Team Polizeo: Alex Roy & Tim Ferriss in BMW M5 - Attempt to Break 30 Hours, NYC to LA?

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    December 8, 2008

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This weekend I spent some time reading about Alex Roy and his record breaking car race across the United States. On October 7, 2006, Alex broke the record for the fastest cross country trip by car from New York City to Los Angeles, California in his 395 HP BMW M5 (E39). Alex and co-driver David Maher (an investment banker) crossed the country in 31 hours, 4 minutes, driving 2,800 miles at an average speed of 90.1 miles per hour.

I came across a Twitter post from Tim Ferriss, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Four Hour Work Week, related to his participation in another cross country race with Alex Roy. Tim's Twitter post turned me on to this interesting story. The Team Polizei web site reports "NY to LA. Again. Tonight. Team Polizei. Rene Villeneuve. Tim Ferriss. Stay Tuned." On Saturday, December 7, Tim Ferris posted "I'm doing the ride primarily to see the technology. He's using new tools to gather data/video/stills; think Google Maps on steroids."

Following his cross country record, Alex wrote the book The Driver. His drive was also documented by Wired Magazine, which published a great article titled "The Pedal-to-the-Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Country Sprint for Glory." Alex is also an executive producer of documentary filmmaker Cory Welles' 32 Hours, 7 Minutes. The documentary tells the story of the then record breaking 32 hours, 7 minute cross country trip by David Diem and Doug Turner in a Ferrari 308. The film is expected to be released in the coming months, and has been submitted to Sundance.

In August of 2008, Alex presented to Google as part of the Authors@Google in New York City. In his one-hour presentation, Alex shares the analysis of his plan to break down every detail of his recording breaking race across the United States. This great video is definitely worth watching, as are many of the other Authors@Google presentations.

I just love this story, and wanted to share it with others. The Wired article and videos are definitely worth reading and watching. As a car lover and fellow BMW M5 owner (I have a 2003, the last year of the E39, in carbon black with black leather), I think perhaps I found this story more compelling than the average reader. I've driven my BMW M5 at +110 MPH for a short period of time, but never had the opportunity or desire to remove the speed limiter chip and get above 155 MPH (the BMW M5 will do 0-62 MPH in 5.3 seconds, and reach a maximum speed of 180 MPH - it is a great car to drive, and I plan to keep mine forever).

Alex thinks that it is possible to do the same cross country race in 30 hours. Was Alex attemptinng another record breaking run with Tim Terris this past weekend?  It will be interesting and fun to see if Alex or another driver is the one to accomplish this impressive goal. In the mean time, I look forward to watching the movie when its released. And I'll continue to enjoy driving my BMW M5 with DC plates on the back roads of Vermont. Unfortunately, winter has hit the northeast, so it may be a few months before I'm able to safely enjoy the country roads.

Alex and David recently presented to the New Jersey chapter of Entrepreneur's Organization, and I'm exploring the possibility of an event for the Washington DC chapter of Entrepreneur's Organization.

Comments

Posted by  on  12/09  at  02:24 PM

Posted by lsgusdxfrls  on  08/17  at  11:05 AM

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