Tulpenrallye 1970

The story of 1970: Sybren Roest's secretariat had moved to Schiedam, above a household goods shop. The start and finish were once again in Rotterdam, but the rally's route went a good deal further south: to the winter sports resort of Villard-de-Lans. In Rotterdam the business community threw its weight behind the rally, and a variety of other festivities were organised around the event. The rally's financial survival was assured for the time being when General Motors and Esso stood guarantor for 200,000 guilders. That made the 1970 edition possible and at the same time laid the foundation needed for the following one. The number of competitors was limited, partly because of the London-Mexico World Cup Rallye being run that year. There was a works Lancia for Barbasio, as well as four Trabants and three Wartburgs. The French professional Marie Claude Beaumont was on the start line too, as were Achim Warmbold with an Opel Kadett and the Belgian Jaquemin with a Renault Alpine. DAF entered cars (the type 555 with a Renault Gordini engine) for Bert Dolk and Jean-Louis Haxhe. Among the notable entries were Tom Gatsonides (son of the rally's initiator Maus Gatsonides) and Dirk Buwalda with a DAF 55; Rob Slotemaker and Ferry van der Geest, who sprayed Slotemaker's circuit Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV entirely orange for Racing Team Transavia Holland; Ben Pon with the Autovisie journalist Rob Wiedenhoff in a Volkswagen Beetle 1500; the brothers Dick and Wil de Wild with a Vauxhall; and Kees van Grieken and Marcel Verbunt with a BMW 2002. The Dane Preben Andersen came to the start with a DAF 55; it was his 21st Tulpenrallye! The tests on the military training grounds around Amersfoort and the closing test at the Zandvoort circuit were left out of the route on this occasion. The rally had nine special stages with a combined length of 76.9 km. These were run on closed roads, within a prescribed maximum time. On the three special tests (19.3 km) it was purely a matter of the fastest time. From Rotterdam the route ran by way of Francorchamps and Larochette to Saverne. Via Uffholz and Morez the competitors reached Villard-de-Lans on the Tuesday morning. From Villard the Night of Villard-de-Lans was then run over 660 km. Because of the snow a diversion had been worked out for this night, and it was handed to the competitors only just before the start in Rotterdam. A final check of that route showed, however, that too much snow still lay on it as well; a fresh diversion was put together and given to the competitors at a control on the route. After breakfast and a rest the crews left Villard on the Wednesday morning in the direction of Morez, where a loop of 290 km was run, and a night in the Alps then lay ahead of them. A thaw had set in by that point, which was one reason why only six crews retired during that night. On leaving the Alps every competitor was given a bunch of tulips from Rotterdam. From Morez the route ran by way of Giromagny, taking in a test on the Ballon d'Alsace and another at La Petite Pierre (7 km through the Bouxwiller forest), to Saverne, where there was a rest halt for dinner. The return through Belgium, where a number of tests had always been organised in the past, did not go ahead this time, and the field headed mainly by motorway for the Zolder circuit, where the third and last special test was run. The test on the Col de la Faucille had to be dropped, as the French authorities gave no permission for it. Rob Slotemaker was already out at Spa with a blown cylinder head gasket. Barbasio and Jacquemin dominated the contest up to the rest halt at Villard and held no penalty points, followed by Ragnotti, Van Grieken and Van Lennep. Those placings were largely maintained through the Alps, and were expected to be consolidated on the way home through the Vosges. It turned out otherwise: the return leg proved exceptionally hard. Jacquemin retired after being given penalty minutes at the start in Villard, having already been at odds with the organisers; following a dispute over a missed control he gave up. Barbasio slipped further down the standings when he had to change a punctured tyre in the mud. Kees van Grieken thereby took the lead, helped by his attacking style of driving. Both experimental DAF 555s retired in the first half of the rally with technical trouble, after which the service crews under competitions manager Rob Koch devoted themselves to looking after the eight privately entered DAFs still in the rally. Kees van Grieken and Marcel Verbunt won this edition, ahead of Jean Ragnotti's Opel Kadett. They were the fourth Dutch crew to win the Tulpenrallye, after Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Tak and Kreisel. The Coupe des Dames went to Marie Claude Beaumont and M. Fouquet. The Nations Trophy was won by the Royal Dutch Automobile Club, with Van Grieken, De Wild and Baars, whilst the club team prize was claimed by the western automobile club. The manufacturers' team prize went to BMW.