Tulpenrallye 2018

The story of 2018: It was becoming ever harder to organise the final day of the Tulpenrallye in the Netherlands in a way that was challenging for the competitors while not causing too much disruption in the regions through which it ran. The organisers had tried to address this in various ways over the preceding years, but in the end the final day still remained the least exciting one in most editions. The organisers talked it over at length, and it was with a heavy heart that they decided to leave Noordwijk. The municipality of Noordwijk and the management of Grand Hotel “Huis ter Duin” were informed in good time. The openness was appreciated, but all parties realised that an important tradition in Dutch motor sport was being lost. At almost exactly the same moment, “Huis ter Duin” was told that the Dutch national football team would no longer be using the hotel for its training camps. The organisers did not rush into choosing a worthy alternative as finish hotel. After studying a number of options they found it in Hotel Chateau St. Gerlach in Valkenburg. This magnificent hotel belonging to the Oostwegel Groep, not far from the point where three countries meet, offered various ways of running a challenging rally route until shortly before the finish. It also provided a beautiful setting and the infrastructure for the finish programme, as well as several ways of celebrating the festive prize-giving in style. The managements of Chateau St. Gerlach and Grand Hotel “Huis ter Duin” knew one another well, and sat together at the same table during the festive prize-giving. 2018 was an anniversary year: the 65th edition. After the 50th Tulpenrallye had introduced a start abroad (which was never given up again afterwards) and the 60th edition had been run “the other way round”, from Noordwijk to a finish on the Cote d’Azur, the organisers did not really manage to come up with anything special again this year in the layout of the route. It simply had to be a very good Tulpenrallye, and that is what it became. The Cote d’Azur made a fine stage for the start of this 65th edition. The Pullman Hotel in Mandelieu-Lanapoule, close to Cannes, welcomed the competitors, and the fine weather helped to make the atmosphere particularly good. On the Sunday before the start a special route had been laid out to the summit of the Col de Turini (where the 60th edition had been decided 5 years earlier); in the afternoon all the competitors could step aboard the magnificent vessels of Waijer Yachts, and in the evening, in exceptionally fine weather, the first dinner was held around the hotel swimming pool. Competitors and officials who had taken part in the Tulpenrallye for 20 years were honoured during the dinner with a silver Tulpenrallye pin. On the Monday the route ran largely along the coast of southern France to the first day's finish in Avignon. From there it went almost straight up to the north, with stops in Valence at the end of day 2 and Lyon at the end of day 3. The Vosges were of course not missing from the anniversary edition and featured extensively on days 4 and 5; this time there was no halt in Riquewihr and Horbourg-Wihr, but in Belfort. Day 5 went to Luxembourg, and on day 6 all the competitors experienced the great advantage of the new finish location. There were navigational challenges enough until shortly before the finish. The finish programme at the new venue went off flawlessly. Although there were still plenty of competitors and organisers who looked back on Noordwijk with nostalgia, the 65th Tulpenrallye enjoyed a worthy finale at Chateau St. Gerlach in Valkenburg. That year the Tulpenrallye supported the Bontius Foundation and its research into cancer of the vocal cords, on the initiative of partner Profin Assurantiën, and Gijs van Lennep, driver of the celebrity car, shared responsibility for the cheque for 25,000 euros that was presented at the finish. The prologue was held before the rally at Athlon in Almere. To mark the 65th anniversary the Tulpenrallye history portal was launched, carrying extensive accounts of every edition of the Tulpenrallye along with a great deal of unique photographic and video material. The winners of the Tulpenrallye down the years were invited to drive the final day of this 65th Tulpenrallye from Luxembourg to Valkenburg, and a good many of them accepted the invitation. The leading competitors included Rutger Reinders / Wouter Bakker, Leo van Beukering / Hans-Olav de Wolf (winners of the Sporting class in 2017), Alexander Leurs / Peter van Hoof, Wytze van Leuveren / Rutger Kwant (their Porsche burnt out completely during the Sunday run to the Col de Turni, but they were allowed to borrow a replacement Porsche from George Banken), Giel and Arjan van der Palen, Cor Meulen / Ad van der Werf, Harry Dekker / Maarten Verweij, Mark and Remco Hagenzieker, Robert Koomen / Rutger ter Borg and Harm Lamberigts / Bart den Hartog. There was no matching Lamberigts / den Hartog that year. They made the difference above all on day 3, and on the final day they were even entirely faultless. They won this anniversary edition by a margin of more than 5 controls, something that had not happened for a good many years. Driving the winning car into the dining hall of Chateau St. Gerlach was clearly a less grand affair than in “Huis ter duin”, and this was something the organisers still had to work on for future editions. Koomen / ter Borg were second, followed by father and son Mark and Remco Hagenzieker. The battle in the Sporting class was so close that at the finish it was far from clear who had won it. Everyone had to wait for the details from the results office, on the basis of which it emerged a little later that brother and sister Boele and Hiske Braaksma had won the class that year. The experienced German crew of George Bögershausen / Hans-Werner Müller (frequent starters in the 1990s) won the Touring class, and Hank and Nicole Melse were the deserved winners of the Vintage class.