Remember Team Polizei? And their infamous Team Polizei BMW M5? As we told you earlier this E39 BMW M5 tagged 144A was replaced by a new E39 BMW M5 tagged 144B. To celebrate The Driver book release in Europe Team Polizei shipped both cars to London, but that’s not all. There’s another addition to the Team Polizei lineup to be revealed here today in London, and you can make a guess what that is, correct a third E39 BMW M5 (they might get rare, so buy one yourself if you see one!). This latest addition to the team’s garage has been transformed to a race version! Among other things it has been lowered, equipped with a rollcage and it’s said to do a lap of something shortly!

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Old & New Team Polizei Interceptor

Gumball legend and current coast-to-coast record holder Alex Roy revealed his ‘highly anticipated‘ new car today. The new Team Polizei vehicle titled 144B is a 2000 E39 BMW M5. Yes, it’s the same car as the trusted old Team Polizei BMW M5 with some minor differences. The car has an entirely black interior instead of the black and gray interior found on the original 144A.

For that reason it’s hard to see the difference between 144A and 144B as you can see in the picture above. Based on Alex’s experience with the 144A BMW M5 the ‘new’ second hand 144B with 30.000 miles on the clock has been modified by AI Design in New York to become an exact replica of the previous Team Polizei Interceptor. Of course more advanced technology is used and the car has a bunch of new and improved features. As said before the new Team Polizei Interceptor was highly anticipated and opinions about the 144B are very diverse since it was revealed earlier tonight.

In the car with Alex Roy and Dave Maher on their record setting 31:04 run was Cory Welles, producer of the movie / documentary 32:07 dedicated to the transcontinental record time of 32:07 set by David Diem and Doug Turner in 1983. Alex Roy met Cory during his quest for answers about the transcontinental record and a team was soon born. On her website Cory just posted a bunch of pictures from the 80’s run the US Express and of course the record run revealing some more details about the car and the professional preparation the team had for the attempt, from weather patterns to high-end navigation and tracking equipment it’s all there!

But even better, Cory uploaded some videos from the record run with Alex Roy and Dave Maher on youtube. The entire record attempt is recorded on tape so this is just the beginning!

The first video shows Alex driving in Oklahoma, all we can say is that it’s a state where he really didn’t want to get caught. Just after Oklahoma City Alex Roy took over the wheel from Dave Maher and got back on the highway when the following happened:

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Alex Roy and Dave Maher beat the transcontinental record by setting a coast-to-coast record time from New York to Los Angeles of 31 hours and 4 minutes in the Team Polizei BMW M5 in october 2006. They kept it a closely guarded secret for a bit more than a year but this morning Jalopnik suprised us with a story on the succesful attempt to break the record. Multiple coast-to-coast records exist especially from runs held in the ’70s and ’80s. The most recognized record is 32 hours and 51 minutes set during the 1979 Cannonball Run. A less recognized record of 32 hours and 7 minutes was set by David Diem and Doug Turner in a Ferrari 308 during the 1983 US Express Run. More recent Bullrunners Richard Rawlings and Dennis Collins claim to have set a record time of 31 hours and 51 minutes during the Bullrun this summer. Some of the records have never been vailidated, one of the things Alex Roy kept in mind when he masterplanned his attempt into great detail. Multiple witnesses, toll booth receipts, video footage, numerous photos and GPS tracking must provide enough information for the world for proper validation of their new record.

Alex Roy and Maher go back to 2003 when Alex selected Maher as his co-driver for the Gumball 3000 from San Francisco to Miami. A large number of road rallies and driving events later Alex Roy aimed for the real thing, the transcontinental record. Alex Roy wrote the full story of his record attempt in his memoires: The Driver. Available in the United States and on sale online from tomorrow morning!

To give you an insight in what made it possible to break the record watch this video, is that one equipped bimmer or what?!

As the story unfolds we will bring more updates and the recorded evidence from the transcontinental record of 31 hours and 4 minutes set by Alex Roy and Dave Maher in the trusted Team Polizei BMW M5. On our behalf congrats to Alex and Maher and all the others involved for breaking the record and achieving a piece of history!

After succes in Gumball 3000, Bullrun and recently the Londino Team Polizei master-piloten Michael Ross now conquered the waters of the Mediterranean on last weeks Blade Run. Together with Dan Cramphorn, Martin Jupp and Neil Fraser he entered a 8.3 litre Donzi 27ZR powerboat for a race from Marbella to Ibiza. Michael Ross reported to us Team Polizei Ocean Patrol were first to arrive at day 1 and 2. The third day was spoiled by poor sea conditions, Michael reports: ‘Despite our pre-dawn stealth like departure from Cartegena, we were forced to turn back at the headland of Cabo de Palos, in fact only one, much larger boat (the 50ft Nau-Tech) made the final leg to Ibiza, but they hadn’t run on days 1 or 2′. Consequently the Polizei Ocean Patrol claims victory at sea!

In fact Polizei Ocean Patrol was the only boat that (in part at least) started in Marbella and ended in Ibiza. This was achieved by removing the Donzi’s windscreen that had been smashed by heavy sea conditions and taking it with them on the SeaCat from Denia to Ibiza. You can see the broken screen on the table in front of the guys in the photo above! We hope to see the Team Polizei Ocean Patrol in action more often!

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 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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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]

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]

Last week we published that Alex Roy and Michael Ross joined the Londino. The Londino is an invitation-only, transnational treasure hunt with automobiles, between London and Portofino. We are proud to present the latest updates of their journey. For the latest news visit our forum or the Team Polizei Blog!

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de Grisogono Londino Transnational Automobile Tour Begins

Departing at 0925GMT from Bluebird in London this morning, Alex and Michael Ross in a BMW Z8 made it to the Channel Tunnel at around 1100GMT. Alex and Michael report that the event is very relaxing, fun, and nothing compared to what they have ever done before. With a total of 17 cars included a new Audi S5, Lamborghini Diablo, Gumpert Apollo, and a range of other exotics, this year’s challenge is considered to be a treasure hunt. Each team was provided a Sony Cybershot camera in order to take photos of certain locations, acts, and adventures throughout the day. Today’s required photos include: L’Auberge Du Moulin Hotel and the Arch de Triumph. The idea is not to just take photos of each location, but to do it in the most creative way.

So far, Alex and Michael want to express how pleased they are with the Transnational Automobile Treasure Hunt. They both want to compliment and thank Anders Bernunger and Jens Trulsson for organizing one of the most pleasing, relaxing, and fun automotive events. Being that the event is not a race, or even a rally, Alex and Michael have been enjoying their time, even with the poor weather conditions in the area.

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Michael Ross and Alex Roy will be joining the Londino. The Londino is an invitation-only, transnational treasure hunt with automobiles, between London and Portofino. This treasure hunt will be neither a race nor a rally. It’s about enjoying the beautiful scenery that Europe has to offer and finding secret checkpoints with the limited clues the organization supplies the participants. The winning team of this treasure hunt receives two de Grisogono watches.

In the announcement Alex Roy made at his blog he lists a couple sources on the web where you find out more about the Londino. Of course the official site, an account from 2006, the official blog and a press release regarding Team Polizei’s entry.

The official blog reveals Alex Roy and Michael Ross will be driving Michael’s non-Team Polizei branded BMW Z8. Alex announced this will be his first real holiday in over 4 years, that’s why they won’t be wearing Team Polizei uniforms or a fully stickered Team Polizei vehicle. Vacation or no-vacation; with all their rally and challenge experience we still give them a good change to win the treasure hunt!

We found a FashionTV report of the 2006 Londino:

According to rumours heared by Alex Roy the Londino will depart London Thursday morning at 0900hr, with overnight stops in Paris, Geneva, Stresa and, ultimately, the Hotel Splendido in Portofino this coming Sunday.

Thanks to Polizei Operations Chief J.F. Musial, Londino updates and stories from Team Polizei will be published on GTspirit, Alex blog; Gumball144.com and via FastLaneDaily.