 'Premiere of the new international challenge' Persbericht: ERC
The Euro Rally Challenge opens its first season with the Tank S Rally in the Dutch Emmeloord. The first rally of the Rally clinic Dutch Open, the Dutch Rally Championship, will present a starting list that can only be dreamed of.
The Euro Rally Challenge is a new international competition performing in three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Promoters Erik Wevers and Mark van Eldik, the two top drivers from the Netherlands, want the best pilots from different countries competing in some nice Rallies. This guarantees an exciting, but also friendly competition with entertainment, fun and spectacle. During the rally, competitors are fighting for every second but afterwards they can exchange their stories and have a party together with the teams, that is the motto of the Euro Rally Challenge.
There is no shortage of interested teams. At this moment, already 15 teams have registered from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark and Hungary. Even eight World Rally Cars have entered, Subaru Impreza WRC S12 for Mark van Eldik, Ford Focus WRC 06 for Erik Wevers and René Kuipers, Ford Focus WRC 05 for the Irishman Paddy White, Skoda Fabia WRC 05 for John Temmink and Harry Kleinjan, Skoda Octavia WRC for Ger Haverkate and a Toyota Corolla WRC for the Belgian Peter Desmet. It’s still not certain he will participate in all rallies because Melissa Debackere has entered for the Belgian Rally Championship with the same Corolla WRC. Dennis Kuipers has chosen for a Peugeot 207 Super 2000. The Dane Michael Pedersen and the German Janina Depping start with a Mitsubishi Lancer Gr.N, while the Hungarian Mihaly Hodula will bring a Lancer Evo6 Gr.A to the start. That the Euro Rally Challenge is not only interesting for top cars is demonstrated by the entries of Irishman Gerard Sharkey with his Honda Civic Gr.N and Dane Hans Ole Funch with his Opel Kadett GT/E. Jan de Winkel, another topper on the start list, has not yet decided in which car he will participate, but you can count for that he will bring another jewel to the start.
The entry list is not yet completed. “We expect a number of entries just before the Tank S Rally” said Bart Hissink, coordinator of the Challenge. “We still get requests for information from different countries such as Poland, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, England and Belgium. Therefore we have decided to extend the closing date for entry till the start of the Vogelsberg Rallye”. At least five out of six rallies of the Euro Rally Challenge must be driven according to the regulations.
The Tank S Rally opens the festival on 14 and 15 March in Emmeloord. Fast and technical stages are on the menu at the bottom of the former Zuiderzee, a part of the Netherlands which was extracted from the North Sea. The rally starts at Friday with a super special at an industrial park. The winner will be honored on Saturday evening, after which the party of the Euro Challenge Rally can begin… |
