Tulpenrallye 1952

The story of 1952: After what the third edition had taught them, the organisers made the approach routes considerably shorter and began the common route at Brussels. A new method of classification was worked out, with three special stages and three special tests — there should have been four. Two hundred and thirty-nine crews came to the start, representing eleven nationalities and bringing cars of fifty different makes. The first test was to be held at the citadel of Namur in Belgium, but could not go ahead: the organiser responsible, Monsieur Lavigne, had the date a month out. The first special stage, 80 kilometres between Saint-Flour and Le Puy in the Massif Central, was run as the Night of the Auvergne. After it the crews met their first fog and black ice. The opening 1,800 kilometres were behind them at Valence. The second test, from Malvaux at the foot of the Ballon d'Alsace, was a nine-kilometre hill climb with 490 metres of ascent. Ten points went to the fastest driver in each group, eight to the second, then seven, six and so on. The third test was laid out on the Col de la Faucille, where climb and descent together made a 25-kilometre course under the title Morning in the Mountains, to be covered at an average of 54.55 kilometres an hour for groups I to IV and 60 for the rest. Fastest here was A.G. Imhof in an Allard with a 5.5-litre Cadillac engine, averaging 81 kilometres an hour. The Route des Quinze Montagnes near Schweighouse in the French Vosges was included for the third time: 130 kilometres through magnificent country. The third night — and the crews had had no rest at all up to that point — was run as the Night of the Thousand Bends. The fourth test was held at Schiphol in the Netherlands, just before the finish. After a 150-metre run-up the cars had to cross the start line in top gear and then cover a very twisting 550-metre course in that same gear: a test of flexibility, with a marshal sitting alongside the driver to make sure nobody changed down. By the time the crews reached Noordwijk the villagers had decked the place out with flowers and there were flags at almost every house. Scouts unloaded the luggage on the boulevard and the cars were scrutineered, with an eye to the races at Zandvoort the following day. Because the various sections in France had not been unduly difficult, five crews reached Noordwijk on nil penalties and eighteen bonus points: H. Kreisel in a Renault, K. Barendregt in a Simca, K. Wharton in a Ford Consul, K. Ton in a Citroën and A.G. Imhof in an Allard. The closing test was held at Zandvoort on the Friday, where the fifteen best-placed crews in each group had to run ten laps of the circuit, beginning with a Le Mans start. Twenty points were on offer to the fastest in each group: ten after the first five laps and ten more after the next five. Kreisel threw away his chance of victory by giving it too much throttle at the start, flooding the engine and getting away only once the others had gone. Barendregt was unlucky too when his throttle jammed wide open at the start; he also left late, missing the points he needed, and had to drive the whole thing flat out, switching off the ignition before some corners to scrub off speed. Ken Wharton won the group IV race in his Ford Consul and with it secured overall victory, because Imhof was disqualified: against the regulations, he had been working under the bonnet behind the pits, and a fire broke out while he was at it. Karel Ton did not score enough in his race. A hundred and eighty-six crews were classified at the finish, 118 of them without penalty points — which surely had much to do with the mild weather in France. Ken Wharton was allowed to keep the handsome silver Tulip Trophy, having now won the rally three times. The manufacturers' team prize went to Renault with Jonkers, Kreisel and Martens, and the club team prize to the western automobile club with Barendregt, Kreisel and Ton. After a close fight, Mrs Sadler-Dunham and Mrs Blackburn took the Coupe des Dames in their boiled-sweet-coloured Rover. Clerk of the course Piet Nortier distributed the 150 prizes in a ceremony lasting two hours and twenty minutes, and 1,600 people sat down to the closing party.