Dodge RAM parade sets world record at TT Circuit: ‘I couldn’t imagine this’

There was little left in his voice, adrenaline took over and he could not swallow the bite. But according to Ria Bijvelds, it was all worth it. Yesterday he organized a parade of Dodge RAM trucks at the TT Circuit in Assen for the Guinness Book of Records. It resulted in an official world record.

Finally, 761 pickers marched around the Asser race yesterday afternoon, breaking the record of 451 set in Arlington (Texas, USA) in 2015. A day later, Bijvelds is beaming from ear to ear. “No expense spared, no damage and everything went smoothly. What more could you want?”

He thinks the best part is that a small country like the Netherlands has managed to take the world record from the United States, the country where the Dodge RAM is produced. “That makes this world record very special,” says Bijvelds. “But we won’t do this again next year, we’re not that crazy.”

The daughter of a garage owner was born with a love of cars in Erp, Brabant, where she was once asked if her garage could also import cars. “That was a 1986 Dodge Charger,” he recalls. We will arrange that for you, he said. After one Dodge, another followed. “And so the love grew,” he explains.

The Brabant garage owner is now an official RAM dealer. “That involves a lot of trust,” he knows. Not least because the Dodge RAM is not an average car. “That’s where my strength lies and that also led to the record attempt in Assen. With the help of social media, the circuit was full of RAM trucks.”

World record attempt organizer or not, Bijvelds won’t give a penny. All proceeds flow to American Sunday, which often organizes car events at the TT Circuit. But that doesn’t bother him. “The solidarity of all the RAM people, that’s what I followed. All that enthusiasm was contagious. I couldn’t imagine in advance that it would happen like this.”

The logical consequence of that record is that the Americans have already set their sights on revenge. Bijvelds laughs about it: “Just let them come,” he decides.