Gumball 3000 2007 Accident in Macedonia

"This article is about the Gumball 3000 accident in 2007 of the participating Techart Porsche 911 Turbo of Nick Morley and Matthew McConville in the Republic of Macedonia. For general info on Gumball 3000 click here."

The Gumball 3000 Rally of 2007 ended in a tragic traffic accident in which two people were killed and the rally was subsequently cancelled. The accident which occurred on May 2nd 2007, involved a Techart Porsche 911 Turbo of Nick Morley and Matthew McConville and a Volkswagen Golf of Vladislav Cepunjovski and his wife Margarita Cepunjoski. The accident resulted in the immediate death of Mr. Cepunjoski, while his wife died two days later as a result of the injuries from the crash.

Gumball 3000

The Gumball 3000 is an annual 3000 mile (5000 km) international rally which takes place on public roads, which travels around the world. Although set up as a rally with no official timing, or prizes for reaching check points first, during the rally, some participants have been fined for speeding and other traffic offences by the police in countries they passed through, [cite web
url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2463539,00.html
title=Gumball Rally Racers Flagged Down by German Police
publisher=DW-WOrld.de
date=1 May 2007
accessdate=2007-05-04] cars have been confiscatedcite web
url=http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2007/05/justice_ministry_seeks_to_ban_road_rallys.php
title=Cars seized as Gumball 3000 hits Holland
accessdate = 2007-05-04
publisher=Dutchnews.nl
date=1 May 2007] and the 2007 rally was cancelled after a car participating in the rally was involved in a fatal collision with a non-participating vehicle. [cite web
url=http://www.visordown.com/motorcyclenews/view/gumball_cancelled_after_fatal_accident/743.html
title=Gumball cancelled after fatal accident
publisher=visordown.com
date=4 May 2007
accessdate=2007-05-04] Although the organizers are careful to emphasize that it is a rally and not a race, [cite web
url=http://www.budapestsun.com/cikk.php?id=24550
title=Gumball: 'It's not a race, it's a rally'
publisher=Budapest Sun
date=May 12, 2005
accessdate=2007-05-04] it is sometimes referred to as a race on public roads. [cite web
url=http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/de_wijde_wereld/artikel.asp?Id=2897918
title=Gumball Race stilgelegd na dodelijk ongeval
date=04/05/2007
accessdate=2007-05-12
publisher=De Tijd
language=Dutch] [cite web
url=http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=GO4ESLQE
title=Gumball straatrace met Tarantino dit weekend door ons land
date=14 mei 2005
accessdate=2007-05-12
publisher=De Standaard
language=Dutch] [cite web
url=http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2514276.ece
title=Gumball Rally's petrolheads come to the end of the road
date=5 May 2007
accessdate=2007-05-12
publisher=The Independent] [cite web
url=http://www.flandersnews.be/cm/flandersnews.be/News/070430_Gumball_Race
title=Police catch Gumball racers red-handed
date=30/04/07
accessdate=2007-05-12
publisher=Flandersnews] [cite web
url=http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/news/article1738200.ece
title=Gumball Rally pulled over
date=May 2, 2007
accessdate=2007-05-12
publisher=Times Online]

The Accident

On May 2, the participants in the 2007 Rally were driving through the Republic of Macedonia on a route from the Macedonian-Greek border near Bitola to the border with Albania, near the town of Struga. The traffic accident occurred on the motorway M4, at the entrance of the town of Struga, about 10km (6 miles) from the Macedonian-Albanian border post. The coordinates of the exact location of the crash are coor dec|41.174220|20.657240.

The Techart Porsche 911 Turbo of Nick Morley and Matthew McConville hit an oncoming Volkswagen Golf, which was making a left turn on the main road from a side road and driving in the opposite direction of the Porsche. The Porsche hit the Golf head-on, and the crash pushed both vehicles off the road. [cite web
url=http://a1.com.mk/vesti/default.aspx?VestID=78437
title=Еден загинат и еден повреден во сообраќајка на Ќафасан
date=2 May 2007
publisher=A1 TV
language=Macedonian
accessdate=2008-08-31]

A video of the immediate aftermath was subsequently posted to the YouTube website. [cite web|url=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=olMTjPQS1XA&fmt=18|title=2007 Gumball 3000 Crash - Fatality - YouTube video]

Both the driver and the passenger in the Golf were heavily injured. The driver and the passenger of the Porsche seemed virtually unharmed, and they were immediately picked up by another Gumball 3000 participating vehicle, a BMW M6 with Russian plates, and fled to the border, where they were arrested by the Macedonian border police. [cite web
url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article1744609.ece
title=Rally halted after arrest of Britons in fatal crash
date=4 May 2007
publisher=Timesonline
accessdate=2008-08-31] The casualties reported in the accident were the 67-year old driver of the Golf, Vladimir Chepunjoski, who died on his way to the hospital, and his wife Margarita Chepunjoski, who died in hospital from injuries sustained in the crash on May 4. [cite web
url=http://jalopnik.com/cars/gumball-3000/gumballers-nick-morley-and-matthew-mcconville-arrested-after-hit+and+run-fatality-257447.php
title=Gumballers Nick Morley And Matthew McConville Arrested After Hit-And-Run Fatality
date=3 May 2007
publisher=Jalopnik
accessdate=2007-05-04] [cite web
url=http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=66001&NrIssue=336&NrSection=10
title=Briton reported for accident near Struga gets 30-day temporary detention
date=3 May 2007
publisher=MakFax
accessdate=2007-05-04] [cite web
url=http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=10&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=66191&NrIssue=337&NrSection=10
title=Gumball Rally takes second victim
date=4 May 2007
publisher=MakFax
accessdate=2007-05-04
language=Macedonian]

Nicholas Morley was set free on bail of £17,000 and ordered to appear in court for a trial; however, he tried to flee the country once again the next day in Skopje, while trying to board a private jet. The police spokesman said that "It is astonishing that Mr Morley attempted to leave the country. He has got competent legal representation and the authorities have made sure his rights were guaranteed." [cite web
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1550767/Gumball-crash-driver-tried-to-flee-in-private-jet.html
title=Gumball crash driver tried to flee in private jet
date=7 May 2007
publisher=The Telegraph
accessdate=2008-08-31] After this second arrest, he was detained in prison until the trial. [cite web
url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2073487,00.html
title=Gumball death driver is held at airport
date=6 May 2007
publisher=The Observer
accessdate=2007-05-10] .

The Trial

In court the prosecution alleged a speed of 161km/h (100mph) while the defense opposed this by saying that the speed of the incoming vehicle (i.e. the Golf) was not taken into account and that Morley's driving speed was 70-75km/h. [cite web
url=http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=70219&NrIssue=363&NrSection=10
accessdate=2008-08-31
publisher=MakFax Online
date=4 June 2007
title=Opposing forensics reports confronted at Morley's trial]

The subsequent court hearing found Morley guilty and convicted of "endangering traffic, leading to death" [cite web
url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20082851269671
title=Gumball Rally Death Driver Sentenced
language=English
publisher=Sky News
accessdate=2008-08-31
date=June 8 2007] and was released from custody after receiving a two-years suspended sentence. [cite web
url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1907125.ece
title=Gumball Rally driver avoids jail after crash that killed couple
language=English
publisher=Timesonline
accessdate=2008-08-31
date=June 9 2007]

After the verdict Morley's family released a statement [cite web
url=http://jalopnik.com/cars/near-to-the-east%2C-in-a-part-of-ancient-yugoslavia/morley-family-releases-statement-post+gumball-verdict-267750.php
accessdate=2006-06-11
title= Morley Family Releases Statement Post-Gumball Verdict
date=June 11 2007] detailing its own expert's findings, which contradict those of the prosecution's expert. The statement also claims that the defence were denied the opportunity to present their expert's findings, which could contravene article 6 of the European convention on human rights, the right to a fair trial. Despite this, an appeal was not made in due term.

Aftermath

The organisers of the Gumball 3000 initially continued the rally despite the incident, in a later official statement the organisers stated that the clear details of the incident and confirmation of a fatality didn't occur until some hours after the briefing, at which point the decision to cancel the remainder of the rally was made. [cite web
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070513183951/http://www.gumball3000.com/
title=A Statement from Maximillion Cooper
date=3 May 2007
publisher=Gumball 3000 Official website - cached by Internet Archive Wayback Machine
accessdate=2008-06-10]

Nicholas Morley has been subsequently arrested and convicted for other traffic violations in Britain, and is still under investigations on dangerous driving and was already on bail after he was arrested by GMP in November 2006 on suspicion of using false number plates on a car to avoid prosecution for driving offenses. He is currently banned from driving for 18 months until May 2009. [cite web
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070513183951/http://www.gumball3000.com/
title=Gumball death driver arrested
date=10 July 2007
publisher=Manchester Evening News
accessdate=2008-08-31] [cite web
url=http://www.metronews.co.uk/news/s/1019473_driving_ban_for_gumball_tycoon
title=Driving ban for Gumball tycoon
date=12 October 2007
publisher=Metronews
accessdate=2008-08-31]

References