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IN TOUCH IN TUNE

2018 Formula 1 Pirelli French Grand Prix – Race – Sunday 24 June

The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team back in the points with Charles Leclerc in P10, and Marcus Ericsson in P13

It was a good French Grand Prix weekend for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, with Charles Leclerc finishing in P10 (1 point), and Marcus Ericsson in P13. In an eventful start to the race, Marcus Ericsson skilfully evaded an incident on track, gaining several positions during the opening lap. Charles Leclerc also progressed well, showing consistent and strong pace over the course of race. Both drivers did an excellent job in fighting with their rivals and de- fending their positions today. With another point to add to its tally, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team now heads to Spielberg to take part in the second of the three back-to-back races – the Austrian Grand Prix. For the third time in a row, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team per- formed the fastest pit stop of all teams.

The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team currently holds 9th place in the Constructors’ Champion- ship. In the Drivers’ Championship, Charles Leclerc is in P14 (11 points), while Marcus Er- icsson is in P17 (2 points).

Marcus Ericsson (car number 9): I am quite happy with my race. It was a tough weekend, and having started after only running in FP1 and qualifying, we did a good job in getting on the pace during the race. I made a good start and I was able to evade the incident on the first lap and to gain positions. After that, I struggled with the balance of the car and didn’t advance as well as we hoped to. In the second half of the race, the car felt much better and things were running more smoothly. The tyres were working better, and I closed the gap to the competitors ahead. We also had a very fast pit stop again. Now, we have to make sure that we understand what happened at the beginning of the race and come back even strong- er in Austria next week.”

Charles Leclerc (car number 16): “Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome of this weekend. I had a great qualifying result yesterday, and felt confident in the car. Having scored another point for the team during the race today feels great. It was fun to drive, and I had some good fights with the drivers around me. We are moving in a positive direction, and improving our performance week by week. I really look forward to seeing what is possible next weekend.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal:

“It has been a positive weekend for us. We had good pace in qualifying, and increased our pace step by step. Today, both of our drivers fought in the midfield during the race, and we are making good progress as a team. It is important for us to keep pushing and stay in the fight with our direct competition in the races ahead. We feel confident for the next Grand Prix in Austria.” IN TOUCH IN TUNE

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Back in 1984, an Alfa Romeo was the “fastest locally produced car” sold in South Africa. It was of course, the Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0, and it was a result of a collabora- tion between Alfa Romeo SA and Autodelta, the Italian firm's competition arm, and Alfa Italy. The fierce on track rivalry between BMW and Alfa, forced the Italian au- tomaker to create this “limited edition” model. Originally, Alfa’s GTV6 2.5 went up against the BMW 535i, but with a much smaller motor, and far less power, it could- n’t match the Bavarian. Alfa figured than an extra 500cc would do the trick, and make them more competitive. It did, winning its debut race at Kyalami in 1983, and followed that with a stunning 1-2 in the Group One class of the Castro Three-hour race at Killarney. But the secret to its success was its powerplant, and the story behind it. Alfa Romeo SA imported the cylinder head casting, crankshaft, special pistons and sleeves from Autodelta - the components required for a capacity change and had larger valves made in Italy to South African specifications. Every- thing else was done in this country - including the machining of both block and cylinder head. Alfa’s aim was low and mid-range torque instead of top end grunt, as aggressive acceleration out of corners was what they sought. The EFI of the 2.5 motor was binned in favour of six Dellorto RFP40 carburettors. The carbs were already being used on the Alfa Six sedan, but were rechoked and rejetted to suit the larger capacity and bigger valves. The bore and stroke were increased from 88 x 68,3mm to 93 x 72mm, yielding a total displacement of 2934cm3. As a result, power jumped from 118kw and 213nm to 128kw and 222nm. While the 3.0 improved on the 2.5’s 0-100kph time of 10.8 seconds to 8.36, it was still slightly off the 535i’s time of 7.9 seconds. They were a dead head in the standing kilometre, both completing the sprint in 29.3 seconds, however its top speed of 224.2kph shaded the big Bimmer’s 220.7kph – but it needed its rev limiter shifted from 6,500 to 7,000rpm in order to achieve it. Where this motor scored though – especially on track – was how it combined its enormous reserves of power with docile tractability – which made it an ex- ceptional cruiser in the real world. The five-speed rear-mounted overdrive trans- axle retained standard ratios, including the 4.1 to 1 final drive, but because the car was lower, and used wider and lower profile tyres, the overall gearing was lower. This combined with a superior power-to-weight ratio (up from 97.2 W/kg to 112.5W/ kg) was the reason why it was so strong on acceleration. Its brakes were said to be superb, running 269mm vented discs up front, and solid discs at the rear. One of the greatest strengths of the GTV6’s chassis, was the feedback it gave the driver. Its wide track and low stance gave a sense of immense stability and grip, as the driver sought to find its limits. Everything from the powertrain – to the steering – to the suspension worked in perfect harmony to give a truly special and satisfying experience behind the wheel. It was easily distinguished by the aggressive power bulge on the bonnet, deeper front spoiler (which lowered radiator temperature by as much as 5 degrees Celsius), 15-inch Compomotive Wheels, and red striping on the bumpers and side mouldings, whilst the interior had a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and RECARO seats covered in Italian velvet. All of these, together with its low, road-hugging stance conspired to give it the look of a proper race car. To race in Group One, Alfa Romeo had to homologate the model by building at least 200 ex- amples, and this was done from 1983 to 1985, with it carrying a price tag of R29 495. These days expect to pay up to R200 000 for a clean 3.0. Thankfully, ALFA RO- MEO has kept its V6 tradition alive to this day, with its Giulia Quadrifoglio Verde su- per sedan.

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Italian Carabinieri takes delivery of liveried Jeep® Wrangler

IN TOUCH IN TUNE

Three-hundred and sixty-five Pandas welcome Panda Waze – It’s a record!

The second edition of "Panda a Pandino", the international gathering of Panda owners from all across Europe - from Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, the UK and Austria - took place on June 24. 365 Panda’s met up in Pandino breaking all records and making this the biggest Panda gathering in the world.

Guest of honour was the new Panda Waze, the most socially connected Panda ever, and rather aptly, one could say, since this event came into fruition on social media. The original idea started as little more than a joke in 2017 when a young Panda owner from the south of Italy announced on Facebook her intention to drive with her friends in their little car - popularly known as "Pandino" in Italian - to the town in the north of the country of the same name. And word of mouth, typical of the social media chan- nels, saw to the rest. On 18 June 2017, the official date of the first edition, more than 200 past and present Fiat Panda cars turned up, from all over Italy.

The Panda Waze is the most socially connected Panda ever, firmly in line with the gen- uine core of the Fiat model's mission to make the smartest solutions, which simplify and improve life at the wheel, affordable for all. As well as being the first city car with 4WD (1983), the Panda was also the first car in its segment to win the coveted "Car of the Year" title (2004), and in the same year, it was also the first city car to climb to an altitude of 5,200 metres to the Everest base camp. The long series of records contin- ued in 2006 when Fiat Panda became the first natural gas fuelled city car to be mass produced. In 2013 it was the first car in its class to introduce an "autonomous city braking" function. And today it is the first city car to proudly display the Waze name and integrating the functions of the app in its infotainment system.

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Fiat 500 Lego! Help us to make this dream come true! Hello Fiat Club Africa!

I'm Gabriele Zannotti from Italy and I'm a 25 years old "Cinquecentista" (my dad and me own a 1968 500 F) and we are part of the big family of Fiat 500 Club Italia.

I'm trying to contact every local and international 500 club president to show a project I'm working on: maybe you have already seen it on the web or in a "4PiccoleRuote" arti- cle by some months ago.

The project - Lego FIAT 500

Two of my great passions are Fiat 500 and Lego bricks. I asked myself: why you can build iconic cars like Mini Cooper, VW Beetle or VW T2 but nobody but nobody has yet thought about the most iconic Italian car, our dear "Cinquino"?!

So I decided, with the help of my Austrian friend Felix (really talented builder), to make honor to Fiat 500 and show the project to Lego! How to make this project come true?

To ensure that this project can arrive on the table of the famous Danish company we have started a campaign a dedicated website called Lego Ideas: We need 10,000 sup- porters! We have collected almost 8,800 votes, but now the time to reach the goal is about to expire! Deadline is October 2018. We have to collect the missing signatures (about 1,200), so we need every 500 fan's help!

To support the project:  sign in on ideas.lego.com  Open the project page (this one) and click on the Support button!

 Just answer to 3 questions (it's just a fast survey about the project) and that's it! Another vote to make this 500 Lego come true!!

IN TOUCH IN TUNE

Port-Louis, June 21, 2018 - A brand new automobile showroom officially takes up residence today at Route Militaire, Roche Bois. The Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Fiat brands manufactured by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and marketed in Mauri- tius by ABC Autotech are now deployed in this new state-of-the-art space. The building was inaugurated by Kobita Jugnauth and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Consumer Protection, Ashit Gungah, in the presence of many guests including Jason Knight of FCA SA.

The ABC Autotech showroom offers an Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Fiat experience in a modern, spacious environment that lives up to the elegance that characterizes these brands. The subdued universe of the interiors gives the same feeling of sweetness that makes feel the conduct of these Italian and American vintage ac- cents but looking resolutely turned towards the future.

"Car showrooms specific to origins and brands are very trendy, and our ambition is to invest heavily in them to stand out in the market," says ABC Automobile Execu- tive Director. The new building, whose large picture windows follow the contours of the entrance to the Military Road, was erected on an old car park next to the head- quarters of ABC Motors. "This district of Roche Bois, which saw the birth of our brand, more than thirty years ago, has given us so much. And this new showroom looks good and is a heritage in a local community where we are committed to con- tinuing our history and commitment, "says Dean Ah-Chuen.

For the purposes of logistics operations, the building is equipped with an elevator car for vehicles connecting the basement to the second level of the showroom. The parking space provides for 104 cars including 70 in the basement. ABC Autotech Building also includes a BPO center that will provide car concierge services to customers including reservations and appointments, and will support the ABC Drive Card loyalty program and 24/7 car assistance.

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CENTURY CITY AND DRIVE FOR HOPE CAMPAIGN

Century City hosted 21 children from the Home Of Hope at their dealership last Sat- urday. The children were treated to a 4x4 experience at the Jeep adventure track followed by a magic show in the dealership. A fun day was had by all with face- painting, popcorn and boerewors rolls. The Jeep Club supported this special day by tak- ing the children for rides in their Jeeps on the 4x4 track. To add to this, we are also doing a food drive for the Home of Hope Charity. Along with the Jeep Club we are hoping to fill a Ducato with non- perishable food items for this charity and bring much needed care, love and hope to our fellow South Africans desperately in need this Winter. IN TOUCH IN TUNE

IN TOUCH IN TUNE

Some Simple, Fun & Cost Effective Ideas That You Could Implement Within Your Dealerships To Create More Footfall

Just a couple of ideas that might trigger some activations:

 Evening Experience—Coffee and Chocolate Pairing Experience—hosted in your dealership

 Bringing in a master chef and host a cooking class within your dealership—lots of fun and

laughs

 Women’s Month is coming up so how about hosting a self-defence course for women in

your dealership  Defensive driving course for women

 Financial Talk evening for Executives—you could think of using the likes of Wesbank for this or the likes of David Shapiro

Or this  Chocolatier Experience—who does not like chocolate—you can do this at your dealership or incorporate this in a ride and drive event

 Breakfast runs

 Live radio broadcasts from your dealership

 Hosting an F1 event—invite customers to join you in your dealership to watch one of the F1 events on the big screen

 Supporting the national blood drive—for example: Xxxxxxxx is supportingthe blood drive. And so should you. It's not just blood, it's a life waiting to be lived. DATE: xxxxxx TIME: xxxxxx VENUE: xxxxxx We thank you for your participation and look forward to having each one of our xxxxx customers on board with making sure other lives matter. IN TOUCH IN TUNE

Support a local charity in your area. Brand a car and do collections

Find an estate in your area and surprise residents with a branded coffee/hot chocolate drop—surprise and delight. What better way to start someone's day with a good cup of coffee—after all it is winter and mornings are chilly. Can change up for summer and do something refreshing ……..

Setting up a scale electrics track in your dealership that resembles one of the F1 circuits and invite customers/potential customers to pit themselves against a well known South African driver /celebrity you have a relationship with and see who can beat their times. Can give away Alfa merchandise (for example) as prizes. IN TOUCH IN TUNE

As promised we have an update from Shane Howarth who rode a bicycle 274 kms across the Namibian Desert. It looks like an incredi- ble experience with some amazing scenery. Well done Shane!

“I participated in a three day Namibian Moun- tain Bike desert ride from the Erongo mountains in the north of Namibia down to Swakop- mund.

Day one was 75Km from Ai Aiba Lodge in the north to the majestic Spitzkoppe mountains (120 million years old) where we camped for night one. Day two was 96kms where we crossed the Khan river and camped on the edge of desert before completing the final 103Km's to Swakopmund. On day three we rode through the middle of Welwitschia Plain. Named after the 2000 year old plant that can be found here. They are considered a living fossil.

It was an unbelievable experience in a very tough environment. In the four days that we were there we only saw fresh water once and that was in a small pool in the Spitz- koppe as they had had a storm the week before. The only wildlife we saw were three Gemsboks, three Ostriches, two bat eared foxes and a hare. We were lucky that the cold weather from the week before had gone so the evenings and mornings were in fact reasonably warm.

Although the ride was relatively flat, the terrain was very sandy resulting in one having to peddle non-stop for all three days. Temperatures on the first two days varied between 28 and 42 degrees but strangely the heat was a manageable temperature.

Not everyone had met before but the group consisted of a great bunch of guys and as per usual each day there was a Fines Committee tasked with "punishing" any transgressions that may have happened such as regular falling, snoring excessively at night etc.”

FCA

IN TOUCH IN TUNE

Last Wednesday the team at FCA threw a baby shower

for a special colleague who is soon to become the father to twin girls. Quintes Schoonraad, who works in our Product Department, is the proud father-to-be and all of us wish you the very best of happiness as you wait pa- tiently for the arrival of your double barrels of fun. You have been twice blessed and from here forward it is go- ing to be double doses of fun, laughter, love and dirty diapers (which you have said in no uncertain terms you will NOT be changing!!! Enjoy it all.

IN TOUCH IN TUNE

Please don’t forget your donations for the Mid-

rand SPCA. James and I dropped off your very

welcomed donations this morning and the shel-

ter was very appreciative. Toys, blankets, food,

etc, will all be appreciated so please, let’s show

our support for those who have not asked to be where they are.

Please may I also ask you to keep our resident cats in mind. We desperately need some food for them so please remember to pop a bag of cat food into your shopping trolley when next doing groceries. They will really appreciate it!