THE STORY OF 2006
The Tulpenrallye starting abroad is no longer up for discussion. This year, Villefranche-sur-Saône is chosen as the starting location, along the Route-du-Soleil, making it easily accessible from the Netherlands via the highway. Unfortunately, some participants do not make it to the start, dropping out on their way there. 152 teams gather at the starting hotel. The organization realizes that sponsorship is becoming increasingly important and, for the first time at the starting location, hosts a dinner with the event sponsors. In addition to regular sponsors, the main partners receive extra attention. For this edition, the main partners are IT service provider Atos Origin and F. van Lanschot Bankiers.
Atos Origin, as a partner of the Tulpenrallye, has developed a new system for electronically registering participant checkpoints along the route and calculating and publishing standings throughout the rally. Participants receive control cards with embedded chips for this purpose. At checkpoints along the route, their passing times are electronically recorded. At the end of the day, this data is uploaded to a computer, enabling quick compilation of standings. The system makes its debut in an international rally during the Tulpenrallye and shows promising results.
The route on the first day travels from Villefranche-sur-Saône through the Central Massif to St. Flour. At 440 km, this is immediately the longest day. Weather conditions significantly affect the participants. It has been raining heavily all night, there’s considerable mist on the first regularity test, and later in the day, teams drive through a massive hailstorm with hailstones as large as small stones. The second day’s route includes a pass through the ski area at Col de Peyrol (1400 meters), which needs to be rerouted in the morning due to heavy overnight snowfall. As a result, many participants arrive very early at the lunch location, but the staff there manages everything smoothly. That evening, participants reach Limoges and then drive westward towards Blois on Wednesday. Dinner takes place in the beautiful castle in the heart of the city. On Thursday, the route travels along the west side of Paris (a less common route in the Tulpenrallye) towards Beauvais. Friday heads north, with participants reaching the finish in Ghent, Belgium, via lunch and a regularity test at the fast Croix-en-Ternois circuit in the evening. The route on the final day largely traverses through Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, including a regularity stage with unique regulations.
Key contenders include Eddy van den Hoorn / René Smeets, Bert Dolk / Erwin Berkhof, Ruud Strooper / Ingeborg Guliker, Jos Lommerse / Marleen Hendrikse, Harm Lamberigts / Arthur Denzler, and Bart ter Borg / Rutger ter Borg. Throughout the week, a particularly exciting battle unfolds, with the early days of the rally proving to be the most challenging. Eddy van den Hoorn / Renée Smeets have to retire due to a broken dynamo suspension. Dolk and Berkhof steadily build their leading position throughout the week, and by Friday evening, they seem quite certain of victory. However, things change on Saturday when they come to a halt in Zeeland, and it’s entirely unclear what’s wrong with their Alfa. Fortunately, after 13 minutes, the service team from the organization arrives and gets their car running again.
Bert Dolk and Erwin Berkhof thus claim victory in the 53rd Tulpenrallye. This achievement is unique as they have now won the rally three times in a row. Bert Dolk is now the only participant to have won the Tulpenrallye five times. He previously won a modern version in 1973 and later a classic edition alongside Belgian driver Robert Rorife. The Dolk and Berkhof duo engaged in an exciting battle throughout the week with the teams of Jos Lommerse / Marleen Hendrikse and Ruud Strooper / Ingeborg Guliker, who ultimately finished second and third, respectively. The difference between these three teams throughout the week was never much more than 100 penalty seconds. The duo Ans Berkelaar / Huib Berkelaar emerged as the winners of the Tour class.
