Tulpenrallye 2021

The story of 2021: In the early spring of 2020 the preparations for the 67th Tulpenrallye were well on schedule. With more than 200 entries the entry list had closed early, and the organisation had decided to explore a different competition area. Starting from Bordeaux, the first two days at least would run largely through new country in the west and the centre of much-loved France, after which the route would work its way back towards the eastern side of France to travel by way of Luxembourg to Chateau St. Gerlach in Valkenburg, once again the finish. From the beginning of the year it became clear that the covid-19 virus was advancing quickly. On Thursday 12 March the organisation was still in Bordeaux, finalising the plans for the opening days of the 67th Tulpenrallye. In that part of France people were not yet greatly troubled by the new virus. Even so, later that day the organisation discussed possible scenarios should the virus develop further. In the days that followed things moved fast. That weekend the first lockdowns were announced in various countries in Europe, and on the Sunday the same happened in the Netherlands. The organisation acted quickly, above all with the various hotels, and it soon became clear that the chance of the Tulpenrallye being run in May of that year, as tradition demanded, was shrinking very fast. Not long afterwards the competitors and others involved were informed that the Tulpenrallye would not go ahead in May. As an alternative, and drawing on the various ideas that developed quickly in this period when everybody was at home, the Tulpenrallye Home Edition was run on the very days originally set aside for the 67th Tulpenrallye. The navigation exercises corresponded closely to the plans for that Tulpenrallye, and a great many competitors looked forward each day to the new exercises appearing online. On the Saturday a festive prize-giving was held over a Teams call. The organisation always plans the next Tulpenrallye more than a year ahead, and so, odd as the times were, the first work on the 68th edition began all the same. Partly because of the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus, it was decided to arrange the start closer to home: Frankfurt in Germany was a good deal nearer than the starting points of recent years, and gave immediate access to fine rally country in Germany adjoining the favourite rally area on the eastern side of France. New dates for the 67th edition were set for October of that year, but during the second half of the summer it soon became clear that organising an international rally through several countries in the autumn would not be possible. At first it looked as though a regularity rally for classic cars ought at least to be possible within the Netherlands. The two-day Tulpenrallye Dutch Edition was devised and a large number of crews entered straight away. After the summer the coronavirus situation in the Netherlands deteriorated quickly as well, and it was decided as a result to cancel this Dutch Edition. The next plan was to run the 2020 edition in May 2021, on the dates originally intended for the 68th edition. Coronavirus, however, was far from over, and with the still stricter measures at the beginning of 2021 it quickly became clear that May 2021 was not feasible either. Happily the situation improved rapidly thereafter and this edition could finally be run in October 2021. The 67th edition was held a few weeks after almost all restrictions in the Netherlands had been lifted, enjoyed exceptionally fine weather, and virtually every competitor who had entered for May 2020 appeared at the start in October 2021. The prologue for this Tulpenrallye was once again held at the Autotron in Rosmalen, and for the second year Orange Babies was the charity supported by the Tulpenrallye. Gijs van Lennep was the ambassador for the charity. Kees van Loon joined the organising committee. The 67th Tulpenrallye started on Sunday 3 October 2021 in Bordeaux, 1,050 kilometres from Utrecht. It was a special rally after all the coronavirus difficulties and restrictions, and it was plain that every competitor was delighted to be driving and navigating again. A total of 179 crews lined up at the start of this remarkable Tulpenrallye. On Monday morning the rally began in earnest. The route took in the finish towns of Vichy, Beaune, Colmar, Luxembourg and Valkenburg. The organisation had decided that the Expert class would always start last. It mattered that the other classes should finish in daylight — and there was less of that in October than in May — whereas the Expert competitors could cope with a little darkness. From Bordeaux the route ran in a north-easterly direction. All day long it followed very quiet roads through beautiful country. The route-setters had even worked in substantial stretches of gravel and sand roads. Perfect rally country, in short. Tuesday was a hard day. It rained and it was dark. Lights and windscreen wipers had to go on. The pace was high, the roads slippery and, to make matters worse, strewn with gravel as well. Former Tulpenrallye winners slid off the road and were pulled out again by their direct rivals Harm Lamberigts and Bart den Hartog. The final day was tense in every class. In the Expert class Harm Lamberigts and Bart den Hartog held the lead. Second and third place were still being fought over. Robert Koomen and Rutger ter Borg eventually took second place. Harm Lamberigts and Bart den Hartog won the “Coupe Rallye des Tulipes” in the Expert class of the 2021 Tulpenrallye by a comfortable margin on points. In the Sporting class Arthur Gräper and Michaël van Beukering took first place. The Touring class went to Wiebe de Ruijsscher and Tomas de Ruijsscher. The Vintage class was won by Laurens van der Velde and Janny van de Boel.