Gauteng was elected for the first time to play host to the Alfa Romeo Clubs of South Africa National Gathering. Previous years Gatherings have taken place in Cape Town, Bloemfontein & Port Elizabeth. In the past, the National Gatherings have taken place only every five years, however in future they will occur every three years.

The weekend started on Friday 27 April with the all the participants meeting to collected their gift packs and other information of the weekend's events. The National Gathering was officially started by Paul Williams of AROSA (Alfa Clubs of South Africa governing body), with a speech detailing upcoming events. Following that was a social supper, and time to meet most of the out of town members.

Saturday's schedule consisted of track sessions for Alfa Club members, Dealerships and Alfa Trofeo (our local, Pre 85 Alfa Romeo only racing group) at the Kyalami race circuit. The Trofeo runners were lucky enough to have a warm up session, followed by two full speed session. The first session was based on a “Handicapped” starting session, the second session was a rolling start. It’s one the few times that Trofeo have done a rolling start, so the racing was far more interesting with a lot of overtaking. The faster cars being able to show their full potential. As for the Alfa club members, there were both, fast and slow sessions. The slower was more relaxed, with models such as Giulietta Spiders being able to enjoy their cars, without having twin turbo V6’s breathing down their neck’s. The faster section’s featured some of the more performance oriented cars like the 147 GTA and 156 GTA.

In the dealership drives, participants were taken for a ride in one of the latest Alfa Romeo’s (GT, 159 Q4 & Brera Q4) at a controlled speed, allowing the public and participants the opportunity to enjoy an Alfa in its natural habitat. The track day was highlighted with a parade lap of most of the Alfa's on hand.

Sunday morning saw a National Concourse held at the ARCSA (Alfa Romeo Club Of South Africa) club house in Edenvale.  A "Tops Only" event with four categories ("Pre 85", "Post 85", "Race Car" and "Modified"), and there was a category for everyone taking part.
 

With bonus points given for cars taking part in either of the previous day's activity, the final results helped some of the everyday cars compete, and in some cases win, over the usual garaged cars. At the prize giving that night, awards where handed out to participants, by the various sponsors and organizers’,   followed by a Cocktail evening.

Monday begun with a speech from FASA (Fiat Auto South Africa) with regard what is planned for Alfa Romeo in South Africa. Highlighting the advances in Customer Service and support. From there began the journey to Cullinan Mine in a group of Alfa’s ranging from Breras to GT Juniors and Alfasuds.

Once there we enjoyed an above ground tour of the mine and history regarding the aria. The Cullinan Mine, which lies 25 miles outside Pretoria must be the most famous mine in the world. It has produced three of the biggest diamonds ever found in the world, the biggest of which was named after the mine - the Cullinan or Star of Africa - which was presented to King Edward VII of England. It is now part of the Crown Jewels which are housed in the Tower of London. "The tale is told of Joseph Asscher, the greatest cleaver of the day," wrote Michael Hart in his book Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession, "that when he prepared to cleave the largest diamond ever known, the 3,160-carat Cullinan, he had a doctor and nurse standing by and when he finally struck the diamond and it broke perfectly in two, he fainted dead away." Following the tour, we enjoyed a three course lunch, at one of the local eateries.

A big thank you to: the organizers of the event, the clubs who took part, Alfa Trofeo, and FASA. For further information on the Alfa Clubs' of South Africa please visit www.alfaclub.co.za

by Shaun Churchyard