• For more photos of the impounded cars, click here

METRO VANCOUVER -- Despite catching a convoy of youth in 13 high-powered sports cars on camera, police may not have enough evidence to pursue further charges.

Cameras in and around the George Massey Tunnel captured the cars as they cruised southbound toward Surrey, but the footage provided no evidence of speeding, police said on Friday.

"We already checked the cameras," said RCMP traffic services' Supt. Norm Gaumont, adding that "nothing dangerous happened in the tunnel," probably because of rush hour congestion.

Several witnesses have come forward saying that the pack, which included Maseratis, Lamborghinis and Mercedes, were driving on Highway 99 Wednesday afternoon at speeds upwards 200 km/h.

The drivers face charges of driving without due consideration for others, which comes with a $196 ticket and six driver penalty points, which will trigger a $300 penalty point premium.

Gaumont said Thursday there is a lot of disappointment that the drivers face only $196 fines, but there is not enough evidence to charge them with the more serious offence of dangerous driving.

"We don't have police officers who observed the offence, and we don't have lasers and radars that have the speeds," Gaumont said. "We have to really depend on third-party individuals who had called in."

Gaumont said if he gets the evidence he needs, he will pursue more serious charges and try to seize the vehicles permanently.

"Certainly, if I could, I would, in this case," Gaumont said in an interview at Bayview Towing in Surrey, where some of the vehicles are being held. "If we do get the evidence, I will be pursuing it, but in this case they may have been lucky."

The vehicles, together worth more than $2 million, were impounded in Surrey and White Rock after the incident, which involved youths from Vancouver and Richmond.

Gaumont said the incident began just before rush hour at about 3;30 p.m., "when we got multiple calls coming in that multiple expensive vehicles were racing down Highway 99.

"We were able to intercept six of these vehicles in Surrey and the other seven were intercepted in White Rock."

The 13 flashy cars — a Ferrari, three Lamborghinis, three Nissans, two Maseratis, two Mercedes, an Audi and an Aston Martin — were seen driving at speeds upwards of 200 km/h, RCMP said.

"We were very lucky that nobody lost control or was hurt or killed," Gaumont said.

At one point, two of the drivers appeared to be driving side by side holding up traffic to free up racing space for other cars.

The drivers — 12 men and one woman — were all under the age of 21, and six still had their N, or novice, licence. One driver did not have a B.C. licence, and was using a foreign licence, Gaumont said.

Just one driver was the registered owner of the vehicle he was driving.

One car had less than 200 kilometres on the odometer, police said.

Besides the fine and the penalty points, the drivers will also be on the hook for all of the towing and storage costs — about $350.

The cars will be impounded for seven days, Gaumont said, adding this is the first time he has seen this many vehicles impounded at once.

In spite of the incident, Gaumont said he thinks the province has strong enough deterrents against street racing in place, given that police have the ability to seize vehicles if they have sufficient evidence.

Gaumont said the novice drivers would have their licences reviewed by the superintendent of motor vehicles.

"For those that fall under the graduated licensing program, one possibility is that those will lose their licence and have to start all over again back in the learning stage."

Gaumont said he did not know where the drivers were headed.

"They were going for dinner in White Rock, is what [the youths] said," said Gary Hanney, a freelance cameraman who arrived at the scene in Surrey at around 5:30 p.m.

It took until about 8:30 p.m. to get all the cars loaded onto tow trucks, he said, explaining that because there were so many cars, two towing companies had to "shuttle" the vehicles to a pair of lots.

"Not too many of them were in low spirits," Hanney said of the drivers, adding that one asked to have his car, a blue Lamborghini, towed to his home, because he had a trip planned to Los Angeles the next day.

Last fall, a $235,000 Ferrari impounded after a street race that reached speeds of 200 km/h was forfeited under the Civil Forfeiture Act.

eduggan@vancouversun.com

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

The 13 vehicles seized:

2007 Ferrari 599

2010 Lamborghini Gallardo

2010 Lamborghini Gallardo

2009 Lamborghini Gallardo

2009 Audi R8

2012 Nissan GT-R

2010 Nissan GT-R

2010 Nissan GT-R

2010 Maserati Turismo

2010 Maserati Turismo

2011 Mercedes SL63

2011 Mercedes SLS

2005 Aston Martin DB9