The sound of roaring engines, that’s what most spectators come to the ELE Rally this Friday and Saturday. “The hard sound, we enjoy that.”
Jens Helsloot (11) and Guus Berkers (10) from Beek en Donk take plenty of pictures of the cars on Friday evening at the start stage, which start every minute. “The loud sound is the most beautiful, that gives a kick,” says Guus. “It’s also nice to see the cars clean at first and very dirty at the end of the rally.” His boyfriend nods. “I think it’s cool when they go through the corners and very hard on the straights.”
“Nice to have the cars very, very dirty.”
The sound of the rally cars is also why Django Tonnaer is at the start. “I’m glad there are no electric cars this year, then the experience is less,” said the 14-year-old Eindhoven resident. Together with grandpa Theo, he volunteers at the trial in Sint-Oedenrode on Saturday. “When I was 12 years old, I was allowed to ride in the front drive car for my birthday. When I’m 16, I want to be a marshal. Hopefully I can ride along as a driver myself in the future.”
Grandpa Theo has been ‘infected’ with the rally virus by his daughter. Miranda is active in the control center, Theo is not only a volunteer but also an attentive observer. “Right in front of you, the cars pass with a lot of noise and at high speed. The drivers provide a spectacle, we like that. In previous editions, a tree was sometimes driven out of the ground. Of course I don’t hope for accidents, but it can be fanatical about it.”
“Sometimes a tree was driven out of the ground.”
Theo does have a tip for visitors who visit the rally in the dark on Friday or Saturday evening. “I was advised to bring sunglasses, but I thought that was nonsense. Until I looked into the headlights of those cars, they are really huge construction lights. You can still enjoy them for a while.”
