F-Register’s next stop will be this year’s Italia a Zandvoort
What a pleasure it is to get used to an event – and –on the other hand- never get used to it. Italia a Zandvoort is something like that. One wakes up in the morning and the first glimpse out of the window and attention on the weather, what usually is useless. Draped in clouds becomes a very unique explanation when you are on the shores. We missed the 2012 edition due to a mismanagement of our schedule, but the only thing we missed was the only edition we know that was nearly flooded. At all other visits at Zandvoort the skies brightened up as soon as we came nearer to the Circuit Park after enjoying the very special Dutch breakfast with toast, hagelslag and scrambled eggs that always come with a light sweet taste.
Coming nearer to the Circuit Park is very special as well. If you come from the South, as we do, as we always stay in Noordwijk overnight, it always feels like an outing – until you reach the fuel station on Van Lennepweg and the roundabout shortly afterwards. From this point, one has to have patience for the final few hundred meters. An unbelievable motorcade until every car get sorted for the parking lots, a press ticket is worth nothing to make it quicker – bear in mind, it’s before 10 am in the morning and it looks like none of the Dutch wants to miss Italia a Zandvoort, 250 GTE and Alfa GTV are cueing together with small Toyotas and Opels.
Once one has entered the Circuit Park it gets time to pick up those Ferraris that will not participate in the popular free laps: Blekemolen’s race cars – his venue is close to the circuit, Kroymans’ official dealer display.
With the rest one pauses as the Ferraris that visit Italia a Zandvoort are wild and impatient to be released with their owners for the free laps. After the first set and when the field has settled, the archiving can start and has to be finished before the second hack in early afternoon. Meanwhile – the Dutch are flooding the venue where the Ferraris are parked, looks like a multiple family trip and it becomes harder and harder taking a good shot of every Pracing Horse, but patience pays off and the nearest thing to a nervous breakdown is forgotten when one drives home again – regarding the speed limits on Dutch highways…