Tulpenrallye 2017

The story of 2017: After the 63rd edition the organisers also concluded that too little of the route had run through France and that this had to change in 2017. Even so, a magnificent starting venue was found in a country and region where the Tulpenrallye had not been run for a very long time. The splendid Hotel Bachmair Weissach on the Tegernsee in Bavaria, Germany, provided the setting for a special start. Unfortunately the hotel's management decided that the time had come for a fairly drastic refurbishment, so the Sunday's starting programme was moved to a large German marquee on the shores of the Tegernsee. The atmosphere there was excellent during the presentation of the crews, followed by a lavish German buffet accompanied by the local oompah band. Many competitors answered the call to appear in German traditional dress on this first day. The weather was against them at the start. Early on the Monday morning at the edge of the Tegernsee it was raining exceptionally hard, and it would go on raining all day. Immediately after the start the first regularity test awaited the crews on the Wallberg. The route to Austria took in a good number of mountains, and on several of them the rain had by now turned to snow. The first night was spent in the James Bond town of Feldkirch in Austria, where the competitors made their own arrangements for dinner. In the course of the Tuesday the crews reached France (Horbourg-Wihr) and from there drove the third and fourth days through France to Strasbourg and Luxembourg respectively. On the Friday the route ran through Luxembourg and Germany to Vaals, followed by the final day's route from Vaals to Noordwijk. In Noordwijk the Tulpenrallye Sprint was once again run on the boulevard before the crews reached the finish at Grand Hotel "Huis ter Duin". It would later prove to be the last time .... With a total length of 2,674 km this was one of the longer editions of the Tulpenrallye. The Linda Foundation was once again the good cause supported that year. The Dutch racing legend Gijs van Lennep, who had taken part in the Tulpenrallye several times in the 1960s, crewed the celebrity car (a State of Art Porsche 356) together with the experienced navigator Peter Rovers. At the finish they handed over a cheque for 30,000 euros to Linda de Mol of the foundation that bears her name. For the first time Detron laid on a coffee stop during the morning leg of each day of the rally, which the competitors greatly appreciated. The prologue was once again organised at Athlon in Almere and drew an even larger crowd than before. Among the leading competitors were Roy Bolks / Peter Jan Smit, the cousins Koen Bender and Thijs Bender, father and son Mark and Remco Hagenzieker, Robert Koomen / Rutger ter Borg, Cor Meulen / Ad van der Werf, Wytze van Leuveren / Rutger Kwant, father and son Giel and Arjan van der Palen, Alexander Leurs / Peter van Hoof, Rinus Sinke / Bart den Hartog and Albert Boekel / Remco Luksemburg. On day 2 and day 4 Boekel and Luksemburg built up a lead that by the Friday evening looked solid and decisive. On the Saturday it became exciting after all when they missed 2 controls, among them a fairly simple one on the way to the lunch halt at Cyclomedia in Zaltbommel. They managed to hold on to enough of their lead, however, and won the 64th edition of the Tulpenrallye by more than one control. Boekel and Luksemburg were delighted with their victory and that evening drove into the Pickézaal themselves to the strains of "Simply the Best", with their sons on the bonnet of the winning Alfa Romeo. The battle for 2nd place was settled on the Saturday in favour of Sinke / den Hartog, ahead of father and son van der Palen, who were third by just 14 points. Father and daughter Onno and Sophie den Boer in a Jaguar XK150 were the proud and thoroughly convincing winners of the Sporting class, whilst Bart Janssen and Marja Versleijen in an MG B GT took the Touring class. The experienced crew of Arno Blokland and Elly Rijkenbarg in a 1937 MG TA won the Vintage class.