Tulpenrallye 2010

The story of 2010: The stop in Vichy had gone down so well in 2009 that the organisers decided to hold the start there in 2010. In the town of the famous mineral water, the Aletti Palace Hotel on the Parc des Sources in the centre of town, home to the oldest opera house in France, offered a fine setting for the start. The fact that a local festival was held over the weekend, with all its visitors taking to the streets in traditional dress, added still further to the atmosphere. The fine routes in the Ardèche were once again taken into the programme, with the halt after the first day at Vals-les-Bains. From there the route turned back towards the mountains along France's eastern border, and by the end of the day the competitors were in Aix-les-Bains. Wednesday was run largely in the Jura, with a night in Murten in Switzerland, just across the French border. Pont-a-Mousson, a halt in 2009 as well, also returned, so that the fourth day could be run for the most part in the Vosges. In order to keep driving abroad for as long as possible, and to avoid the difficulties with permits in the Belgian Ardennes, the area south of Brussels was chosen as the headquarters for the Friday evening. On the Saturday the final leg was run to Noordwijk, by way of a fine route through the north of Belgium and Brabant. For this edition too the organisers once again supported the good work of Stichting Kinderen Kankervrij KiKa. The celebrity car was driven this year by RTL presenter Marcel Maijer, who for several years had presented the television programme RTL made about the Tulpenrallye. For this edition Maijer therefore had the help of fellow presenter Wouter Karssen. Every year the organisers, together with the municipality of Noordwijk, looked for activities that would make a visit to the traditional finish of the Tulpenrallye in the village still more interesting for the public. That was how the Sprint on the boulevard in Noordwijk came about, devised together with the DVSCC (Dutch Vintage en Sports Car Club). The boulevard was closed off entirely for it, and the competing crews were set the task of sprinting two hundred metres twice from a standing start along the boulevard. Halfway along the run a stop-a-cheval had to be made. The sprint did not count towards the general classification of the Tulpenrallye, but it did carry extra prizes in each class. The event drew a great many visitors to the boulevard, just before the finish of the Tulpenrallye. Among the leading competitors were Rutger Reinders / Erwin Berkhof, Jan Ebus / Jan Berkhof, Michel Perridon / Pieter van Kruijsdijk, the Belgians Eric van Sande / Björn van Overschelde, Ruud Strooper / Ingeborg Guliker, Rinus Sinke / Bart den Hartog and the Britons Paul Wignall / Mark Appleton. Renger Guliker took part in a Tulpenrallye for the 30th time, and at the finish Dries Jetten received the prize for the oldest competitor (1936). He finished 30th in the Expert class, with former Tulpenrallye route-setter Hans Brinkman as his navigator. At the finish on 8 May this edition was called the toughest Tulip in ages, even by some of the old hands. Weather of extraordinary severity, with almost incessant rain, cold, wind, hail and snow, battered the classic rally field. All credit to every competitor who persevered, and in particular to the Vintage class runners, often driving open cars, who unexpectedly found themselves in a winter rally. Machinery and competitors alike were therefore severely tested, and partly for that reason the number of retirements was somewhat higher than in other years. Jan Tinga had a further truck brought to Brussels so that the cars which had retired could be collected. But let no one think that this made the edition any less of a success. The spirit remained good, and at the closing party the verdicts were, as always, positive and enthusiastic. The international character of 'the Tulip' was firmly underlined this year by non-Dutch crews winning the Expert and Touring classes. The final classification of the Nations Cup spoke volumes too: the UK-1 and Belgium teams were first and second, and Netherlands-2 was third. Paul Wignall and Mark Appleton (just ahead of the 2009 winners Rinus Sinke and Bart den Hartog) called this the best-organised classic rally. In the Sporting class the win went to Mark Hagenzieker and his son Remco. Flemish rookies Jurgen Anthoni and An Poelmans won the Tour class, and the Vintage class went to Michiel Hehenkamp and Ron Nakken.