THE STORY OF 1999
In the autumn of 1998, Maurice Gatsonides, the founder of the Tulpenrallye, passed away. Naturally, “Maus” was active as a participant in the early years of the Tulpenrallye, but he also enthusiastically appeared at more recent historic editions of the rally. He enjoyed talking about the cars he had designed and proudly referred to his wife as the winner of the Coupe des Dames at the finish.
50 Years of Tulpenrallye! The organization decided to extensively celebrate the fact that it was exactly 50 years since the first Tulpenrallye was organized in 1999. The National Tourist Office and the Keukenhof shared this ambition and decided to sponsor the special edition. In Berlin, after the start on the fourth day of the rally, a meeting was organized for German journalists to further promote the Netherlands and Keukenhof as tourist destinations.
The organization published the book “50 Years of Tulpenrallye,” compiled by Jan de Beus, Klaas Kornaat, and Frank Pauli. The book was offered to all participants at the finish and was successfully sold in bookstores afterward.
In consultation, it was decided to make the route very special by planning a round trip from Noordwijk to Berlin and back. The route, at 2300 km, was quite long, which made the rally one day longer this year, starting on Monday from Noordwijk. Via Barneveld, with a first stop in Münster and a second in East German Arolsen, participants reached the center of Berlin on Wednesday, passing through “Checkpoint Charlie.” All participants stayed at the Forum Hotel, and dinner was served at a great height in the “Fernsehturm” (Television Tower) in Berlin. On Thursday, participants drove from Potsdam’s Dutch Quarter to Winterberg, where they encountered significant snow, similar to the journey on Wednesday, before driving to Vaals in the Netherlands on Friday. Via Keukenhof in Lisse, participants reached Noordwijk on Saturday.
Participants found the round trip route to Berlin quite challenging. East Germany was still relatively new to travel, and the road quality posed a significant test for the participating cars. Additionally, the quality of hotels and meals was different from what participants were accustomed to at the Tulpenrallye, but the adventure along the way and the enthusiastic reception in Berlin and at the finish in Noordwijk compensated for much of it.
The key contenders included Bert Dolk (winner in 1973), Renger Guliker (winner in 1983), Hilmar Andersen (winner in 1994), Dries Jetten, Eric Leerdam, Aernout Lindner, Bart Rietbergen, Don van der Vaart, Linus Verhoeks, and Karel Westerman. Once again, many foreign participants were at the start, including Horst Deumel (Germany), Mike Cornwell (UK), Frans Zapfe (Germany), and Brit Neil Wilson, who appeared with former World Rally Championship driver John Buffum (USA).
The Germans Horst Deumel and Wili Potjans, driving a BMW, won this special German edition of the Tulpenrallye and were extensively honored during the closing ceremony at the Grand Hotel “Huis ter Duin.”
For the first time this year, the vintage class was opened to participants with cars from before World War II. Several beautiful Bentleys and Maus Gatsonides’ constructed Mercury Kwik-1 from 1938, owned by Bert Kersten, appeared in this class.
