Tulpenrallye 1963

The story of 1963: Because the French authorities had asked beforehand for the number of special tests to be limited, and the organisers felt that the connecting sections between a number of the special tests were too long, the 15th edition (2950 km) was considerably shorter than the previous one (4000 km). This year the route was already set out in the regulations, so a number of competitors went to reconnoitre it in advance. It gained them little, however, as many of the roads were still deep in snow and ice shortly before the rally. The competitors in the international rally were divided into nine classes and came from ten different countries, the USA among them. Well-known names among the entries were Ben Pon (Porsche Abarth Carrera), Pat Moss and her fiancé Erik Carlsson (with Saab, and winner of the Monte Carlo rally earlier that year), Vic Elford, Paddy Hopkirk, Rob Slotemaker and Peter Harper. 40 crews started in the amateur class, which was subdivided into five classes. The first test came on Tuesday morning in Belgium, at Brecht: three kilometres of concrete road with a standing start and a flying finish, where average speeds of over 170 km/h were reached. The next test consisted of one lap of the full Nürburgring, after which the crews drove on into the night towards the Vosges. There a climb at Struthof followed, and then the fourth test, run at Trois-Epis. The climb of the Ballon d’Alsace was to come in the middle of the night, but it was cancelled because of fog. By way of Champagnole the route then ran through the Jura to Mont Salève, south of Genève, which the crews reached the following morning. The turning point was the Chamrousse near Grenoble, where a 17 km climbing test was held on Wednesday afternoon. On the way back Mont Salève was visited once more, then came the climb of the Col de la Faucille and after that the Ballon d’Alsace again. On Wednesday night, from the Col de la Schlucht, the hardest part of the rally began in bad weather: 144 km with tests at Breitenbach and up to the Cascades de Nideck. On Thursday morning there was a short rest halt at La Roche, followed by a climb to Samrée and a test on the Francorchamps circuit. After a test on the Zandvoort circuit, the competitors arrived back in Noordwijk on Thursday afternoon, without a single night's sleep. Erik Carlsson threw away his chance of victory when he came to a standstill twice on the Nürburgring with fuel trouble; rumours went round afterwards that sabotage had been involved. During the fourth test, the climb to Les Trois-Epis, the Austin Healey of Astle and Grimshaw went off the road, and Derek Astle was killed. Pellikaan and Maasland were all but out of petrol at Wangenburg, but when they hauled an English Vauxhall crew, who had gone off the road and ended up in a meadow, out of their awkward position, they were rewarded with the petrol they needed. Ben Pon was disqualified for taking service along the route, which was against the regulations. The French crew Gréder and Delalande with a Ford Falcon Sprint were the winners of this Tulpenrallye, whilst the Coupe des Dames went that year to Pat Moss and Jennifer Nadin. Bakker and Umbach were the best of the Dutch, with a win in the GT category. The amateur class was won by the British Vauxhall crew Allen and Wooley, and the manufacturers' prize went to the DKW works team of Gele-Laurent, Kling-Kaufmann and Guilhaudin-Balas. The closing party was held on the Friday this time. The prize-giving lasted a good hour and a half, not least because there were more prizes than competitors.