At the weekend a private
Alfa Romeo Day was held at the Paul Ricard HTTT
circuit which was jointly organised by the brand's
seventeen official dealers from the south east of France
and which saw no less than 150 of its cars testing on
the famous former Formula 1 track.
The Alfa Romeo France dealers (from Cannes, Fréjus,
Toulon, Perpignan, Marseille, Aix, Vitrolles, Manosque,
Montélimar, Arles, Salon, Monaco, Aubenas, Carcassonne,
Béziers, Narbonne and Valence) invited their customers
to take their cars onto the reborn test track to take
advantage of its demanding characteristics as well as
the comfort of its high safety standards.
The Alfa Romeo Day
turned into a stunning occasion for owners to take their
cars onto track located at Le Castellet, near the
southern city of Marseille, and interact with fellow
Alfisti. In the event 150 cars took to the circuit
and around 300 people joined the day's proceedings.
Owners of present day models, such as the MiTo and
Giulietta, were able to blood their cars in a race track
environment. Also taking part was the dramatic 4.7-litre
V8-engined 8C Competizione sports car, with no less than
five examples being seen in action on the straights and
curves of the 5.8 km long
circuit which played host on a regular basis to the
French Grand Prix until 1990.
Paul Ricard opened in
1970 and became of the the world's most important and
well-known circuits for the next two decades. After
Magny-Cours became the permanent home to the French
Grand Prix it saw little use and was later revived as a
"high-tech" test track, hence the name HTTT (High Tech
Test Track). It features two stage run-offs: the blue
sections use a special mix of asphalt and tungsten in
place of traditional gravel which then lead into the
more abrasive red zone which will degrade a car's tyres.
There are high impact absorbing TecPro barriers instead
of conventional steel systems.
Visitors were also
able to test drive the brand's latest models, including
the Giulietta, thanks to the presence of the Alfa
Romeo Test Drive Tour. Older cars to stand out
included the Montreal, Giulietta Spider and Alfetta GTV.
