Five people were arrested in Marin and Solano counties for racing their expensive cars during the beginning of Thursday night's Gumball 3000 rally, the California Highway Patrol said.

Entry-fee paying participants of the cross-country road race started the first leg of the race to Las Vegas at 8 p.m. Thursday night from San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel.

Shortly thereafter, the CHP received numerous reports of rally drivers racing their fancy cars with painted-on race numbers and emblems. They were reportedly speeding and weaving through traffic and onto highway shoulders on U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate Highway 80, a CHP spokesman said.

"We were just getting flooded with 911 calls from drivers on the highways because these guys were driving like maniacs," CHP Officer Marcus Bartholomew said.

A CHP spokesman said police used planes in the air and officers on the ground to catch up and detain rally participants. To people who plan to race in the future, CHP public affairs officer Mike Wright said, "the highway patrol will always be here we will catch you."

Wright said two drivers were arrested in Marin for racing each other at speeds higher than 110 miles per hour in the northbound direction of 101. Suresh Senthirajah, of Palo Alto, was arrested along with his competitor, Christopher Taylor, of Marina del Rey.

Wright said the three drivers arrested in Solano County were Michael Ross of Surriton, England, Simon Hamill of Antrim, Ireland and Robert Kenworthy of London, England. Surriton and Hamill were arrested for reckless driving and Kenworthy for racing on East Highway 80 in Vacaville.

Wright said the cars of those arrested, a 93' BMW 325, 2000 BMW 328, 2002 BMW M3, 2003 Mercedes Benz SL 500, and 2002 Porsche 911, were impounded. Four drivers also received citations for speeding, Wright said.