The Dutch Offroad Rallye Championship - NK ORR

[Rallyewerk]

NK ORR – BEACH RACE, Ijmuiden, The Netherlands

The Dutch Offroad Rally Championship (http://www.nkoffroadracing.nl/) is stepping out of its national "niche" and is discovered by more and more foreign teams as a great opportunity to race.
Under the auspices of the dutch KNAF, the governing body of all national motorsport events, this championship now consists of 6 events with 8 races.
All events are held on weekends, with scrutineering starting on Friday morning and races being held on Saturday and Sunday.
This year the Baja 300 Central Germany (BAJA300 Mitteldeutschland 09. - 11. Mai 2013 » Veranstaltung des 4x4 Club Leipzig (http://www.baja300-mitteldeutschland.de/)) is added to the calendar as most of the dutch teams are racing here anyway.

In Holland the races are split into heats, thus having, e.g. The Beach Race in Ijmuiden, two heats in the morning and two heats in the afternoon, with a break of about 30 minutes between each heat and a 1 hour break midday.

I will post more about the races and the regulations in the coming weeks leading up to the next race in Halvelte (NL), the Havelte 500 (miles).

Last weekend the dutch off road rally season started with the renowned beach race in Ijmuiden, The Netherlands, with 30 teams on the start line in T1 and T2 classes.

It was a pretty tough and spectacular race as the sand was pretty heavy, tracks got nastily deep and the competition among the top teams was hard.

The first line of T1 class heads of into the race...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05487_web1200t.jpg

Rick Aarts (Offroad Racing Team Holland) fine tuning his Reiger shocks on his Bowler Wildcat
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05425_web1000t.jpg

#37 - Raoul Jacobs & Jean Pierre Jacobs in a T1 Nissan Navara
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05465_web1000t.jpg

#20 - Ingo Kaldarasch & Jule Haendschke (Pure Racing Team)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05471_web1000t.jpg

#10 - Rick & Nienke Aarts lead in Satrurdays race, but closely followed by #11 - Simon van der Velde (Elephant Offroad)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05494_web1000t.jpg

...to be continued...

[Rallyewerk]

http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05495_web1000t.jpg

#10 - Rick & Nienke Aarts were pushing hard the whole weekend, but only won the Race on Saturday...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05504_web1000t.jpg

#20 - Ingo Kaldarasch & Jule Haendschke (Pure Racing) going well...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05507_web1200t-2.jpg

...but one lap later the belt disc shattered and they were out of the race on Saturday...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05515_web1200t-2.jpg

#20 - Jule "Icey" Haendschke with the lost belt...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05597_web1200t.jpg

[Rallyewerk]

#38 - Peter van der Vliet & Mark Klinkhamer (Offroad Daltons in a modified Predator Buggy)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05524_web1000t.jpg

#11 - Simon van der Velde (Pro Truck / Elephant Offroad)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05532_web1000t.jpg

#26 - Bert Heskes & Arien Groenewegen (LR Desert Warrior)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05552_web1000t.jpg

#33 - Fabian Boel & Nick Casteele (Jeep Cherokee)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05557_web1000t.jpg

# - Marc Heussen (HEUMA / LR Discovery)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05573_web1000t.jpg

...to be continued...

[Rallyewerk]

#38 - Peter van der Vliet & Mark Klinkhamer
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05576_web1000t.jpg

#11 - Simon van der Velde
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05624_web1000t-2.jpg

#33 - Fabian Boel & Nick Casteele (Jeep Cherokee)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05644_web1000t.jpg

#26 - Bert Heskes & Arien Groenewegen (Desert Warrior)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05653_web1000t-2.jpg

#38 - Peter van der Vliet & Mark Klinhamer (Desert Daltons / Predator Buggy)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_05674_web1200t.jpg

...to be continued...

[Rallyewerk]

#13 - Ronald Schoolderman & Marcel Blankenstijn (Toyota ORD / 4x4 Centrum Ermelo)
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_00253_web1000t.jpg

#20 - Team Pure Racing - Fixing the Mercedes G of Ingo Kaldarasch in the Camp. Thanx to Mercedes Holland and their emergency spares delivery they got the G fixed in the afternoon and where thus able to race the second race of the season on Sunday...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130316_RK_06113_web1200t.jpg

2. Race of the NK ORR (Sunday) - Ingo Kaldarasch flooring it at the start on Sunday morning...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06246_FB_web1200t.jpg

...and really pushes hard to catch up with his main rivals, Rick Aarts, Simon van der Velde and Arno Baauw...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06190_web1000t.jpg

...his strategy proved right and he managed to get ahead of them during Sundays four heats...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06182_web1200t.jpg

[Rallyewerk]

#13 - Ronald Schoolderman & Marcel Blankenstijn (Toyota ORD / 4x4 Centrum Ermelo) tried hard to catch up with Ingo´s G...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_00253_web1000t.jpg

...while Ingo Kaldarasch and Jule Haendschke raced a clean race...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06279_web1200t.jpg

http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06532_web1200t.jpg

...only to be arrested for "speeding in the race" by John, the event´s policeman, on their way to the price giving ...
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06607_SS_web1000t.jpg

Happy winners!!
http://www.wild-rhino-racing.com/Images/NK-ORR_Beachrace/20130317_RK_06631_web1200t.jpg

It´s been some very tough three years of work for the Pure Racing Team from Schwerin, Germany, and at times they even though about abandoning the G, because of all the problems they encountered after buying this "race-ready" car.
Luckily they didn´t as victory wouldn´t have felt this good, becoming the very first foreign team to win a race in the Dutch Offroad Rallye Championship and doing so with a Mercedes G!

The next races promise to be very interesting, as last years champion Rick Aarts (Bowler Wildcat) and Simon van der Velde (Land Rover Pro Truck) will step up the pressure to prevent Ingo Kaldarasch from winning another race.

The next race will be in Havelte (NL) from the 19th to 21st of April, 2013 and it´s going to be a 500 mile race with lap lengths of about 20 miles, thus involving a great amount of navigation, too.

In Havelte there will be an open class, too, so if you´re around and have a race ready, but not FIA spec car, why not join?

So long & greetings from the road,

Robert

[EightGear]

Can't wait for Havelte, very nice to see a motorsport event in my town again.

[Rallyewerk]

The Havelte 500 will be great if all comes together as planned.
I am very curious to see which teams will attend from outside Holland, especially in the "open" class, which will allow you to enter with non FIA spec cars, but also with SCORE cars or the new FIA T3.
The more come the better. Especially for me as it allows for more action shots (if am am in the right spot this time)

[Co-driven]

Everyone starts at the same time or it's like the Dakar where the crews start at 2-minute gap?

And no trucks are allowed? Holland has a strong field of trucks, right?

[Rallyewerk]

The start at the Beach race is by rows and then 60 seconds apart.
At the othe races you usually start after each other (each car is timed separately) and the gap usually is 30 seconds.

This national championship is only for cars. There are no SSV, moto or trucks allowed. I goes it´s partly because of logistics but also about permissions for land use and safety.

Some 15 years ago the series was kept alive by the commitment of 7 teams (the minimum in Holland to maintain a national championship) and now, there are more and more teams entering and it´s become really big.

Last weekend at the Beach Race a total of 30 teams showed up which stunned everybody and I guess with the introduction of the "Open"-Class in Havelte next month there will be quite a few newcomers checking to this race series.

You can enter in just about any car/4x4, but a great amount of attention is put on safety and personal safety (e.g. roll cages, safety cells, FIA spec overalls, helmets, shoes, H.A.N.S, etc.)

I am about to translate the dutch intro from their website and will post that tomorrow.

So long,

Robert

[MartijnS]

Never seen much or been to any of those offroad rallies in the Netherlands, but they seem like fun! Maybe try to fit one in our busy schedule later this year. Probably will be doing some Cross Country rallies this year for the first time though! :)