Tulpenrallye 1967

The story of 1967: This year the organisers set out to improve on the exceptionally successful 1966 edition. With the support of BP the event was put on a more professional footing. Press conferences were held ahead of the rally not only in the Netherlands, but also in Frankfurt, Stockholm and London. Part of the route in the French Alps near Montriond had to be dropped because of snowfall before the rally and a small landslide. The scrutineering tent at Noordwijk was blown over by the strong wind on the Friday before the rally. Björn Wäldegaard and Ake Andersson both started in a Porsche. Other favourites were Vic Elford in a Porsche, the Pole Zasada (Porsche), Pat Moss in a Saab, the Cooper Ss of Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen, and Peter Harper in the quick Hillman Imp. Works DAFs lined up at the start for Laurent-Coolen, Rosenblatt-Honhof, van Lennep-Klein and for Simo Lampinen with John Davenport. Other Dutch starters were Maarten van Wamelen-Wim Loos, Ben Pon in a Volkswagen Beetle, Gerard van Lennep in a Ford Mustang and Rob Slotemaker-Rob Gorris (BMW 2002). Compared with 1966 the route was some 500 km longer, thanks to an extra night in the Alps. There were once again eighteen special tests (95 km), five of them entirely new to the Tulpenrallye, and likewise eighteen special stages (193.4 km). The start was early on the Monday morning. The first special test was held on the Terlaemen circuit, followed by the climbs of La Reid, Kautenbach and Bourscheid (the last two of which were cancelled). By way of Sarrebourg came the run through the Vosges, with three tests and six special stages. Early on the Tuesday morning the competitors reached Annecy, where they could rest until eight in the evening. There followed a particularly hard night in the Alps, with many sections taken from the Rally du Mont Blanc that brought the crews to 1700 metres and higher. After a short rest halt at Rumilly came the climb of the Col de la Faucille and a section from St. Claude to Morez. By way of the well-known Route Joffre and the Balton d’Alsace the competitors then arrived at St. Maurice sur Moselle. Over the Col de Brabant, the Col de Fouchy, Trois-Epis and the new test in the Forêt d’Obernai the drivers returned to Sarrebourg. Without any great difficulty the crews then ran to Larochette, and on over the La Roche climb to Samrée. After a climb near Malmédy the competitors crossed into the Netherlands. The last two tests were the military ground at Leusden (Vlasakkers; secret) and the Zandvoort circuit. After four days of the Tulpenrallye the caravan arrived back at ‘Huis ter Duin’ in Noordwijk on the Friday morning. Vic Elford was untouchable from the opening tests and went straight into the lead. He did run into the wall of a tunnel on the Col des Aravis, where ice turned out to be lying inside in the dark, but the professional service soon put the damage right. The same thing happened to Rauno Aaltonen in the same tunnel. Vic Elford won this edition of the Tulpenrallye on the strength of his victory in the GT class. Timo Mäkinen was the winner among the touring cars. The highest Dutch placings went to Rob Slotemaker (7th), Ben Pon (11th) and Dries Jetten (15th).