The weekend of 19/20th June saw the 14th “Italia a Zandvoort” take place at the beautiful Dutch circuit in the dunes by the North Sea. It’s a shame that every year this event is a little less interesting, despite the organizers doing their utmost to present a worthy event for the competitors, spectators and enthusiasts.

However, one of the things the organizers can’t do anything about is the Dutch weather! It’s always a “wild card” that can spoil the fun for everyone. Imagine Papa taking his small son to see the wonderful Italian exotica, but they can’t see anything because the rain is lashing in their faces and the lad is crying to go home to his Mama! This year the weather forecast was bad, but in the end we had some rain and the rest of the day a bright sun in a cloudy sky, but that’s the luck of the draw at Zandvoort, there’s every possibility that a shower of rain will blow over – or not. On Sunday the day started with some rain, but was dry for the racing.

So what did the organizers bring us on these two days? Well first there was the Pirelli Maranello Ferrari Challenge. Next there was the Alfa Romeo Challenge, the Pearle Alfa 147 GTA Challenge and in between all sorts of groups driving round the track, like Lamborghinis, Maseratis (90 years thereof) and Historic Italian Cars.

On Saturday there wasn't much racing in the Pirelli Maranello Challenge. The cars went round and round and didn’t come close to one another, except at the start. The most exciting event in the race was Sowerby’s spin, though another car did catch fire. Sunday’s race wasn’t much different; no real competition and the F355s couldn’t catch up with the 360s at all.

In contrast, the Alfa races were really exciting on both days with loads of action; fights throughout the field with all sorts of pushing and shoving going on, but fortunately no serious damage. One Alfa race was stopped due to oil on the track and I wonder if this had anything to do with the driver of a Ferrari F40 losing it in the Tarzan Curve on a track demonstration. However, the combination of a turbo-charged 500hp V8, over-excitement and no race experience doesn’t normally need any help!

Off-track, there were a remarkable number of merchandisers present and also stalls displaying car tuning, car sound systems, cleaning stuff, parts and other goodies. Then there were the enthusiasts’ clubs, ranging from Fiat 500 to Lamborghinis with special features of everything and anything Italian - Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Ducati, Spaghetti, Bugatti (French surely – Ed) sometimes decorated by a few beautiful girls.

The paddock at the back of the circuit was filled with classic and modern Ferraris. There were some very nice cars; like the 250 GT Europa Pinin Farina Coupe series II (s/n 0365GT) and the same owner also brought his 250 TR Spider Scaglietti (used s/n 0720TR). There were three F40s and five Testarossas which always attract great attention from the spectators, a 512BBi, 365 and 330 and a 250 Spider; all well-known on the Ferrari scene in Holland and always nice to see at any event.

On a serious note, in my opinion there were too many people in the pit-lane at the starts and during the races. It was in nobody's interest and there was more than enough to see in the paddock

I enjoyed myself this event and won’t miss the next one. Let’s hope that next year’s event includes series’ like the Historic Challenge, for example, so there’s even more action from our beloved marque!

© 2004 – ‘nJoy Photography - Henk J. Brouwer