Chapter 1081 Zandvoort Circuit

More than half a month later, in the Dutch seaside town of Zandvoort, a group of people were pointing and gesturing at a car on the side of the road.

The Spyker D12 is the world's top luxury SUV and the pride of the Dutch. There's a local saying: If you can see an SUV nipping at the heels of a Ferrari at high speed, it's definitely a Spyker D12.

Why are they looking at this Spyker D12? It’s not that they are surprised by it, but this car is... too dirty!

They couldn't imagine what had happened to the car.

It is even more speechless to look at it from the car window; Xiao Peng described the Spyker D12 as "ugly but cute". Let's not talk about the appearance for now. The key is that the interior of this car is hand-crafted according to customer requirements.

The interior of Carl's car is light yellow, which would be called "rich gold" in China. Combined with the bright silver panel and gear lever, it looks more like the nostalgic color of an old aircraft, and it is all wrapped in leather. It turns out that this car is famous for its exquisiteness, elegance and luxury.

And now? It's filled with all sorts of things, all famous Dutch souvenirs: wooden shoes, cheese, windmills, accordions, tulip bulbs and so on.

This car has double doors: the front door opens like an ordinary car, and the rear door opens from front to back. There are no door pillars between the two doors. Now it feels like everything inside will fall out as soon as the door is opened.

You treat such a nice car as a truck? They really want to know what kind of person can do such a heartless thing!

Of course, Xiao Peng is driving this car!

This is also related to his experience in Africa: This is Carl's car, and he wanted to take good care of it at first, but soon he let himself go: at worst, wouldn't it be enough to give him a new car?

After his trip to Africa, the word "car lover" has completely disappeared from his mind.

Xiao Peng went to Leeuwarden as he wished, and laid flowers on Mata Hari's grave as he wished.

In fact, that tomb is also a "cenote". After Mata Hari was executed, her body was not claimed by anyone and was finally sent to a medical school for medical purposes, such as dissection and medical students' practice. Later, her head was chopped off and kept in the Anatolian Museum in Paris as an exhibit. However, in 2000, her head was found missing.

There is a saying that the head was actually lost when the museum moved in 1954, but no one found it.

Come to think of it, who would go to a museum to see a dead person's head for no reason?

Although Mata Hari was once labeled a "traitor," the Mata Hari Museum in Leeuwarden portrays her in a different light: a pioneer in the struggle against male hegemony. Even France, where she was executed, produced a historical drama to "vindicate" her. Xiao Peng is grateful to her. If he hadn't discovered Mata Hari's jewelry and other relics, his path to prosperity would likely have been much later.

As a human being, you should be grateful!

He is in Zandvoort now, partly because it is on the route from Leeuwarden back to The Hague, and partly because he wants to visit the Zandvoort Circuit - a place well worth a visit.

When talking about world-famous racetracks, racing fans will first think of the Silverstone Circuit in the UK, the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany, the Circuit de Catalunya, the Le Mans Circuit in Monaco, the Indianapolis Oval, the "Up" Circuit, etc. In fact, decades ago, the Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands cannot be ignored.

The Netherlands is also a country where motorsport is very popular, and the Zandvoort Circuit is a good example of this.

Zandvoort is also a historic racetrack. Both it and the Silverstone Circuit in the UK were established in 1948, but Zandvoort is actually more popular. Silverstone was originally an airport, making the surface more suitable for racing, while Zandvoort is made up of the original track and road in the surrounding sand dunes, making it more exciting.

Since 1952, Zandvoort Car Park has been one of the F1 race tracks. It hosted more than 30 F1 Grand Prix until the 1980s, and the annual Dutch Grand Prix is held here.

But 35 years ago, the circuit withdrew from F1 racing. The reason was somewhat unfortunate: local residents protested, arguing that building a circuit there would be too damaging to the environment and that foreign tourists would cause public safety issues. After much turmoil, the Zandvoort Circuit closed! The once-mecca of racing vanished from the F1 scene.

During this period, the Zandvoort Circuit underwent extensive renovations, reopening in 1989 as Circuit Park Zandvoort. However, due to persistent protests from local residents, the venue was reduced to hosting small domestic races. Even in the 21st century, when the circuit evolved into a super circuit capable of hosting major international events, it remained primarily a regional Formula 3 venue, essentially a venue for smaller races.

The reason for all this change is just one person: Dutch racing driver Verstappen.

This Dutch racing driver, who was born in Belgium, represented Toro Rosso in the F1 event in 2015. At the age of 17 years and 166 days, he became the youngest racing driver in F1 history. At the age of 17 years and 180 days, he became the youngest driver to score points in F1 history. Since 2016, he has represented Toro Rosso and won the Spanish Grand Prix. At the age of 18 years and 227 days, he became the youngest race winner in F1 history. The second place is German driver Sebastian Vettel at the age of 21 years and 73 days. These records are basically impossible to surpass.

Verstappen's emergence reignited the Dutch people's passion for racing, and after a 35-year absence, the Zandvoort Circuit returned to the F1 race.

Racers who race here describe it as "weird," "old-school," and "crazy," which are undoubtedly positive words for the sport of racing.

Xiao Peng's Citroën racing car was shipped back to China, but as a man, he is full of natural passion for machinery and speed. How can he not come here to "worship" when he comes here?

There's also an F3 driving experience where you can get your Formula One driver's license. Once you pass the test, you can take the wheel of the F3 car provided by the circuit for a few laps. Xiao Peng, who had never driven a Formula One car before, couldn't miss such an opportunity. He parked his car there to sign up for F3 driver training!

To be honest, the registration fee is really not cheap, but for Xiao Peng it is really a drop in the bucket.