On 2 and 3 September EMMA the Netherlands organised the open Dutch championships for the EMMA ESPL (EMMA sound Pressure League) and Sound Quality competitions. A very tense edition this time, because this contest was for the participants the last possibility of qualifying for the European finals, who are kept on 22,.23 and 24 September in Bern, Switzerland. The place of action this time was party - and KartCentrum TRAXX at Uden. This was, thanks to the available space and the great ambiance, a great location for this event. On Saturday the ESPL contest was held. At this contest the participants must let their car audio installation produce as much decibels as possible. Furthermore the cars and their audio installations are judged on safety and styling by the jury. In the Amateur 1 class the fight was on between the golf from Erik Raijmakers of Team Goossens and the Corolla from Bram Stouthamer of Team audio system. The number of decibels that both cars can produce are very close to each other. However by scoring high points in the field of safety and styling Erik could take decisive lead. In the amateur 2 class we find the most fanatical ESPL participant of this year, Bas Rikken with its Getz. Beside the first price in this class he was awarded, because he was present this year on each contest and had a good score every time, the ESPL competitor or the year cup.

The very busy amateur 4 class was won by the Getz from Rob van Stappen. He's a member of the very fanatical and successful Audio System team. 1st the place in the amateur 8 class was for the very stylish BMW from Jeroen Pezarro. Very stylish because this BMW was the only car which could achieve the maximum score of 50 points on the safety and styling judging. Rob Meeuwissen has been very succesfull the whole season with his Seat Arosa. And now also he won the expert 8 class with supremacy. The new Ground Zero demo car of Elwin Leys however performed also very well. On the first competition it enters this car immediately takes the 2nd the place. Because the yellow Vito van Tommie and Astrid had some technical problems the 1st place in the expert unlimited class went unthreatened to the black fiat Tipo van Arno van Helmond and EdiJan Dilven. This did not keep them however from setting a monster score. No less than 151,2 Db came out of MTX audio installation.

Season 2005/2006 was the year with the rise of the car audio teams. More and more participants organise themselves in teams, supported by car audio shops and/or importers. The good thing of these teams are that members helping each other to improve their scores. And that they are supported in this by the industry is ofcourse a beautiful thing. EMMA the Netherlands appreciates these initiatives and rewarded the most successful ESPL team with the "best ESPL team of The Year" cup. Dave Gerichhausen took the cup in name of team Audio System. Sunday was the time for the Sound Quality competition game. At this competition the sound quality of the car audio installations is judged by the expert jury by careful listening to the EMMA cd. The installations are also judged by the installation judges. The Rookie 2000 class was a relatively easy prey for the superb classic VW Beetle from Maryke van Bussel. With supremacy she won this class. Henk van Deelen had to do a lot more effort with its Volvo V40 to become the first in the Rookie 4000 secure class. Only 3 points were the difference between him and the number 2, the Ford Mondeo van Jan van der Straten. Hilko ten Ouden took a very beautiful victory home with his very nice sounding installation in the Audi A3, in the Rookie unlimited class.

At the amateur 4000 class again we find a lady. Angelique however had settle with 2nd place in this class and leave the highest honor to the VW Polo of Mark Soppe. Mark is also a fanatical member of team Audio System. At the amateur sound only class Robert Davelaar did not succeed with his Nissan Sunny to defend its title of last year. The Nissan Primera from Edwin Schol (team Ice Factory) was just a bit too strong for him. In the amateur unlimited class GertJan van Doorn showed why according to him his Subaru must go to Bern to represent the Netherlands on the European Championship. A clear victory for him.

Anton Grutters (Ford Mondeo) and Richard Lapre (Honda Civic) are 2 experienced guys in the sound Quality world. The whole season they haven'tbeen on the competitions but they were working on their audio installations together worked. And this approach worked successfully, because Anton won the first place in the pro -600 class. And Richard did the same in the pro sound Only class. The third guy in this group of friends is already European Champion for the last 2 years in the pro Unlimited class. He showed that he's ready to become European champion for the third time in a row. 1st place in the pro Unlimited class and the cup for "best car or the show" were won at the Dutch finals. Ofcourse we are talking here about Rob van Stokkem with its red Opel Corsa.
It was unexpectedly busy in the expert sound only class. Dennis Snijders (team Pioneer) could however win the first place in this class and he will also represent the Netherlands on the European Finals. Also Dennis vlot (the man behind www.carlifestyle.nl) showed that his Audi a4 is entirely ready to take on the competition from all around Europe in the Multimedia Pro class. The multimedia amateur class was very exciting. The whole season this class was dominated by the red Porche from Rene Oenema. But Rinus van de Berkmortel (also known as Iron Man) has worked, together with team Goossens a lot on his Audi A3 in an ultimed attempt to bridge the difference with Rene. And successfully. With a small difference he could beat Rene. And besides that he also won the cup for "best install or the show" because he earned the most point from the installation judges, over all classes. In the multimedia amateur class there was another very special car to be seen. The very Mazda MX3 from Sander Janson. Sander still lacks the necessary experience with EMMA competitions. But his car, fitted with POLK equipment, has been very well built and has the potential to become very successful. In the pure passive class there was a surprise. Frank Reijnen didn't score well the last couple of contests with his VW golf. For this reason he had decided to take part of the finals together with his girlfriend Cindy and her car, a BMW E30 316i (the www.dancejewels.nl promo car). In spite of that audio installation in this car was only just finished, a good score was set. Only the classic Ascona from Frank Heinrichsbauer from Germany scored even better. Because this was acerns a Dutch championship, Frank Heinrichsbauer was the winner of this class, but Frank and Cindy can call themselves Dutch Champions. Like already clear from the report above, also in the Sound Quality contests the car audio teams have a increasing matter of importance. For this reason there was also "best SQ team or the year" cup to be awarded. Patrick (Better known as Zoef) was, to his big surprise, asked to take the cup on behalf of Team ICE Factory.

The finals are behind us therefore the competition for this year is over beyond. EMMA the Netherlands would like to say a big thanks to the sponsors. Audio System, Pioneer, www.carlifestyle.nl, DLS, www.akoestiekwinkel.nl, Ground Zero, Polk audio, Kenwood, Signat and Prografix have made it possible last year to have a successful, busy and especially fun EMMA competition. Furthermore big thank you goes to all volunteers who helped to make these competitions possible. The judges, the back office and all the people who help setting everything up before each competition. And of course also the participants, thank you for again a great EMMA season!
But before preparing for the next season, there are still 3 big events this year. On 22,.23 and 24 September the European EMMA finals are held in Bern, Switzerland. The Netherlands will be there with a large delegation, therefore come all to Bern to support these people. On 30 September the large Polder Event takes place in Krimpen aan de IJsel a ESPL competition will be held there. More information can be found on www.polderevent.nl/ On 14 and 15 October the big West Europe Cup will take place during the 100% Tuning fair in Ahoy, Rotterdam. Everyone can register themselves now for the sound Quality game on this great event on www.westeuropecup.nl
Look on www.emmanet.nl for all the results, more pictures and the latestnews.

On behalf of foundation EMMA the Netherlands, Frank Reijnen