ItalFest2006-Premiere of new Alfa Spider for the Balkans
The Club Alfa Romeo Bulgaria with the help of Club Fiat and Club Lancia organized the third annual meeting of Italian car enthusiasts' – Italfest 2006 on October 7, 2006. This year’s event was held at Dragon Race Track, in Kaloyanovo, near Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest city.
Although the official start of the programme has been set for 11 am, the most hardcore fans, started gathering in the nearby villages from Friday afternoon. The rest formed several long columns from various parts of the country early on Saturday morning to meet up at the track. The official programme was launched by CARB President Petko Simeonov, with a welcoming speech to the participants – which numbered over 2,000 people.
The first contest was for optical tuning, and the jury pronounced an Alfa Romeo 147 as the winner. Yet this pageant of excellent cars in the tuning category was just a warm-up for what turned to be the main attraction of Italfest 2006 – the promotion for Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula of the new Alfa Spider, provided with the kind cooperation of Milano Motors. It kept up a tradition of debuts at this event: last year's second edition - Italfest 2005 - saw the Alfa 159 and Fiat Grande Punto both being rolled out in Bulgaria for the first time. The participants gathered around the car and everyone was very eager to rev this new baby up on the track. The next concourse in the programme was the 'Italian Pursuit', won by Michail Mitov driving Fiat Uno Turbo, followed by Stoian Stanchev behind the wheel of the Fiat Grande Punto.
Meanwhile Lubomir Grigorov took third place in the pursuit competition with an Alfa Romeo 145 QV. The car audio contest was won by Ivo Trunkolvo with an Alfa Romeo 156 ahead of Mihail Mitov who had a Fiat Uno Turbo. After that contest the music from car's stereos were muffled by the roar of revving engines, marking the judging for the finest retro vehicle. An Alfa Romeo Guiletta Sprint 1954 was selected as the winner. The last official concourse was a 400 m drag race, the honorary winner being Milena Todorova as the sole female driver. Car of the Public was voted on and won by an Alfa Romeo Guiletta – this classic beauty in question is in prefect running condition and can often be seen cruising the streets of Sofia.
The evening ended at a gala dinner at restaurant in Kaloyanovo, where everyone could sit and discuss their favourite cars, and girls of course. The Club Alfa Romeo Bulgaria (clubalfaromeo.com) would like to thank to all fans who attended Italfest 2006, and to the sponsors for their support, and all who contributed to the success of this third annual event.
by Peter Doynov
