Tulpenrallye 1977

The story of 1977: The Gulf Tulpenrallye was beginning to recover something of its old glory after the difficult editions of the early seventies. The tremendous enthusiasm of the large body of marshals and officials played an important part in that. This year no permission was given to run through Luxembourg. A number of foreign competitors appeared at the start with (semi-)works machinery. Among the favourites were the first and second finishers of 1976, Carlsson-De Jong with an Opel Kadett GTE and Staepelaere-Bessem with a Ford Escort 1800. The foreign professionals taking part were the winner of the Safari Rally, Shekhar Mehta, with Yvonne Pratt in a Datsun Violet, Brookes-Bryant with a Ford Escort, Tony Drummond with a Ford Escort, Eklund-Sylvan with a Saab 99 EMS, and John Taylor (Ford Escort), well known from the rallycross at Valkenswaard. The ladies’ crew of Titia Westerhof and Lilian Andela, put together by Veronica TV and Opel, made their debut on this rally. Scrutineering took place this year on the Thursday at Zestienhoven airfield near Rotterdam, after which the rally started on the Friday at de Doelen in Rotterdam. The 36 tests included in the rally came to some 180 km in all, of which a good 115 km was on sealed surfaces. The first eleven tests of the rally lay in the Netherlands. The tests on military ground were once again taken into the route. The first test after the start in Rotterdam was on the Vlasakkers at Amersfoort, whilst the second was laid out on the tank track of the Wittenberg army camp at Stroe. The tests that followed were the Dikkenberg near Rhenen and the Papendal sports centre. From there the route ran through Belgium, with seven special tests, to Arlon, where the crews rested during the Saturday. On the Saturday night the field ran back from Arlon to Rotterdam, again by way of seven tests in Belgium and eleven in the Netherlands. The final test, open to the public, was run at Zestienhoven airfield. All the other tests were kept secret beforehand, to prevent competitors from reconnoitring them. Even so, the leading crews went out at length before the rally, covering many thousands of kilometres. Going on the routes of previous years and on rumour, they drove in the areas where a test was expected this year. The route ran across the Veluwe and through South Limburg to Liège, where a short rest halt was held. The mood before the rally was tense, because Staepelaere and De Jong were constantly at odds with one another, chiefly through the media, about prior knowledge on other rallies. Ford works driver Russell Brookes, at the start partly because his sponsor ‘Andrews Heat for Hire’ had recently opened a branch in Belgium, led from the outset and after ten tests held a lead of more than half a minute over Staepelaere. On the 15th special test, however, Brookes made a mistake and lost the greater part of that lead. On the 16th test, near Marche in Belgium, Brookes went off the road because of ice, and Staepelaere took over the lead. When Carlsson found himself a minute down on the tests in Belgium as the night drew on — by now the rain was coming down in sheets — he decided to counter-attack. Staepelaere’s Escort could not put its horsepower down on the greasy roads and Carlsson made the most of it: by the rest halt at Arlon his deficit had come down to 32 seconds. Brookes at that moment lay exactly the same distance behind Staepelaere-Bessem. On the first tests of the return route Brookes was quicker than Carlsson, and the final result seemed settled. Carlsson also went off the road twice on a test near Maastricht. He kept attacking all the same, but went off the road once more on a later test and spun on the test at the PIROC military ground near Eindhoven. Fifty kilometres from the finish, though, Staepelaere broke his throttle cable. Brookes scented victory and decided to play for all or nothing on the final test at Zestienhoven. In the attempt a half-shaft broke, leaving him stranded in the third place he had in effect held all day. Per Eklund also came close to losing fourth place, when engine trouble left him unable to pull more than 3,500 revs on the last three tests. Jan van der Marel and Jan Berkhof took that place from him, only to drop back when they were given five minutes’ penalty for having been caught speeding between Turnhout and Veldhoven. Staepelaere and Bessem won the rally in the end. The prize-giving was held up for three hours by a number of protests and by irregularities found on some of the cars during the post-event scrutineering. The Fords in particular ran into trouble here. These cars, among them that of the winner Staepelaere, were fitted with a mechanical handbrake that did not comply with the regulations. When the cars were passed all the same, Opel considered lodging a protest. De Jong put a stop to that, taking the view that the Ford crew of Staepelaere-Bessem had won fair and square. The national class was won by Van Espelo-Van Lent with an Opel Ascona. The prize-giving was once again at the Hilton Hotel in Rotterdam.