assenholland

This years meeting at the famous TT circuit of Assen Holland was a rather cold one due to the hard wind and even a little rain. Marcel Anderssen was able to get almost the complete Iso range to show up. Several GT's, Grifo's MK1 and 2 and even a Fidia from German Iso collector Mr. Niederstadt. We even saw them in action on the circuit but speed was very limited because of constant and very irritating presence of safety cars in front, behind and in the middle of them and the other Italian sportscars on the track. The guys were having fun and the aggressive reactions of the safety marshals towards the drivers was a shame to see. What better sight than a Ferrari F40 at topspeed and at full throttle trough the corners? We could see this once and then the organization found it necessary to put a turtle Alfa in front of him at 50 mph. Stupid?

The Lamborghini Diablo and Countach folks are always nice to see. It looked like a scene from a B-version of the Godfather. I heard an other spectator say: here you have at least 700 years worth of jail time I don't know, not everybody looked like a Mafiosi. What I do know is that if you already don't fit into a Mercedes S-Type you should NOT buy a Diablo! There was guy so fat he could only steer the car with his elbow sticking out of the little window of his car. It looked like he was sitting inside a Dinky. He should have bought a Mercedes SL or so, more cabin space and please leave the "racing gloves" and bright yellow sweater at home next time.

I must say that the lamborghini Diablo and Countach were the most spectacular cars on the circuit. Their owners were pushing the cars to the limit. Until finding one of those safety idiots in their way (and then overtaking them). Yes, safety is going 50 mph with a little Alfa trying to block a Diablo which is going 150 mph. STUPID!!!

DeTomaso has always been one of my personal favorites. This Deauville must be one of the finest on the planet. The Pantera is still one of the best alternatives for a Ferrari for those who don't want to spend $20.000 on their engine every 50.000 km. A stock V8 will cost you little more than $3.000 and 400HP will cost you $3.000 more. And most important, they last forever.

Always good for a show are the drivers of the Ducati's, MV's and other Italian motorcycles. Again the organization tried to tell them via loudspeakers that speed would be limited to 30 mph!! Sure! Try 200 mph! What do you hear with a helmet on and sitting on a Ducati with its engine running? NOT A DAMN THING! And again those idiots with there safety cars. It was a shame they used Alfa's. Next time try a Lada or Trabant. Does the job much better.

Perhaps you thought this was all there was to say about the organization of this event. Well you're wrong. To make everything even worse they decided to send off a large (and completely empty!!!!!) gray touringcar and a white Rolls Royce with flowers on it into the field of Lamborghini's and other sportscars. It looked like a promotion tour for the local bordello. The gray bus was perhaps intended for transportation of potential customers? What a mess!

An other thing the organization had prepared for the spectators was the possibility to go around the circuit in an Iso, Ferrari, Lamborghini or Maserati. A great idea! For only $12 in a real Italian sportscar. I don't know what happened but it seemed a great part of the drivers didn't know about this "great idea". A little boy tried to get into a Diablo but the simpatico German driver kicked him out. One of the stewards tried to stop a Ferrari but the owner "didn't see him". At last an Espada with 4 guys in it did stop and the owner said he was prepared to take someone in rear seat. It was frustrating for both drivers and spectators.