Most people know Tory Belleci from Discovery Channel’s MythBusters. While he has done some crazy and extreme things on the show, participating in the infamous Gumball 3000 rally might be on top of the list! His friend, Canadian music producer Joel Zimmerman (a.k.a. Deadmau5), was the one responsible for getting Tory on board. It turned out to be a week full of supercars, high class parties and long hours behind the wheel of the Ferrari 458 Spider…

“Deadmau5, who I became friends with a year ago, just called me last month and asked: Hey, do you want to be my co-driver for this rally? So I said: I don’t know what it is, but I’m in!” Tory recalls. “The special thing about this rally, is the fact it’s a fundraiser, a big charity event. And for us participants it was such an amazing experience, it felt like we were in a movie. On top of that, our team actually won the Spirit of Gumball Award! We were just having so much fun, so it was a nice surprise that we got to go home with this great trophy in the shape of a gumball machine!”

Miami to Ibiza in a Ferrari

“The places we visited were awesome as well. We started in Miami and went to New York, where we got on a plane all the way to Scotland. Then the journey went through Paris, Barcelona, and from there to the finish in Ibiza. The amount of distance we covered was just incredible. As was the attention the Gumball 3000 got… In every city there were huge crowds of people, wanting to catch a glimpse of what was going on and taking pictures. The only downside was not being able to spend some more time in these amazing places, because of the tight schedule.”

Police

A rally with over a 120 rather expensive cars, a few celebrities and media coverage can’t help but attract attention from the authorities as well. “On route to the finish in Ibiza there were so many police cars. They were all trying to catch us,” he laughs. “Our car was covered in rainbows and the Nyan Cat, so it wasn’t exactly inconspicuous! We kept it pretty tame on the road, only testing its speed at the check points on a few race tracks. However, at one point in France, the police took away Deadmau5’ driver’s licence, so I had to drive the rest of the way through France and Spain. I can safely say Spain was my favourite part! But driving a Ferrari also ruins the fun of driving other cars. Having been behind the wheel of such a great car, makes all other ones feel like you’re driving a golf cart!”

Gumball 3000 – 2015

Despite this slightly negative ‘side affect’, Tory can’t wait for next year. “I’m sort of depressed that it’s over! I might have to blow something up to get on that high again,” he jokes. “Everyone we met from the other teams was just so nice, really eccentric and cool people. It was a bit like a holiday, but one where you need a vacation afterwards, just to recuperate from this amazing event! I can’t wait to participate again in 2015!”

If you want to read more about the Gumball 3000 and Tory Belleci, please visit www.gumball3000.com and www.toryb.com.