Bennie contacted me years ago, because he had heard about my collection from a friend. Being a collector himself of mainly motorcycle racing statistics and information, he told me he had some programmes for me and invited me to visit and talk racing. Bennie had been involved in racing for decades already, as an official for the famous International races in Tubbergen, official in organising Grand Prix, providing statistics for several books on racing, you name it. Over the years we met a lot and soon as a new programme was added to my collection, within a day I would receive a phonecall from Bennie, having checked my latest additions. Especially if older Grand Prix programmes were involved, telephone conversations were long, as Bennie always liked to compare riderslists and notes line by line with his own data. So that's how we helped each other. Because of all his contacts in international roadracing organisations, Bennie was able to get me a Motogp Paddockpass for the Dutch TT almost each year. During events at Assen we always met in the mediaroom and exchanged the latest racing information and regularly I visited Tubbergen where we would talk all day about the latest achievements in our collections, motorcycle racing and daily life. Above all Bennie was a modest, decent and honest man, always willing to help organizations, teams and other people.

Bennie will be sadly missed.

Characteristic: Bennie working on his statistics in the pressroom at the Dutch Open season finals at Assen, october 4 2009.