DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
Sometimes I close my eyes and envision the “old days” of driving. The lack of comfort, the blowing wind, dirt all over the car after a drive in the country side, the smell of oil and the sound of big-cylinder engines. What a special feeling it must have been to “fly” on the roads, feel the wind, hear the sound and feel free. Yes, at Deployant we are passionate about other things than watches. Even more so when there is a connection with watches. Beautiful cars and watches are often seen together. Most events are (co-)sponsored by one of the well-known watch brands. Among the major classic car events, the Zoute Grand Prix has earned a special place. The rally belongs to the premier and advanced rally events – together with the Paris-Dakar, Mille Miglia and the Tulpenrally. You will see cars that you may never have seen in your life. In this article we’ll give you a flavour of this famous event. Obviously we did some watch-spotting as well .
The Zoute Grand Prix® 2017
The Zoute Grand Prix® offers a unique mix of classic and modern cars as well as competitive driving and casual driving. It includes five major activities: the Zoute Concours d’Elegance, the Zoute Sale, the Zoute Top Marques, the Zoute GT Tour and the Zoute Rally, each sponsored by different companies.
The Zoute Grand Prix Rally®
The Zoute Rally isn’t your casual, I-have-all-day type of rally, not even for participants of the Ballad (the non-competitive part of the rally). The cars have to pass rigorous tests to be able to participate. You have to be a skilled driver or navigator to be able to compete in the pace-based race, called “regularity rally”. Time, or more precisely pace, is a vital criterium next to driving the correct roads and getting your marks at the checkpoints. Everyone is able to understand a tulip diagram for navigation, but while driving it is not always clear if a road is a paved road, what the sign is, etceteras. Traffic lights, tractors and other traffic slow cars down requiring drivers to drive quite fast on some tracks where faster driving is allowed. A tracking device monitors position and average speed.
The race consists of a regularity (competing) race and a ballad. Only cars first registered between 1920 and 1965 are allowed to participate. The Ballad allows participants to choose their own pace and enjoy the view. The Ballad follow a shorter road in the same region as the rally drivers. The participation fee is a barrier to ensure only the passionate participate. Do not think that drivers spare their cars. In fact, they drive their cars to the limits in corners and on the small roads. The bumps could easily transform the car into an airplane. For a short while of course.
The drivers leave the boulevard one by one with intervals of a couple of minutes:
Besides breaks […]
The post Deployant Event: The Zoute Grand Prix® 2017 appeared first on DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles.
Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Peter Nievaart
from Best Watches For Men http://ift.tt/2zvWkw4