Impressed by Lewis’ showing in the Hungarian Grand Prix? Want to get a little closer to the action? Have petrol running through your veins? Well the Gumball Rally is the event for you. The road trip to end all road trips, Gumball 3000 has bitten off a huge amount by proposing to go, wait for it, 3000 miles from San Francisco, California to Beijing, China, where some other event kicks off tomorrow, via L.A., San Diego, Vegas and Shanghai in just eight days. Eight days!

Handy then that the bonkers drivers will be at the wheels of 120 super luxury custom and concept cars with power so impressive our lowly one litre city cars wouldn’t stand a chance. And, if all that doesn’t yet sound like simply the best thing ever, David “The Hoff” Hasslehoff is one of this year’s participants. Cue shameless picture of The Hoff as the leather jacket clad hero of the Eighties.

Michael Knight of Knight Rider fame in a race with cars that, while they would never beat KITT with his Power System and Turbo Boost, are so fast that, given half the chance, would rip your shirt off your back. What more could you want?

Dodging the police is commonplace and the drivers collect speeding tickets as badges of honour. Entries for the 2009 event are open now so if you like what you see and happen to have both a ridiculously fast supercar knocking about and a few screws loose why not get involved?

Do you have a need for speed? Depressed now Top Gear is off our screens until the Autumn? Think The Hoff is a legend? Revel in some Eighties nostalgia in our comments section below.