Good Evening Jan,

It was good to catch up with you and others on this years Coppa Rally. Thanks to you and the Coppa team Rudi, Rene and no doubt many others, for staging another successful and enjoyable event. I think this year you managed to secure some well located hotels and the standard of room and food was excellent and at a similar cost to 2023 which cannot have been easy. The rooms in Pforzheim were particularly luxurious.
I think you know our concerns about day one and its length and complexity.We understand this was raised by several entrants and we were pleased to note the Coppa team acknowledged this at the awards ceremony and we look forward to something a little less taxing next year! I would like to say that although day one was a challenge for us, it did not stop us enjoying days 2 &3 and the event overall. We particularly enjoyed the forest roads and the Alpine climbs and your unique solution to timing on the regularities was a very refreshing alternative approach.
Norden and I enjoyed our return trip from Bad Gogging to the UK. We visited the BMW Museum in Munich and then had an enjoyable evening in Bamberg, north east of Nuremberg before heading north to Bad Sassondorf where we stayed last year and then onto Rotterdam Europort.
I think maybe you were aware that some of the UK entrants, either due to a lack of understanding and /or practice were somewhat critical of aspects of the event. However, everyone did enjoy the hospitality and camaraderie provided by organisers and other entrants, something some events often fail to achieve in the UK. Perhaps some of my fellow UK competitors need to review the type of car and equipment required for 3000+ km and be more open in their outlook enabling them to enjoy more of what the Coppa and Europe has to offer. You and the Coppa team have found a formula that is competitive, safe, enjoyable and affordable; qualities that many events in the UK fail to deliver.
As usual I will produce a short editorial for our HRCR magazine …. DGS Photography were not present this year. Was there another photograph partner?
Meanwhile Norden and I wish you an enjoyable summer, take care, kind regards and very many thanks…….. Hopefully see you in 2025!
David