are almost in florida. They had too much time to make up, but were going to try. since Clausse in German he only knows one speed-FAST and we learned that they blew by a cop at 120 in a little town that ran parallel to 1-10, got pulled and the cop said Caluse was nuts but going to give him a break and let them go on the promise to Chill out.n They had forest fires to deal with, not silly Germans who thing thewy are on the Auto Bahn. Les who was in the back of the Cayenne was beside himslf as Tara did the proper job of working Navigation, answering calls, sending text messages, and doing the true job of a Navigator. ![]() Meanwhile our stretgy seemed to be working with our 2 bait cars, but we needed to mkae up more time.they needed to be pushed because they were not used to rally mode. I worked Sav and he worked his crew and we had no issues making good safe time in the left lane with nobody freaking out. By the time we got to Orlando, we had a tool which I prepared for by getting a Sun pass, which was a huge time save. we blew through the Sun Pass Lane and they did not have them so we loost our escort who could not make up the time. 5 minutes from the checkpoint, we got popped by a Tropper and pulled over. He also did not know what to do with Joachim's Mexican Liscence and asked me if I owened the car. He also asked him if this was part of Bull Run, which Joachim responded know , even though he forgot we had the Bullrun shied on the hood of the car.-whoops. He also asked me how I could not resisst drving the car myself, and let my friedn drive this car that was in his opinion a half a million dollars ( he clearly has not been shopping lately) instead. I simply responded, I enjoy it when my friends can experience nice things and that is all the pleasure I need. He then told me it was pretty easy to spot a Lamborghini radar or not and we needed to chill out, I responed we were 5 miles fron our destinationand that was no issue. He was super cool and let us go. We got to the chekpoint but I already knew the bad news. the two stops and the filling up which combined took about 30 minutes, plus the extra 50 miles were two much and we came in 29th. The dark cyd DTm, and The new Darkcyd 430 drin by Frankie and Lynn came in 2nd and 3rd making the team proud. gothem in the 575 who mostly drove over the speed limit, took the direct route, and never and never got pulled over came in first. Technically the Ricci Brabus MErc came firstChase vehicle came in first but they left 30 miinutes early so that did not count. ![]() in broken engish, and for him I have to concur. To make the photographer feel better I took him on the Murci and we raced to the club. He had never been in a Muri and was shooting pictures as a darted in and out of traffic with a grin like you could not imagine. I then keep asking him if I was clear to pass after i took a lane which he did not understand but then learned what I needed. so I would yell CLEAR? and He WOULD YELl is his broken engish CLEAR!. we did This several times until I realized He was just Screaming clear whther I was cvler or not. O boy ! Anyway it was worth it for the expresion on his face, and at the club I kept buying them beers to lighten the rough time they have had so far. Frankie who was bhind in the 430 laughed as he said all he could see were white flashed that looked like something blowing up inside an all black car as we ran to the club. It was so fun, and I hope to give our Jap friends more good times today. The only post script is Alex and Danyell and the Darkcyd Gallardo. alex was in the process of getting arrested even though they were not speeding. This is patently unfair, when nobody sees you doing anything but assumes you have violated the law none the less because of the car you drive and beacuae you are in a rally. As they were getting ready to put him in the Car Danyell wa scrying and could not dirve the Gallardo in her state of mond. In a last minute reprive, the cop had a change of heart for whatever reason and let them go. Sometimes luck is on your side. This could not be said of the 10 arrested, and it probaly was due to bad karma comming full circle. Mark and Morgan from the trans am were part of that group and the winners on the Bull Run Tv show.MOrgan supposedly is know for bad mouthing cops, and it was allged that it was this attidude that caused the arrests. one needs to keep in mind the police are doing their job and bad mounthing them without a justfyable reason is unnecessary and wrong. almost all police we encountred on the trip were professional to us and just doing their job. We have encountred the oppsite as well so just like real life you get the good with the bad. a good example of the good, is after the arrest , Patrick drving the Darkcyd Semi pulled in a favor and got 10 of the Bullrun cars escorted out of the state by a Georgia cop, so you can't have just a negative attitude about the police. This morning speculation is about us heading to Moroso the race track than Miami where we will party at the Versaci mansion on south Beach. Glad the tracking is working on the Murci, and we trying to get the Navi going. I will be riding with Clausse this morning, and the two darkcyd women wil be roilling into South Beach in style in the Darkcyd Murci. That works for me beccause while everyone is flipping out as these beautiful girls arrive in this car and pop out, I will be walking up to the driver and kissing her. Cheers, Robb
Day6 Fantastic Day- ![]() I was gonna run with Clause today in the Cayanne Turbo but and Joachim was gonna run with Alex in the Darkcyd Gallardo. there was a last minute change of plan sdo I quickly got the girls set up in the Murci and ran to Alex's car 5 minutes before the start ready to launch. At the last minute there was a change from where we were supposed to start, and Alexs car which was basically was set up to launch 3rd ofr fourth was now relegated to the back. This was BS in both our opinons so we said screw it and instead of moving behind 60 cars that were gonna barrel down the highway creating problems for us, we just launched the car ourselves without a card. We jumped the launch by about 2 mninutes so it really only gave us an advantage form the perspective of traffic with the other cars. The whole Darkcyd group had had some great finishes but never a first this year and honestly our goal was just to avoid the cops. Anyway, we were off and decided to push. With radar working , scanners on , and text message working, I ghot to work getting the pricise address for Moroso motorsports, which was the checkpoint. ![]() He later slowed down and our consitant speed was better then his aggressive speed as we soon ran with him for about 20 minutes and then passed him as he chilled out a bit. He then dropped out of sight. Realizing we were only about 50 miles out and hearing the chase group was still about 15 miles behind, we fel t we could have a victory. Scanner was working great and we heard the actiuon unfold like a NASCAR race. We then passed two cops sitting in the median without radar on, and I hohnestly think they were so surprised to see us that they did not know what to do or were more concerned with the pack of cars about to come. The closer we got , the more nervous Alex and I got knowing at least unofficially we had a win. We almost made one wrong turn at after the tool and we were so paranoid we sat in traffic for about a minutes arguing which little road the navigation was telling us. We evenutally figued it out and made it there so early nobody was around really staff wise, so we checked in with the girl at Moroso and parked the car to line up for the track. about 3 minutes later the Lotus Exige showed up and were not happy to see us there. The had no clue we had launched two minues earler and even though time wise were were still first, I went up to them and noticied them that offically they were the first car. some of these people really care about this begin first garbage, and we just wanted to have some fun. So it is important to let everyone know we were not trying to cheat. The track was great and I ahd my old best frined from college Adrain Minor visit me with his new best friend Shawn. ![]() We then got to track the cars and I was the second to go out behind Peter in the Darkcyd DTM. I am not use to the Murci and had no idea about the lines I ![]() ![]() Anyway's most everyone left already for the hotel, and I stayed to the end and came back with my rally friend Sean and Paul . Thier car broke down so they rented two Chrysler crossfires and decided to play bumper cars on the way to the Ritz Carlton in South Beach. We then got here had to work out plans for a dinner part of 20, and work people into the guest list for the party at the Versace Mansion. This was not supposed to be easy but the Bullrun staff was super helpful under Andrews direction to make it happen. we then quickly got ready for dinner and rushed off to the Shore Club for dinner. I arrived late with my new friends Gothem and his fiancee Karen and made it to dinner late. th eplace was pectacular and I also invited my new friends Mirna and Willy who live on SOBE who helped out with getting the 18 Darkcyd Semi a place to stay. South Beach has no parking so you just can't put it anywhere. The food was great but getting stuck with the bill was not. Everybody was supposed to pitch in $125 a head and as always when you have a large party, the bill is short. Everybody left and I joked with Gothem and Karen about who much it was short because he thought it might be too much . Well as wlays it wanst and I eanded up having a $1000 pasta dish. O well- not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and no tintentional I'm sure. the Versace Mansion was amzgin and this is a place that was bought for about $$6 million and had $10 MM in renovations. At current market prices it is got to be about $35 MM. Hard ot imagine it was somebody's house. ![]() ![]() So when Adrian and I left I diecdie to show him an apartment I have on Brickell and this turns into a funny story. I never ever slept there and was planning to rent it out, so we passed by the building and I said lets see if we can get in even though I have no key and the guard never have seen me. so we roll into Villa Regina in this crazy car all stickered up and I give my pitch. the guy donsn't even check Id and lets me into the lobby to talk to the concierge on staff. The conceirge then gives my ther spare key without ID and we go up. I joke with him I only have seen the apartment 3 times in the pat 3 years I owned it because my dog was not approved to live there, and it would be funny if we had some squattor there. Low and behold we open the door and there is stuff everywhere. someone lives there and there is crap everywhere. It is about 1:30 in the morning and I tip tow towards the bedroom to find nobody home. I laugh because I know the place is supposedly about to get rented but I have not got word anyone is there. So since I felt this was probably not according to the lease which I am pretty sure has not strted yet. so Adrian and I decide to play a joke and we move everything around, and leave. Whomever is there will come back and wonder who the hell was in their apartment, which in realty is mine so I should be the pissed off one asking questions. It was all in good fun and who could blame me. Anywa, it is now 3:30 AM and I need ot get up at 7 before we launce at 9AM for Key West. I plan on drving with gotehm in his new Scaglietti, and Karen will roll to the finish like oin the Cannonball run movie with Tara in the darkcyd Murci. contruction is terrible along the way and only one way in or out so not point in getting crazy. hope you enjoyed the write up. Cheers, Robb Day 7 Day 7 I am sorry it has taken a few days to write this. So much has transpired in the past few days alone that I feel I have been gone for a month. Some of it I am comfortable writing about and some I am not, as it affects other people and I feel discretion is in order. I will share what I can, and that by itself is plenty, without affecting others negatively. There is nothing like hiding in the bushes in the middle of a cemetery for two hours to avoid arrest as a bonding event between the CEO of one of the most significant exotic car tuners in the country with the editor of one of the top auto magazines in the world, with the wife of a fund manager to bond otherwise very different people, that probably would not ever get together normally under any circumstance, let alone break the law. Or maybe the scenario of a film actress running with us on a whim to South Beach for a couple days on a whim after very little interaction (would could have been raving lunatics), combined with a race car driver and track tester for Lotus, combined with the son of the CEO of Ralph Lauren, combined with a 17 year old aspiring professional photographer, who skipped a week of school (with his parents permission) so he can pursue his dream of working in the auto and photography industry . It?s a crazy dynamic, and one that is hard to explain and articulate. You need to be there to understand. I have in the past, and currently made life long friendships as a result of these events and if the price if admission is a quarter of a million dollar car, it is still a no brainer from my perspective. It takes a special type of person to do what it takes to even get to the starting line, and with few exceptions, they are all great people of substance in one way or the other. On a separate note, I appreciate the feedback from all my friends and family who get these emails or read about it on the web-site. This all started with a very small email list back in 2004 when I did the Gumball 3000 in Europe and has grown to a significant point, where we have a full fledged web-site with a fan base, chase vehicles, back up cars, a race semi with full garage, professional editors for the video footage, professional photographers etc. Darkcyd Racing which started out as just Tara and I has grown now to a 7 car team, and there is tons of logistics associated with it. It honestly feels like running a small company and it is tons of work and sometimes frustrating, and overwhelming. I do it because I love it and for no other reason. So we left off at the Ritz Carton in After such a fun nite it was determined that since this was a short stint I let Adrian my best friend from college go with Tara in the Darkcyd Murci since he had not driven in the car yet. Alex and Danyell had to leave the rally early and we said goodbye to them the night before. I was to do the I did not care about the escort and preferred my route. So while we were getting ready to launch it was curies to notice Team Reike had their CL65 pointed in the wrong direction, and we would learn why in a about 2 hours. They intentionally told Bill Wu who is about as competitive as they come not to follow them , and he eventually learned why the hard way. I was also pleased to have an old high school buddy Dake Schwarte visit us before the launch to check out the cars and see the action. It?s great seeing people you don?t normally see for years, and even though he is the CEO of a newly formed company in the medical conference profession, he lied to his boss about going to the post office to see us. I get that just reinforces the point that everybody answers to somebody. So the time comes and Dave starts throwing out route cards from the balcony. And racers bolt on foot almost a block to reach their cars why the cop tries to block traffic to prevent the Minimize the body count. The Darkcyd Navi was one of the first out of the gate, and Gauthem and I got a bad exit position and made our way to a old cutler road. The girls in the Darkcyd Lambo got a terrible exit position and although my phone was going nuts with Text Messages , including Patrick who left ahead of us to do a bear check., Clausse was curiously silent. Although we had a fiar amount of traffic, I was convinced , my route was a good one even though I was told by Dake ?Your Fucked?. We made Card sound road in good time and that is when I realized Gauthem was not quite acclimated to rally mode. As this was his first rally, he was a little conservative and I kept saying ?push push? until my new indian friend looked over at me quite sternly and in his best APU voice said ? I AM THE We then all took boat rides while we waited for a police escort to So the rally ended as we rolled to the checkpoint having the times of out lives. I smashed the balance of my cone in We then teams and fans rummaged about at the southern most point in the The whole crew later drove the hotel for the great final party. It was a blow out and fun was had by everyone. We then went to the party on duval street which was just for us, and Gauthem showed us his famous dance moves which resemble the Elaine dance on Seinfeld. I love it and cannot get the image out of my mind , with him commenting the whole time that he knows what a good dancer he is. Tara whom did not want to go to bed since she was pumped on adrenaline, after all the pressure of the rally, could finally let loose. She insisted I stay with her while everbody chatted by the pool till 4 in the morning. I fell asleep on the pool chair, while Sean and Geoff decided the pool was too fun to be without and had everyone jump in again. I have much more to write about what happened after the party , as we decided to head back to Cheers, Robb
PostRally ![]() So the next morning after only about 3 hours sleep I had a massage set up
by the pool for me and half the Darkcyd crew which probably pissed off some
others since I booked all the slots, as soon as I learned what hotel we were
staying at. Proactivity pays off once again. The massage was good but the view
around the pool was better. Anyway, since this is being Key West instead of just
going back to my room and changing into clothes , I just went to breakfast in my
robe to meet the rest of the Gang.
![]() ![]() Meanwhile, Sean and I were making plans to switch it up a bit, and since he
is a proper race car driver and test track driver for Lotus, I wanted to see
what the Murci could do. So the plan was to load one of the now infamous
Crossfires ( the insurance company is probably calling the police after seeing
the video on You Tube, which won't work since our two Brits are now several
thousand miles across the pond) that had a demolition derby contest the night
before, on the Darkcyd Race Semi. The Darkcyd crew would run back to South Beach
in a caravan and once on Card Sound road it was Everyman for himself.
![]() We cruised in a convoy and I'm sure was a pretty cool site since people we
passed kept giving us a thumbs up, except for the few police cars we saw. I was
making fun of Sean who kept asking me if there was a problem with third gear
since he grinded it so frequently. My responce was yea user error, and he just
laughed and said not to talk when he was shifting because he had to concentrate.
Pretty funny for a race car driver. To be fair he is used to right Hand drive,
so he was not completely at fault. but also joked when I said to him he says
"Yea alot", he joked I said "Eh alot"and then we had some funny private
conversations where we just looked at each other and just said "Yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaa
when we agreed", you had to be there to get the joke.
Anyway we hit Card Sound road and it was off to the races. The Darkcyd 430
and the other cars simply had no chance with the Darkcyd Murci in full Evil mode
and Sean the Mad Brit Race Car driver who had been dropped on his head one too
many times as a child, behind the wheel. Posting speed numbers numbers is ill
advised, but our GPS verified numbers that would have expected us to fly. Lets
just say it got so bad that Sean for no reason blurted out that if we crashed
now we would die for sure, and I simply responded, "well I'm actually little
scared" and the bloddy Brit just keeps going, and later commented he thought
that's what I wanted. O boy-bloody wars.
Since we made such good time and Sean had never been to America before, I
decided to take us down Old Cutler road to show him the Multi Million dollars
houses,
![]() By the time we got to downtown there was some Haitian Festival going at the
Miami Heat Arena and traffic was backed up for Miles. It took 20 minutes just to
get to Bayside. from Brickell Ave. Tara, Adrian, Lexie, and Aaron were ahead in
the Darkcyd Navi, and from the intel I learned I was glad to not be in there
car. They had their own festival with 80's music with Tara and Lexie as the lead
performers trying out for American Idol, Adrian breakdancing in the car,
and Aaron throwing out fake dollar bills to the crowd as many of the thousand of
people walking to the festival ran for the money too soon learn it was only
paper money. I surprised they didn't get jacked.
I commented to Sean that I was concerned we were going to get jacked in
such an expensive car in a rough neighborhood, he looked at me and commented
somewhat truthfully "bloddy Hell-where would they go". I also got a snap of a
girl with the largest butt in history, and she must have been the inspriation
for the sonf Baby got Back, because the darkcyd Navi also claimed they saw the
same girl. she was quite poular at the festvial fromwhat I could gather.
![]() We arrived on Ocean and had only a few minutes for the crew to quickly
change and meet Gauthem and his wife at Nemo's one of the best seafood
restaurants on South Beach. When we got there they and Peter and his lovely wife
Petra already had a great table for us outside, and I got to meet Gauthems
father who must have thought all of us were nuts. The gods must have thoughts
the same, and it started pouring rain , so we ran inside. Dinner was
spectacular, the bill even more so, and we all could not stop joking about
everything, including the fact that there was a pool inside the courtyard of the
restaurant that was too close for comfort for me, since Sean is strongly
attracted to water. We all got a picture by the pool, I cannot believe nobody
went in , but this is when it really started to get crazy.
Keep in mind that normal people sometimes go a little crazy and you should
judge them by their behavior as a whole rather than a night or a week.I repeat
this to drive home the point. Anyway's, certain individuals wanted to go to the
Hustler store on Collins, and boy did that lead to trouble. First off we Packed
the Darkcyd Navi with 12 people reminiscent of how many clowns you could fit in
a VW bug from the 70's with Mattie the enforcer driving after a quick Chinese
fire drill because I was concerned of getting pulled over. He than guarded the
car as a good body guard should, while almost the whole Darkcyd Crew minus our
resident German, Turk, and honorary members from Montreal Gauthem
![]() I demanded a repeat show of the Police uniforms from Staunton and after a
little coaxing, the girls obliged and the entire Darkcyd crew was outfitted like
only a picture could describe, and which will probably never be seen -lol.
Adrian took the cake with a Pimp Hat, Boa , and robe, but even our resident 17
year old photographer got a Baseball cap with the words HUSTLER on it (I'm sure
his parents would be proud). It was really just all in good fun and the most
shocking things was it took two hours for everyone too get outfitted.
We then rolled like only the Darkcyd Posse could, to Mamba's on Ocean Drive
where we were stars of the show and had the best tables in the house to watch
the girls dance. We even got our 17 year old photographer in (no he was not
allowed to drink), and fun was had by everyone as I handcuffed Lexie and Tara as
they danced. Yes they came off later, and no nothing happened.
Before we knew it was almost 4AM and some could not last while others made
one last stop to the diner on Collins for an early breakfast. Sean never heard
of grits and needed an education, I personally needed a vacation, and the rest
of the crew needed reeducation. It was a funny site regardless and at just
before 6AM we officially called it a night. Although some minimal level of
discretion is in order about this night I want to reiterate nothing really
naughty happenned, so nothing to worry about. Although Sean and I did look at
each other more than once and simply said "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa.".
![]() ![]() Last I wanted to select a few people to thank to make this adventure
possible. I know I am forgetting many people but here goes small list. Jimmy
Lowry for one- for handling all the car prep, Linda and Patrick in the Darkcyd
race Semi without which I would not have had a spare car and been able to fix
the Murci on a moments notice, Ben at Wheels Boutique who got me the spares I
needed, Bill at Lincoln for prepping the Darkcyd Chase, and handling
arrangements in Vermont though we didn't end up using it. Big thanks to Rob
Ferreti and Steve at Milano motors for getting the Murci fixed in 48 hours when
others said it simply could not be done, Grace and Chris at Bullrun, who handled
every single request of ours with top priorityand without complaint, making the
event the best I have been on. to the expanded Darkcyd Team which now includes
honorary members Frankie and Lynn in the Darkcyd 430, Seivie and Mattie (the
enforcer) in the Darkcyd M6, Peter and Bulent in Darkcyd DTM, alex and Danyell Fima in the Darkcyd Gallardo. G-Off and Aaron in
the Darkcyd Navi, Gauthem and Karen (Honarary members in the Darkcyd
SCAGLIETTI), and SEAN and Paul who collectively are called SEANPAUL who started
in a 550HP 1800 pound rally car, but ended up racing in twin crossfires. Lexie (Alexandra Dreyfus) for the great South Beach adventure and voice mail. Jason Thorgalson for the photo shoot and great photograpahy in general. Adrian Minor my best friend from college who I convinced to do the last leg of the rally with us iun the Darkcyd Navi. Big
thanks to My Mexican friend Joaquim for keping th Dackcyd Murci on the road and
both of us out of the pokey with his Mexican drivers licence, and the M3 boys
for the escort down to Orlando. Clause Ettensberger, the mad German who does not
ever quit, or take no for an answer, and last and most important to my wife
Tara. This all started in a huge fight back in 2004 when I announced my
intention to do they Gumball in Europe that was supposed to be a once in a
lifetime event. Well 5 events later she still put us with me and I in turn have
made her into a pro Cannonball rally Navigator. Not exactly something she
envisioned when we got married over 10 years ago, but something to be proud of
none the less, earning her The Claus Ettensberger Navigator award- which
includes a bent up rim from the TechArt Cayenne.
Pictures will be posted soon, as soon as we sort out the ones that are
better left offline. Till the next event, which will probably be the Players Run
from Calgary to Cabo, and then my repeat participation in the 06 baja 1000 on
the way to my ultimate dream to take on Dakar.
![]() Until then
Cheers
Robb
P.S I just received by fax the final result from the Moroso speedway, and
am proud to announce that both PeterKolb, Alex Fima and I all reached the top
ten in fastest times never being on the track and allowed only one lap for time
recording. so the darkcyd team is strong. All of us were in the 1:47 area. .On a
separate note, our times were within a second off top 3. The award for the hot
lap went to Nick Frankel who broke the track record that day for a stock
car.
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For more information, please visit www.darkcydracing.com regarding the Bull Run Rally from Montreal to Key West starting Saturday May 12th 2007, and ending May 20th as well as previous rallies particpated in by Darkcyd Racing. |