Group N
With the demise of the canons of Group A, the “Produktiewagens” now
were the top class in the Netherlands, with many importers supporting.
There was a new Mercedes for van Dedem, a new Sierra for Hin as well as
3-door versions for van Krimpen and Hemmes, we had two M3s and the
2-liter class had some promise with an Alfa 75, a Kadett 16V, a
Peugeot, a Citroën - all new cars. The other classes were less
interesting, the 1300 cc title went to the new Suzuki of Oeberius
Kapteyn, while the 2500 cc title went to Langeberg in the BMW 325,
provided he was not voluntarily fighting in the top class - he really
had no competition here.
The 2-liter cars had some fine fights, but after the first race the
Alfa Romeo 75 of van Splunteren was the car to have, and it was really
bad luck he couldn’t take the title - now Kerseboom ran away with
victory in his Kadett.
And then Division 1: it was really overshadowed by protests and
arguments on weight penalties or air restrictors on the Sierras. First
they were too fast, then too slow and the matter was never settled.
Added was a shameful race with ignored black flags which could have
ended far worse. In the end, van Dedem (Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16) after a
slow start won the last two races which was just enough to beat Krab
(BMW M3, two wins). Third was a surprise with Hans van der Beek, who
prepared the car himself and got faster and faster and won once. The
first Sierra, with Hemmes, ended fourth in the championship, with one
victory, while Hin only managed sixth - with 2 wins early in the season.
Group A
The M3 and the Sierras were sold abroad, what rested was a meagre field
of about ten cars, some of them really old like the last Talbot Rally
of an Escort RS 2000. To add insult to injury, a "new" entry was
presented to the press - an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, which homologation
should have ran out year or ten ago. In fact, the only car of any
statue was the BMW 325i (1986) of Dam, who ran away with the field. But
we should mention Peter Fontijn too, who let his new vintage Monza fly
after a terrible accident with the Kadett.
The races: |
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| Paasraces | Clubraces | Pinksterraces | Colmar Berg |
Racefestival | Clubraces |
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The cars