Team Darkcyd

Well today was a pretty crazy day. We started off on Toronto with the whole Darkcyd group including the now infamous Navigator Chase Vehicle driven by Jason Garber and Aaron Taravella, and were lined up in front of everyone right at the garage exit for a good launch. We all shot off and as usual the Navigator took off in a different direction for an advantage as Team Gas monkey and us in the Lotus ran through town with them breaking away with the Cl65 by running red lights. We could not go that crazy and backed off. A side note Team Gas monkey lead by Richard Rawling had his Co-driver arrested at the border and sent off to Mississippi. Next time good idea not to try and cross a border when you have a warrant out for your arrest.lol. also Hayden Christensen running in a Ferrari is out due to mechanical issues, and Bill Wu in the Lambo Murci was also out due to mechanical issues. The Studebaker which ran in the Carrara Pan Amercican was also out for the same reason.

We all ran to Windsor Ontario which is right on the border with Michigan and had no police trouble hitting some very nice speeds. The whole team ran hard but yet again the Navigator came in 4th with the leg won by Rob Ferretti of Gotham Dream cars. Congrats to Rob. We came in 21st after we were forced to refuel which lost us about 10-12 places and took 10 minutes. The range on the Lotus is only about 185 miles and the Navigator even at speed is about 350 so fuel capacity makes all the difference. Regardless Jason Garber and Aaron Taravella codriver were running 10/10th’s in it and deserve great respect for their efforts.

We then all had lunch at the Windsor casino, quickly refueled the cars for the next stage which turned out to be quite troublesome. I knew my fortune cookie at lunch which said” be prepared to make changes” was going to be a prophecy. All the cars were parked in a special section on the Lake to be viewed by fans and Tara even signed some autographs, which she thought was funny since she in not famous. But they were kids and for us just laughs.

We had the coolest Police escort to special line for us for customs and all of the cars sailed right through in what normally would have taken the group of 105 cars several hours. We were second in line in the parade lap and when we made it to the U.S. it was pandemonium. Rob Ferretti broke out in the Gt 40 and everyone else went nuts after him. While we ran in the Lotus in top 10 for about the first hour and picked up spots due to attrition, we got word on the scanners that the Michigan police were organizing in front of us so I backed off. The Navigator remained in top 3 and then I saw Ferretti get pulled in the Gt 40 and completely backed off. I was running with most of the other Darkcyd cars leading Peter and Bulent in the GT3rs and Alex and Danyell in the Gallardo and only going 85 knowing there were cops ahead when BAM! my radar went nuts and a cop hiding in the grass chased me. I pulled over and he was very cool and only wrote me for a ticket doing 75 in a 70 which in Michigan means no points. He then asked me if I had a police scanner and it was illegal to listen to such frequencies in Michigan. I’ thanked him very much for that info ;-) Everyone pulled over at the next exit to wait for me, and we decided based on reports that 94 West had about 25 cops staged throughout to stop us. We choose to run an alternate route which ran through Indiana instead which was much better although there were about 5 cops along that route as the Spyker got pulled among other cars. We all then ran very moderate but, were getting reports the Navigator was still #3 will 100 miles to go after it got pulled for only 85 in a 60. Jason is from Amsterdam and had to post a bond in order to be released immediately which is a strange scenario. I guess they did it to insure the ticket was paid but the bond was $1000.

When all was said and done, the Darkcyd Chase/Recon vehicle made it in 3rd to House of Blues in Chicago, while Darkcyd Racing’s Bentley driven by Bart Colson which went the entire way going 74 mph on the route 94 West with about 25 cops all just pulling people left and right, came in 9th. Darkcyd’s GT3Rs came in 14th and Tara and I in the Lotus made it in 24th, with the time difference between 3rd place and 24th being about 15 minutes. We got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic that was so bad stretching for 10 miles we pulled off on State Street to make up time , which we did, but ran into south side Chicago’s rough neighborhoods hitting every single red light and about 15 pot holes. The Exhaust on the Lotus is hanging off and needs to be repaired before morning but the Lotus ran like a champ. The Navigator we just discovered has a puncture on the inside sidewall and has to be replaced in the morning before we depart. Will not be easy to do with 22 inch rims.

We are now about to go down for the private reception for us at the the House of Blues and eat some food. After talking to Alex Roy the infamous Rally Driver who is doing reports of the action, and writing for Jalopnik there is controversy as to who really won. I am told by unbiased people it was the Yellow RS4 but many people are claiming Team Ricci in the CL 65. I really have no clue and at this point am too tired to care.

Tomorrow we launch from here at 9AM and have good recon as to what city we head to, but I prefer not to mention, as I do not want to alert for unwarranted attention.

Cheers,

Robb

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