Holland-valkenswaard : british mini's on visit

[rallyloverke]

Hello

Yesterday (18/07) the mini's where visiting Holland after they have been in Maasmechelen the week before.

In this gallery you can find some pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.be/Rallylove...LValkenswaard#

[WJM]

They were about the only ones there... Sad day for Dutch Rallycross it was...

[bigted]

heres a question, just why has the dutch championship took a turn for the worse, whilst the belgian champ is going strength to strength

[rallyloverke]

indeed sad ...

I am not very sure why it so "down" now.

Yesterday : it was a mix of things. Some D1-drivers had problems after last weekend and they coudln't repair it in time. I think it was the same in other classes. And i suppose some are on a holiday.
And i have the feeling the belgian organisation and the dutch organisation are working together the way they should do ...

And sometimes we have the feeling (hearing the speaker) in Holland they are more interested in the buggy's and not interested in rallyCROSS. (the organisers in Holland call it RallyRACING ... )

[rx-guru]

Originally Posted by rallyloverke

And i have the feeling the belgian organisation and the dutch organisation are working together the way they should do ...

I guess the word not is missing somewhere in here…

[rallyloverke]

yes i forgot that word :-) sorry!!!!!!!!!!

[WJM]

Originally Posted by bigted

heres a question, just why has the dutch championship took a turn for the worse, whilst the belgian champ is going strength to strength

There are only 15 or so Dutch Rallycross drivers total. All but one have been driving for more than 5 years, or they are family members of longtime rallycross drivers.

There is no new Dutch blood and there is not a single attempt taken to encourage new Rallycross drivers. The race meetings are based solely on Belgian entries, but they get completly ignored in previews and reports.

Entries, sponsorship and attendance are also on decline because there is no European race. That weekend was the flagship event and moneymaker for the rest of the championship.

There is also a lack of cooperation between Belgian and Dutch organizers. Unless there is some last minute change of dates, this August there will be a Dutch Championship race in Valkenswaard the same day as a regional race in Arendonk. These two tracks are only 30km apart!

[dcdesign]

There are Dutch newcomers, certainly in D1a (Van der Eijk, Van Rijn, De Brouwer, Heezen), but they don't got any rallycross experience in building cars, so their level can't match that of the D1a-cars, who are driving out there for years...

but the cause of this is simple... while most belgian national drivers start in the regional championship, only a few dutchmen takes part in the flemish regional championship, because there isn't regional level rallycross in Holland... before you got some guys, who really know how to drive, how to build a car, and who are willing to spend some budget on rallycross, you need entry level racing, so they can get into it, and gain experience and confidence... no one (almost no one actually) invests large sums of money, on something they don't know, they don't know if they're even good at it, if they're capable of building such a car...

And yeah, holland got the 2cv's and the RST's, but the 2cv-drivers are a close community, if you join them, you're most likely to stay with, rather then use it as an entry class... and the RST's are only for rich kids, if you're 25, you want to start at dutch rallycross and you don't got lots of budget, you're only option is to be a red lantern in supercars 2wd or Super1600...

[FIRE]

Autocross is healthy. Is that a reason for the downturn of rallycross in Holland?