Tulpenrallye 2012

The story of 2012: After route-setters Adrie Brugmans and Jaap Daamen had taken their leave of the Tulpenrallye organisation following eight particularly successful editions, Joep Wanders was willing to set the route for the Tulpenrallye. Joep was no stranger to Dutch rallying. He had competed in the Tulpenrallye before, as a driver and as a navigator, and had set the routes of a great many rallies. The Tulpenrallye returned to the eastern border of France. This time Evian-les-Bains, on the southern shores of Lake Geneva, was chosen as the starting place. The Hilton hotel there was the rally headquarters for the first day. Brons/Geelhuysen, in the 1925 Mathis GM sport, were the first crew away. The start took place on the Monday morning in front of the handsome town hall of Evian-les-Bains, and from there an exhilarating route through a great many ski areas in the region awaited the competitors, ending that day in Aix-les-Bains. Here the Tuesday opened straight away with a test on the shore of the Lac de Bourget. At the end of the Tuesday the Franco-Swiss border was crossed once more for a night in Thun in Switzerland. For the Wednesday, Hotel L’Europe in Horbourg-Wihr, in the heart of the Vosges, was selected as the headquarters for the rally. From there the crews in the Expert class also drove the evening leg, which still formed part of the programme for that class. From the Vosges the caravan then moved eastwards into Germany for the overnight halt in the quiet spa town of Bad Kreuznach. Friday brought a particularly long leg to Kasteel Vaeshartelt in Maastricht. On the Saturday the route ran through the Netherlands, and before the finish at Grand Hotel “Huis ter Duin” in Noordwijk the competitors first had to complete the Tulpenrallye Sprint on the boulevard of the seaside flower town. The Tulpenrallye once again supported the KiKa foundation. RTL presenters Frits Wester and Roelof Hemmen crewed the celebrity car, and thanks in no small part to their energy and enthusiasm a cheque for 30,000 euros could be presented to KiKa at the end of this edition. The route did not run flawlessly everywhere this year. The timetables were a little tight here and there, and on the section in Switzerland the route instructions were not entirely correct. The organisation saw to it that this was put right and promised the competitors that it would be better arranged next time. Interest in the Tulpenrallye was exceptionally strong. The maximum number of competitors was reached immediately after entries opened. More than 200 crews started this edition, spread across four classes. Among the leading competitors were Renger Guliker / Pim ‘Hart, Peter Dutman / Gijsbert van Rooijen, Cees de Jong / Jaap Verplanken, Maarten van Lith / Peter van Hoof, Michel Perridon / Maurits Verhoeff, John Temmink / Wouter Bakker, Albert Boekel, who had driven the Tulpenrallye for many years with the new route-setter Joep Wanders, now with Han van Kasteren, Jan and Kees Vaandrager, Paul Zweers / Arjan van der Palen and Rinus Sinke / Bart den Hartog. Rinus Sinke and Bart den Hartog won the Coupe Rallye des Tulipes for the second time, in their 1957 Austin-Healey. At the finish they held a comfortable lead over the crew of Paul Zweers / Arjan van der Palen (a very fine performance, coming after their win in the Sporting class in the previous edition) and over father and son Jan and Kees Vaandrager with an Austin Healey. Adrie Brugmans and Jaap Daamen, the route-setters of the previous 8 editions, finished a highly creditable 13th in the Expert class. The Sporting class was won by Olaf Pothoven and Piet van Leusden. A remarkable story, because the two men had never driven a rally together before. They met for the first time on the Saturday before the start of this 59th Tulpenrallye, got on well with one another and were rewarded with a very handsome victory in the Sporting class. The brothers Kerst and Erik Koeze won the Touring class, whilst Maries Dinaux and Eric van Straaten were the winners in the Vintage class.