Grand Prix hopes for Zandvoort

Zandvoort, the seaside venue which hosted the Dutch GP from 1952-85, has regained an F1 testing licence, raising hopes that the Netherlands might soon be able to reclaim its place on the World Championship calendar.

Current points leader Eddie Irvine and team mate Mika Salo demonstrated their Ferrari Formula One cars at the Marlboro Masters Formula 3 meeting on August 7/8, boosting a huge attendance.

Carved into the dunes in the late 1940s, the original 2.65-mile circuit was the wonderfully challenging stage for BRM’s first GP win in 1959 and the debut victory of the Ford Cosworth DFV in Jimmy Clark’s Lotus 49 in 1967.

Zandvoort, like many of its contemporaries, also had its black side, with the deaths in fiery accidents of Britons Piers Courage in the 1970 Grand Prix and, needlessly, Roger Williamson in the 1973 race. Tragic wastes both. Following the loss of its money-spinner, the track was broke by 1988. The town took it over, resurrecting it as a short circuit in ’89, but a recent medium-length revision has restored much of Zandvoort’s character. And hope…