Holland (Chapter) Figaro Rally – Sunday 3rd June 2018

Words & Pictures: Pascal Snel

Sunday 3rd June started with lots of sunshine and after months of preparation everything ready for the rally.

Located at the rally departure point (Beautiful Castle Schaloen in the southern part of Limburg) we waited nervously until the first Figaro arrived at 10.00. After a coffee and Vlaai (local pastry flan), we departed in convoy and drove the first leg to Konvooi.

Our first stop was to visit the American War Cemetery however with so many cars parked up we got more attention from the visitors than we really wanted at this place of respect. We only stayed there for 30 minutes so no harm done.

The second stage of the convoy should have allowed us to follow a route to the lunch location, but on-route we were suddenly surrounded by flashing blue lights and lots of Police! They told us we must all move from the left side then to the right and ordered us to pull over. We were worried that we had done something wrong but it was just a big cycle ride that was on the road we were about to take and we had to make sure the road was clear for them. Luckily for us the location we stopped at was very close to Gulpenerberg our lunch restaurant so it worked out fine in the end.

After lunch it was time to excises our brains by trying to answer the questions in the Rally Roadbook we had produced. Within the book were questions to answer whilst you were on the route. You had to find photos and letters. The route to the Figs up and down many hills and we ended up in a small part of Belgium called the “Drie Landen Punt” this is the point where The Netherland, Belgium and Germany all meet together.

This kind of roads along with the pretty houses and the hilly landscape made this such a wonderful rally to be part of and we could see everyone was having such a lovely time. Because of the beauty of the location we decided to use it as the last stop. The owner of the Castle Schaloen allowed us to park just in front, so there was some great photo opportunities.

Lastly it was time for prizes and awards and a new a very special award called the “Kees van Dijk Memorial Trophy” for the best Figaro of the day! Many of the group stayed for a nice dinner where we all exchanged stories of the day. For me and Brigitte as the organisers, it’s always nice to hear the rally stories afterwards, some teams didn’t find any picture from the road book, some teams found a few, but the actual winners of the rally found them all.

We had 27 Figaro’s from The Netherland, Belgium, Germany and the UK! 9 Lapis Grey, 8 Emerald green, 5 Pale aqua, 3 Topaz mist and 2 custom color in black.

Roadmap Competition Winners

1st Place – Josine & Geert
2nd Place – Angelique & Ruud
3rd Place – Caroline & Jan

Kees van Dijk memorial trophy
Angelique & Dennis won the “Kees van Dijk memorial trophy” for the best Figaro of the day.

With a special thanks to our sponsor, Figarocars.

Our rally will be on again next year so look forward to seeing you on 2nd June 2019