If you don’t know the name Alex Roy, you should. His feats of high-speed endurance driving are the stuff of legend, and he’s known to many as the leader of Team Polizei of Gumball and Bullrun Rally fame. He holds the record for the fastest semi-official run from New York to Los Angeles (32 hours, 7 minutes), yet enjoys a perfect safety record on the events he runs. To Roy, meticulous planning for the event is as important as the event itself.
If you know the short film titled C’était un Rendezvous, you know what a high-speed run through the streets of Paris looks like (if you don’t know the film, you should watch it – it’s fantastik). Roy’s latest endeavor is like “Rendezvous” in spirit, but much, much slower and, oddly, entirely legal. Instead of terrorizing the early morning streets of the city at triple-digit speeds, Roy’s latest effort involves lapping the Arc de Triomphe as many times as he can over 24 minutes.
If you think this is no big deal, you’ve never seen or driven in Paris traffic. As far as risk goes, we’d equate this to a lap of the Nürburgring in a Porsche 930, in the rain, on slick tires, while tripping on LSD. While speed isn’t a factor, the constant danger of collision with trucks, busses and inattentive drivers is what makes our sphincters pucker.
Roy’s record now stands at 6.2 kilometers in 24 minutes. We’re not going to attempt to beat that anytime soon, but we’re pretty sure someone will.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
