Amsterdam - Beijing Classic Car Endurance Rally 2006

The Amsterdam - Beijing Classic Car Endurance Rally 2006 is a Rally in which 100 teams (of which 85 really have started) in Classic Cars (not newer than 1977, and slightly modified (read: fortified) for rally use) are said to travel almost 18000 kilometers or 11000 miles (in reality 14000 km or 9000 mi) from Amsterdam to Beijing (Peking) in China, between July 15^th and August 13^th, crossing 14 countries: the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China.

Itinerary July & August 2006:

15. The Netherlands (breakfast in Krasnapolski in Amsterdam, coffeebreak in Landgoed De Rosep in Oisterwijk, lunchbreak in Landgoed Kasteel Daelenbroeck in Herkenbosch); Germany (stayover in Mainz, Hyatt Regency Hotel)
16. Germany (lunchbreak in Kloster Weltenburg; Austria (stayover in Linz, Hotel Drei Mohren)
17. Hungary (lunchbreak in Balatonkenese; stayover in Szeged, Hotel Forrás)
18. Romania (lunchbreak in Sibiu; stayover in Bucharest, Marriott Hotel)
19. Bulgaria (lunchbreak in Sliven); Turkey (stayover in Istanbul, Hyatt Regency Hotel)
20. Turkey (lunchbreak in Göynük; stayover in Istanbul, restday)
21. Turkey (lunchbreak in Doga Hotel in Yenimahalle; stayover in Ankara, Sheraton Hotel)
22. Turkey (stayover in Trabzon, Zorlu Grand Hotel)
23. Georgia (lunchbreak in Kutaisi; stayover in Tbilisi, Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel)
24. Azerbaijan (stayover in Baku, Hotel Park Hyatt Baku)
25. cross the Caspian sea (cars by boat, drivers by plane); Turkmenistan (stayover in Turkmenbashi, Hotel Serdar)
26. wait in a land with the weirdest "laws"...
27. Turkmenistan (stayover in Ashkhabad, Sheraton Grand Turkmen Hotel)
28. Uzbekistan (stayover in Bukhara, Hotel Bukhara Palace)
29. Uzbekistan (stayover in Tashkent, Intercontinental Hotel)
30. Kyrgyzstan (lunchbreak in Bishkek, Hyatt Regency Hotel); Kazakhstan (stayover in Almaty, Regent Hotel)
31. Kazakhstan (stayover in Almaty, restday)

1. Sinkiang, China (stayover in Yining, Twin Star Hotel Yining)
2. Sinkiang, China (stayover in Ürümqi, World Plaza Hotel)
3. Sinkiang, China (lunchbreak in Mori; stayover in Hami)
4. China (stayover in Dunhuang, Silk Road Dunhuang Hotel)
5. China (stayover in Jiayuguan)
6. China (stayover in Lanzhou, Lanzhou Legend Hotel)
7. China (stayover in Lanzhou, restday)
8. Ningxia, China (stayover in Yinchuan)
9. Inner Mongolia, China (stayover in Baotou, Hotel Haide)
10. China (stayover in Datong)
11. China (stayover in Beijing, Beijing Hotel)
12. China (stayover in Beijing)
13. back to Amsterdam (by plane)

Ladies First

Why does Coolness support ladies first? Because they have excellent credentials. They weren't first, but they made it!

Rally Team Ladies First consists of highly experienced rally driver Esther B. Visser (37, behind the wheel) from Nieuwebrug, Friesland and Caroline de Greeff (31), Groningen, driving a Saab 96 from 1960.

In Hungary, near Gyor, around noon (July 17^th, Esther's birthday), the Saab got a burst waterpump, (see photos above) and it had to be hauled to Szeged...

Fortunately everything has been repaired and they came back in the race! They weren't first, but they made it!

Team 64 (Alfa Zagato Junior 1971) has crashed the first day near Tankstation Suntjens, Koezoep 3, Herkenbosch, as they wanted to get petrol and didn't see oncoming traffic. The sad part is that Marlies Gerritsen was behind the wheel, who never had an accident in her life... Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt in this accident. The car was totaled and out of the race.

Team 21 (Simca Aronde Monaco Coupe) has crashed the fourth day, 18 km past Sibiu: the Simca had a head-on collision with a blue Citroën Xsara which was on the left lane overtaking a line of trucks... The Simca has been repaired however and came back in the race, albeit quite dented... but they made it!

Team 58 (Volvo Amazon) was struck by engine fire just before Ankara. This has been repaired and the car came back in the race and they made it.

Team 77 (Daf) has crashed Thursday morning July 27. The car was totaled and is out of the race. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt.

Team 17 (Alvis) broke down near the border between Kazachstan and China and could not be repaired in time and was therefore out of the race.

Team 16 (Daimler) had to give up after Ürümqi and was out of the race.

The other 80 teams made it to Beijing.

Esther fueling up before the rally...
This Saab has a two-stroke engine, which means a mixture of benzine and oil is needed

Ladies earning much needed rally fee: as bartenders in a
Heerenveen bar they get half of the proceeds (25 February 2006)

Esther driving the Saab without all the ABR stickers and plates...

and with...