After taking a year off from the popular event, the Gamma Ball Rally was back in 2018. Twenty-five cars, with over 100 Ralliers, travelled from Brands Hatch to Marseille in three days with the goal of raising money for two well-deserving charities – Action Through Enterprise and SpecialEffect. It was an action packed and laugh fuelled rally with fully-suited-and-booted pool dives, honey monsters roaming around a French town and only one gendarme arrest. Gamma have announced that this year’s rally has taken the total amount raised in Gamma Ball history to over £500,000.
Day 1
Starting early at Brands Hatch, the teams arrived and kicked off the day with the best-dressed competition. Expectations were high and the teams did not disappoint, with some of the top themes including Monsters Inc, Saturday Night Fever and Peaky Blinders. It was then onto the track with their £500 cars, for the highly competitive Nuvias Dash-In-The-Box, where Reach Telecom won the challenge. The teams then headed around for the very entertaining Polycom Scooter Scramble, finishing the morning with the Cisco Crazy Slalom where The SIPranos claimed victory.
After the morning’s fun, each team made a pit stop for lunch and it was off to France by Le Shuttle and on to Reims for the first overnight stay. The teams enjoyed some downtime and evening sun, enjoying the local food and beverages.
Day 2
There was no rest for the wicked as the teams were up early and straight on the road heading towards beautiful Beaune. After enjoying some lunch in the sunshine the teams went off to complete the Treasure and Scavenger Hunt, capturing the attention of the locals, as they walked to five locations to solve their challenges whilst still in fancy dress.
It was then back into the cars and off to Lyon, where the Ralliers boarded the Bateau Bellona on the Rhone River to watch the sun go down with a drink or two.
Day 3
The final day saw the Ralliers take on the SportBeach Challenge in Marseille. After enjoying some lunch and cooling off at an exclusive beach club pool, it was onto the beach for games of petanque, molkky, corn hole, fontanier and beach volleyball.
The Gamma Ball Rally gala dinner and charity auction finished off what was a fantastic few days, held at the 5-star Hotel Sofitel, which boasted some of the best views of Marseille. The evening kicked off with the competition scores and the much-anticipated announcement of the Gamma Ball Rally 2018 winners:
- 3rd place: Johnny Dogs (Fidelity)
- 2nd place: The SIPranos (Charterhouse Voice & Data)
- 1st place: Monsters Incom (Incom)
- Spirit of the rally: Saturday Night Grease Brothers (Akixi)
Celebrity comedian Dominic Holland, otherwise known as Spiderman’s Dad, hosted the auction and had the crowd in stitches. The auction is where the bulk of the money is raised, with Gamma’s generous channel partners bidding on a variety of donated items including days at the races, yacht experiences and holiday homes.
Once the winners were announced and auction bids tallied up, it was time to have a drink and enjoy our final evening in Marseille.
David Hughes, CEO at Incom (Winners of the 2018 Rally) comments: “As regular competitors it’s been an absolute pleasure to have taken part in this year’s Gamma Ball Rally. We recognise the amount of effort that goes into organising such an event and as such throw ourselves into it 100%. It offers a truly unforgettable experience, and we’ve had a huge amount of fun taking part, but most importantly, we feel truly honoured helping to raise money for two well-deserving charities – Action Through Enterprise and SpecialEffect, whilst at the same time spending time with the Gamma team and our peers, cementing old friendships whilst making new ones.”
Daryl Pile, Managing Director at Gamma comments: “This year’s rally has been our most successful yet and I’d like to thank everyone who helped make this possible including our sponsors; Cisco, Polycom, Nuvias and Akixi, as well as everyone who generously donated and bid on auction items. Our aim was to bring the total amount raised in Gamma Ball history to £500,000 and we achieved this because of the channel’s support and generosity, for which we are very grateful. Gamma is extremely proud of the rally’s popularity in the channel and how the funds raised have helped our charities, Action Through Enterprise and SpecialEffect, do some amazing work in their communities.”
