Day 1 & 2 – Sunday 6th July / Monday 7th July

All the drivers gathered at Sandown Park on Sunday morning with their stunning cars gleeming and engines revved and ready to go.

On Sunday morning the drivers gathered at Sandown Park Racecourse in Surrey for the start of the 2008 Cannonball Run Europe. A fantastic range of cars were on display ranging from Ferraris, Porsches & Lamborghinis, to Brabus Smart car, Mini Cooper Works, Vauxhall VX2000 and the rally cars (Impreza & Evo). All the cars looked stunning, gleaming, fully prepped and raring to go. The countdown is finally over! At midday the drivers went into the Drivers´ Briefing before lining up on the starting grid. With a crowd of excited onlookers, at 12.30 the first car pulled up onto the starting grid. The co-driver ran out and was given the first mission pack and the chequered flag went up for the first car; an Audi RS6, the very first in the country! The other cars followed in quick succession until all the cars were on their way. The 3000 mile adventure has begun.

The first leg was to be a thousand mile trip of pure driving pleasure through France, Spain and Portugal, where their final destination was Sintra (just outside Lisbon). However, in order to get to France the drivers first had to board a ferry from Portsmouth bound for Caen. This is a 6 hour crossing to the beaches of Normandy which, for some Cannonballers, itching to get back into their cars and onto the open roads, felt like a lifetime. The journey (pretty choppy at times!) was spent chatting and getting to know one another. Some drivers tried to get 40 winks, some compared engine specs, others discussed tactics and route options and many of them were trying to predict what lay ahead of them for the rest of the week.

The drive down was tough at times. The weather wasn´t always kind to us but drivers got through the night knowing what was in store for them when they arrived at their destination…the beautiful 5* Penha Longa hotel complete with swimming pool, bright sunshine, nice cool beers and buckets of chilled champagne (a very welcome change to the litres of Redbull that have been consumed during the night!).

The first to arrive in Sintra was Jamie Chapman, in his BMW 530D with 3 chicks on board, one was his girlfriend Anisa, the other two were stuck in his grill!! Second were the Dutch duo of Rene & Patrick in a BMW 325. They were able to plug their route onto the internet to allow friends and family back home to watch their progress. Rene´s mum was delighted to hear they had arrived safely, but couldn´t believe how quickly they got there.

All cars made it in for 16:30, except for one. The Jaguar XKR driven by Neil Legget and Mark Stewart. They are currently waiting in Bordeaux for a new tyre after they suffered a blow out on the Motorway. Now you would think burst tyre, get it replaced and they would be back on the road, simple. Wrong! The boys have custom made 20″ tyres and have to wait 2 days to get them shipped in! Never ones to give up though and in true Cannonball style, they will be re-joining the Run on Wednesday.

The afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool of the hotel exchanging stories and reliving their journeys down, which for some, were much more eventful than others!

The Cannonball Run Europe is off to a fantastic start and, although the boys don´t know it yet, they have an amazing track day lined up for them tomorrow.