American Le Mans Series

Mika Salo seeks co-driver for Gumball Rally..on Ebay

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

THE CLOSING DATE ON THE MIKA SALO GUMBALL RALLY AUCTION IS GETTING CLOSER! IF YOU WANT TO JOIN HIM AND EXPERIENCE THE GUMBALL RALLY IN A WAY YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU COULD – AS WELL AS SUPPORTING CHARITY – ACT NOW…

Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F1 driver, Mika Salo, will drive in this year’s “Coast to Coast” Gumball 3000 rally and you could be co-driving with him.

The Finnish racing driver, who competed in 111 Formula One Grands Prix from 1995-2002, won the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans and last month’s 12 Hours of Sebring with Risi Competizione in a Ferrari F430 GT2.

He will be entering the 3000 mile, 7-day event in his own Ferrari 430 Scuderia and will have as his co-driver the lucky winner of an eBay auction (www.ebay.com/mikasalo) which goes live on Monday, April 13.

A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, the charity for children with serious illnesses founded by the late and much-missed Paul Newman.

Included in the one-of-a-kind package is the opportunity to ride and drive with Mika during the entire 7 days of the Gumball Rally; training with a professional Ferrari driver prior to the race; attendance at all the Gumball festivities and parties, accommodation and meals and, at the finish line, Mika will hand over the keys to his Ferrari.

Starting on 1st May, the rally’s route will run from Los Angeles to Miami and will include stops in Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Dallas and Houston – where Risi Competizione, Ferrari of Houston and Hennessey Performance will be hosting a lunch for all the competitors – and New Orleans.

Showcasing 120 of the most fantastic cars ever built, including vintage, customised and luxury Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Aston Martins and Bugattis alongside America’s finest muscle cars and today’s ‘greenest’ hybrid and electric vehicles of the future, the Gumball will create a spectacle for all to enjoy. Other big names already announced for the 2009 rally include Jackass stars Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn, and skate legend, Tony Hawk.

Mika’s participation in this year’s rally adds to a prestigious roll call of Formula 1 Gumballers such as Damon Hill, who drove in the 2001 rally to St Petersburg, and current F1 leader Jenson Button who waved the starting flag for the 2005 run from London to Croatia.

The auction will run until April 20 and the package has been put together with the help of World Class Driving (www.ebay.com/worldclassdriving) and promises to be the most fun you’ve had with your clothes on for…? Why not bid for the seat and let us know!