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NCRS Dutch Chapter News
On the 13th on June it was finally the time, the Dutch Chapter departed to Le-Mans. At 5:45 am the first Dutch Corvette (C2 of Mike and Benno) departed from Noord-Holland to unite themselves with the C1 of Sander and Rene in the city of Zaandam. After 1 hour drive they arrived near Breukelen were the C3 of Rob and the C5-ZO6 of Erik and Andrea joined. After a short stop in Maarssen , where Han stepped into the C3 of Rob, we continued our journey in the direction of the Belgian border. Around the city of Breda Jan and his C1 joined and the Dutch Chapter convoy was complete.
The drive through Belgium ran smooth untill the C2 of Mike started to show some signs of engine overheating. After a short cool down and a refill of a considerable amount of cooling liquid (12 liters) the journey continued in the direction of Boulogne where our friends of the UK chapter where waiting for us. From the UK chapter 4 vettes and 1 MPV with the US NCRS Judges (Jack, Garry and Steve) joined and alltogether we drove further south.
After a nice night in Neufchatel the 14th was about driving a road tour through France. The road tour which was organized by our UK friends brought us through the scenic country side of France with as end-destination our Bed & Breakfast in Parcay-Les-Pins, about 40 KM south of Le-Mans.
On the 15th the cars of Sander and Rob underwent an official NCRS judging process and all in all the Dutch Chapter was satisfied to achieve a Second Flight (C1) and Top Flight (C3) status for the cars.
Friday the 16th we drove for the first time towards the circuit. The cosy chaos around the track made it happen that a part of the convoy lost track and with a detour we managed to arrive to Camp Corvette. After some walking around we drove back in the evening. In Arnage some of us enjoyed the incredible atmosphere where the big block of Rob and prototype C2 of our British friend Chris where eye-catchers. The rumbling sound of their typical V8's made the crowd located on the many terasses go wild.
Saturday was THE day and the race kicked off at 5 PM. Under the enjoyment of some beers and a nice barbeque organized by GM we enjoyed the race and made many new friends till late night.
The race was eventually won by the Audi diesels in the LMP class and CORVETTE in the GT1 segment. This victory was celebrated on sunday evening together with the drivers. On Sunday and Monday 2 groups of Dutch members arrived safely back in The Netherlands.
Flight 2006 to Le-Mans was a great success during which many new friends were met and a solid foundation was constructed for a further cooperation between the Dutch and UK NCRS chapters. Next year there will be definately a Flight 2007.
Click here to see a photo impression of this event.
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