Tulpenrallye 1985

The story of 1985: Rallying in the Netherlands was flourishing as never before, and the AMAC Tulpenrallye was one of the most important events in the Dutch championship. Audi again signed on as main sponsor. This year the rally counted towards a range of championships: the various Dutch titles, the West European championship, the 'West Euro Cup', and the manufacturers' cups of Talbot Samba, Peugeot 205 GTI, Ford Escort and the Opel dealers. The Dutch spearhead this year was formed by Jan van der Marel-Anja Beltzer and Henk Vossen-Hedi van de Kimmenade, both with an Opel Manta, Paul Maaskant with an Opel Kadett, Renger Guliker-Bob Dickhout with a Porsche 911 SC and Wim Luijbrechts-Ab Molkenboer with a Peugeot 205 GTI. Johnny Hoes had hired a very quick Opel Ascona 200, and the Skodas of the Dutch dealer team were there as well. The foreign entry was again impressive this year: Stig Andervang-André Schoonenwolf with the new Ford Escort RS Turbo, the Swede Gunnar Pettersson with a very quick Audi 80 Quattro and Lars Eric Thorp with a works Volkswagen Golf GTI. The Swede Mats Johnsson and the Dane Jörgen Hansen also had to be reckoned capable of finishing high up. The Danish pairing of Morten Spiro-Else Yde was back too, with a Mazda RX-7. Shortly before the rally one last interesting entry was added. John Bosch, who had been forced to give up his Formula 3 racing career after a serious accident, came to the start with an ex-works Audi Quattro. This was the car in which Mikkola had won the 1984 World Championship Rally of New Zealand. Bosch had decided to devote himself to rallying, made his debut in the Tulpenrallye and had secured the services of the experienced navigator Lambert Peeters. The field this year was many times stronger than it had been in recent years. World Championship driver Marc Duez drove the Audi Quattro that served as the zero car. Competitors could take part in a voluntary scrutineering on the Friday evening. Compulsory scrutineering was on the Saturday morning from four o'clock. At six o'clock the first competitor started on another very compact rally, with 23 special tests over a total length of 270 km. The first five tests, which the earliest crews still covered in the dark, lay in the municipality of Barneveld. The route then ran to Amersfoort, for seven tests on the military grounds, among them De Vlasakkers. Around midday there was a rest halt in Bunschoten. From there two more tests were run in Amersfoort, followed by special tests in Barneveld including the Kallenbroek test. After a short rest halt in Barneveld the next tests lay to the east of Barneveld, among others at Garderen and on the Harskamp. After a final rest halt on the edge of Barneveld came the grand finale on the industrial estate near Barneveld. This was a circuit course that had to be covered several times, so that several competitors were running very close together throughout. The organisers had even put up grandstands this year, so that the public would miss nothing of the spectacle. At eight o'clock in the evening the first crew arrived at the finish. Bosch also ran an Audi Quattro privately and used it to recce the tests beforehand. He went off the road and came to rest in a meadow on the far side of the ditch. He had made the acquaintance of the Audi only once before the rally, and that had gone no further than a few laps on a rallycross circuit in Belgium. Andervang's Escort had become available two hours before the rally, after the British mechanics had worked on it all night. After the third test, however, he retired when the wheel studs sheared off. Bosch managed no better than 40th fastest on the first special test and was already 30 seconds down on Van der Marel. On the second test he was eighth, on the third fourth, and then on the fourth test he set the fastest time for the first time. Van der Marel went on the attack straight away and won seven of the first nine tests. He then struck electrical trouble at De Vlasakkers. Van der Marel had not had a great deal of luck in 'the Tulip' in recent years, and he dropped back. Vossen then took the lead. But he too met his Waterloo at De Vlasakkers, retiring with a blown head gasket. Johnny Hoes was then the third Opel driver to lose the lead at De Vlasakkers, with two punctures. By that time John Bosch had found his rallying rhythm nicely, and he took over the lead never to give it up again. And so the 21-year-old John Bosch won his first rally on his debut. The prize-giving took place on the Sunday for the first time this year. The Swedish Opel driver Mats Karlsson was a surprising second, ahead of Paul Maaskant. Jack Waalen / Michel Smeets won the national class.