Some of you may remember Ashley van Dyke from Bullrun 2006, where she drove a Mercedes E55 AMG. Since she also participated in this years Playersrun we had a little interview with Ashley to round up our coverage of the Playersrun 2007.

Although we knew very little about Ashley one thing was clear straight away, racing is in her blood. Her grandfather was a NASCAR director and racing played a vital role in her family. When she grew older her desire to race herself grew bigger and bigger. But before she could make the big step into professional racing she entered the Playersrun in 2005. It was the first of a number of roadrallies Ashley participated in. About her first rally she says: ‘I don’t think you can really compare anything to your first rally. It’s like loosing your viginity’. The 2005 Players Run took Ashley from Seattle to Las Vegas in a supercharged Honda NSX.

Ashley who, next to racing driver, also is a host and tv-presenter drives an Audi at the moment but asked for her favourite car admits she rather has a Maserati MC12, a race car based on the Ferrari Enzo, which she fell in love with at first sight at the start of this years Players Run.

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Thanks to Team Polizei captain Alex Roy we bring you the last update from this years Playersrun. Some of you will wonder why they finished in San Diego instead of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, well sadly for the participants but even worse for the poor Mexicans Hurricane Dean visited Mexico a few weeks ago and the area suffered badly. For that reason the Playersrun 2007 was cut short and finished in San Diego a day early.

With all the Playersrunners returned home safe and sound we like to give huge thanks Ashley and Jon for providing us with updates and photos. Also a big thanks to the new rally reporter Alex Roy of Team Polizei, we really enjoyed your Playersrun updates!

Here’s Jon’s last story of the final day of Players Run 2007. If you like to read the other Players Run 2007 updates or see the photos check out our Players Run channel, the Players Run gallery or our Players Run forum!

9/16/2007 - San Diego - 2007 Players Run Finish Line

Gentlemen-

Time for grateful and nostalgia…

Left the Mondrian this morning at 11AM with a police escort from LA to San Diego. Let me just say that it’s too bad we can’t hire police escorts more often, because they are awesome. Every intersection was blocked by a cop on a BMW motorcycle. Red lights were meaningless and getting from Sunset to the 101 was a breeze. We jumped on the highway and the cops took it up to a respectable 85 MPH. Everybody pretty much behaved themselves, staying in a single lane and maintaining reasonable speeds. Pretty much everybody knew we should/could not pass the front of the escort, so instead we just slowed up and waited so we could have one last bit of fun. Blow-bys at 120 were pretty common and after riding together for a week, respect and protocal were in full effect. Ashley drove the final leg with her usual style and fineese showing me that many of the things we had worked on all week were now a part of repertoire. We met up with some friends of hers around 1/2 way to San Diego. Two guys in 40th anniversary Murcies, a new M5 with no actual license plates, and an M6 convertible. When these guys showed up, everybody on Players Run picked it up and for about 10 minutes we wrung out the last bit of north-of-120 good times we will probably see for a while.

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Day 4 of the Playersrun 2007 took the drivers from the Wynn in Las Vegas to the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles where they arrived in the afternoon.

Update #1:

Nothing to report so far, means the party in Las Vegas was very good last night. In the meantime entertain yourself with the most popular photos in our gallery.

Update #2:

This is a big one! Team Polizei’s JF just posted todays story by Jon “Nine” Goodrich.

After arriving first to the Las vegas Motor Speedway yesterday, we went to the Wynn, checked in and returned to the Speedway for the Mario Andretti Indy Experience. Was truly unique in that we got to drive a real indy car at speed on a perfectly banked NASCAR oval. Ashley pushed her instructor to almost 150 MPH in the six laps she turned and we both agreed that it was an experience we would not soon forget.

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Day 3 of the 2007 Playersrun already! Yesterday the teams drove from Big Sky, Montana, to Salt Lake City, Utah. So far there’s been some cop-trouble but no serious problem were reported. Brian and John in the Murcielago taxi who were pulled over for doing 108 mph but lawyer John simply talked his way out of a ticket. Ashley also managed to sweet talk her way out of a ticket in Idaho.

Today the Playersrunners are heading from Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City to the beautiful Wynn hotel in Las Vegas. On the way there’s the supercars and their drivers are allowed some tracktime at the Las Vegas Speedway. For the latest news and discussion visit our Players Run 2007 forum and check out our updated Playersrun 2007 Photo Gallery!

Update #1:

We just got word from Ashley in the Aston Martin V8 Vantage with Team Polizei’s John Goodrich besides her. They are just ouside Beaver, Utah, heading for the Las Vegas speedway. They got pulled leaving Salt Lake City but the cops let them go.

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Finally we can present you some great pre-start pictures from Calgary. Many thanks to the guys from Ferrarichat.com; Ryan Kehoe and Sheldon Niemiec and our friend Chris Holenderski.

For Team Polizei’s very own Piloten Jon Goodrich and the fabulous Ashley van Dyke the Players Run started with problems. Unfortunately their car, an Aston Martin Vantage, was not for the start in Calgary. And they were not even sure if the car had arrived at the border town in Montana. So they hired a Chevrolet Tahoe limo service, and got a ride to the border. The driver was doing a cool 130kph so they arrived in first position at the first checkpoint: Currently dubbed “Team Limousine”.

But where was the Aston? The trucking company instruction was as follows:

“You car is parked approximately 1/2 mile from the border check on the right side of the road. Look for the American flag. The key to both your Vantage and the Gallardo (from Dustin Whorls from Mischief.tv) that are sitting there is underneath the southern horse statue’s right hoof. Dig beneath the platform and you will find a plastic bag with both keys.” Sounds like a joke, but they were for real!

The Vantage and Gallardo were in fact just sitting there and after a brief search under the horses hoof they located the key. They managed to cram Ashley’s two humungus bags and John’s few bits into the car, bidded Dustin and the driver a warm farewell and proceeded to the checkpoint in Glacier National Park. Team Polizei were first to the checkpoint and Ashley drew a respectable King of Diamonds, the first card in the Player’s Run poker hand.

[via Team Polizei 144 HQ]

This years Players Run took off yesterday morning from Calgary, Canada. As we reported earlier, the starting grid will be one of the finest!!! We are now proud to present you some first videos, which will make your mouth water.

For more updates visit our Players Run forum!

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Team Polizei member Jon “Nine” Goodrich - noble veteran of the 2005 Gumball 3000 and participant of many other runs - has decided to take a last minute and well-deserved vacation courtesy of eCirkit.com. They were kind enough to provide an Aston Martin V8 Vantage for Jon and co-pilot Ashley Van Dyke for the 2007 Players Run, which kicks off yesterday morning in Calgary and ends next week in San Diego. Team Polizei Kommandant Alex Roy asked Jon Goodrich to instruct Ashley (as he did him) on the finer points of running a racing line on public roads. Of course, since Jon is on vacation, that shall occur at no more than the speed limit, or so he assured to Herrn Roy.

To get the latest updates about the 2007 Players Run visit our Players Run forum!

[via Team Polizei 144]

Only few days to go then this years Players Run starts! The players will depart on the 11th of September in Calgary, Canada. After 7 days driving pleasure the participants will finish in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The starting grid is going to be one of the finest! 2 Aston Martin’s, 2 Bentley’s, 5 Ferarri’s (including a Ferrari Enzo), 9 Lamborghini’s, 1 Maybach, many Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes and last but certainly not least 1 McLaren F1.

Supercar and rally fans have the chance to see the Players Runners at the following locations:

The cars take off in Calgary:
Fairmont Palliser 9.12.2007 9am

Checkpoint in Big Sky:
The Summit at Big Sky, Montana 9.12.2007 7pm+
To see the cars take off in the morning: 9am 9.13.2007

Checkpoint in Salt Lake City:
Hotel Monaco, 9.13.2007 7pm+
The Hotel 10pm+
To see the cars take off in the morning: 9am 9.14.2007

Checkpoint in Las Vegas:
Wynn 7pm+ 9.14.2007
To see the cars take off in the morning: Who would take off in the morning in Vegas?

Checkpoint in Los Angeles:
Mondrian Hotel afternoon arrival on 9.15.2007
9am departure on 9.16.2007

Checkpoint in San Diego:
Rady Children’s hospital San Diego 12pm 9.17.2007
Ivy Hotel Afternoon

For the latest updates about the Players Run 2007 tune in to our Players Run forum!

Here is the Team Darkcyd video of the Players Run 2005 event. The video is 45 minutes long and shows the highlights of the rally from Seattle to Las Vegas. While they lost some great footage due to variables beyond their control, it was edited very well and will give you a good idea of what it was like.

Thanks to Robb of Team Darkcyd!

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for all the feedback, and I am glad so many people have enjoyed reading the updates and viewing the pictures either through our email list or through our site at www.darkcydracing.com of our latest Bullrun event. Both the Lotus and the now infamous Navi are now being shipped back to Florida from Cali, and as soon as I get the Lotus back I will determine the extent of the damage by Bomber Bart on the Vegas to Cali leg. Thanks also to Karl Franz for his suggestions on getting the Lotus fixed. With that said, more than a couple people who have read about our crazy adventures have asked my to compare the different rally events, either because they themselves want to participate in one, or just to get some perspective. I will try to provide the main differences, because they are all somewhat different, and certain events are more suitable than others.

Gumball 3000- This is the first major event we did, and what an eye opener it was. It was basically the first modern Cannonball type event which started in Europe by Maximillian Cooper in 1999, and has been to the states a couple of times, although it is mostly known in Europe, where it is as well known as any motorsport event Of the three major Rallies which are Gumball 3000, Players Run, and Bullrun, this is clearly the hardest, and yet the most well known. [Read more…]

This is a video of Players Run 2005 participants sharing their stories. There are some good stories in it, especially “bunny’s” first spin off…
However they did make a big mistake in this video, assuming the Players Run is better than Gumball 3000. Come on, a rally can’t be better than Gumball just because of a luggage van! :)

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