Tulpenrallye 1957

The story of 1957: The rally was substantially reshaped this year. There were only four starting points, and the route ran almost entirely through Germany and Austria with only a short section in France, on account of the fuel shortages caused by the Suez crisis. There was no rest day along the way, and none either between the closing test at Zandvoort on the Friday and the prize-giving on the Saturday. The handicap system was dropped, partly in response to the previous year's criticism; as in 1953 and 1954 the classification was worked out from points scored within one's class on the special tests. With five groups each holding eleven classes by engine capacity — a class needed at least ten entries — crews were competing against genuinely comparable machinery. The event came together only with great difficulty this year, and a week before the start there was still a problem: the state of Baden-Württemberg withheld its permission at the last moment, which put the French section at risk too, since the road from Germany to the Vosges runs through it. Several flights by Nortier and his colleagues, and some night drives around the area, secured the permission in the end. Of the 220 entries, 118 were foreign, from thirteen nationalities, bringing twenty makes and 66 different models to the start. The touring class again attracted few takers: ten. Hans Tak was among the favourites once more in his Mercedes 300 SL, as was the Dane Andersen in the same car. Piet Jetten and Louis van Noordwijk started in a Vauxhall Victor homologated by the FIA the day before the start. The Swede Carstedt started with his wife Gulli in his sixth Tulpenrallye. The approach routes converged on Stuttgart. Snow on the autobahn meant that several of the eleven Goggomobils that had started could not hold the required average of 75 kilometres an hour and were taking penalties before the common route had even begun. It rained exceptionally hard at the start on the Solitude ring, later turning to snow, and there was a great deal of ice through the Bavarian Alps. The first test lay on that same ring: Glemseck to Dreispitz, three kilometres. At Nagold came the first regularity control, where crews were handed a bulletin asking them what the required average was — fair warning of controls to come. The next test ran up from Freiburg to the Schauinsland, shortened by four kilometres because the upper section was solid ice. The French part of the route came to 330 kilometres, so it could be covered without refuelling. The Ballon d'Alsace test was 9.5 kilometres this year with 500 metres of climb. At the hour's rest in Garmisch-Partenkirchen — breakfast in the Olympic ski stadium — the crews were tired and found the rally hard going, above all because of the bitter weather. A day later at the rest halt at the Nürburgring, with no more trouble from snow and ice, voices were already saying the event was on the easy side. After Garmisch came the 3.4-kilometre test from Berchtesgaden up to the Obersalzberg, climbing at 24 per cent. The run from the fourth test to the fifth, much of it along the Czech border, was too straightforward; the organisers had planned more tests there but permission was refused at the last moment. The Nürburgring test ran from Breidscheid to the Gegengerade over 9.5 kilometres. From there the crews returned through Eindhoven to the finish at Noordwijk. Bill Banks, second in 1953 and 1955, lost his way and took two penalty points; when he lost it again on the run to Schotten he retired. Kreisel and Ten Hope were doing splendidly in their Renault Dauphine, showing on the second test in particular that they were appreciably faster than the rest of their class. The car had a five-speed gearbox and a quick engine. It had no heater, and at the end of one test the temperature inside was minus twelve. After the Ballon d'Alsace both Kreisel and Tak stood on 30 bonus points, with Heidendahl one behind. After the fourth test nine of the first ten places were held by Dutch crews and hopes of a home win rose accordingly. The British crew of Bayes, Abrams and Chapman collided with a Volkswagen that had nothing to do with the rally; the three Britons went to hospital with injuries and one of the occupants of the Volkswagen was killed. There was again a large crowd for the closing races at Zandvoort, with admission from seventy-five cents to seven guilders fifty. Five laps had to be covered this year, and a class win was worth 20 bonus points out of the 75 available across the whole rally. Hans Kreisel drove for all he was worth, knowing he had to win his class to keep his lead, and despite everything Kalkman could do he managed it. Hans Tak won his class too. After the races several crews were disqualified and a number of protests followed. Kreisel and Tak finished on equal bonus points, but Kreisel's margin over the second in his class was far the greater, and so he won the rally. It turned into a Dutch clean sweep: Hans Kreisel and Dries ten Hope first, at Kreisel's seventh attempt, from Tak and Niemöller and then Koks and Gorris. Kreisel and Ten Hope took the Three Noughts Cup as well, and the Netherlands naturally took the Nations Trophy. The ladies' prize went to Miss Hall — once Sheila van Damm's co-driver — and Miss Hopkinson. The club team prize went to the Porsche Club Holland with Koks, Schorr and Leerdam, and Ford took the manufacturers' team prize. Dries Jetten and Hein Korte won their class in a Goggomobil and took a fine fifth overall at their first attempt.