SPETTACOLO SPORTIVO 2023
Happy Birthday SCARB!
It was an extraordinary celebration: Stichting Club van Alfa Romeo Bezitters, the Alfisti Club in the Netherlands, celebrated its 45th anniversary during this year's Spettacolo Sportivo, event reaching in 2023 its 25th edition - a definite „must visit” for any Alfisti.
Spettacolo Sportivo is hosted at Zandvoort, currently an F1- certified track. As with many Alfisti events, Spettacolo is run by enthusiasts and volunteers. More than 100 people are working on this event during the weekend. SCARB, the club behind the event, has 2600 members.
What is unique about Spettacolo is the proper Alfa Romeo racing action during the weekend. This year, there were two official series – the Alfa Romeo Challenge with 31 Alfas and the Squadra Italia with 36 Alfa Romeos. Both series have their own race sub-classes. The Alfa Romeo Challenge has the longest race of one hour, including a pitstop for refuelling and adjustements. All visitors can get a closer look at the racing Biscioni in the paddock, and all participants are very welcoming and open to share insights and secrets about their projects.
On top of the racing sessions, regular Alfisti can participate actively in track sessions. This year all sessions were sold out, and from experience, it is a lot of fun to drive an F1 track!
Every year, the organizers arrange a couple of themes for the event. This year one was the 25th anniversary of Alfa Romeo 166. There were more than 25 166s during the event, and they shined as the leading cars during the parade on Sunday. All participants could dive in a special lecture about 166 by Boudewijn Soetens (one of the writers of Het Klaverblaadje, the official Club’s magazine). On Sunday there has been a special exhibition of 8Cs, both Competizione and Spider. A total of 11 of them showed up, which could melt any Alfisti heart. The last special theme was… Alfa Romeo ARNA! A special display, with detailed history and variants of the Arna, showed how diverse the history of Alfa Romeo is.
Once again, the Dutch Alfisti didn’t disappoint. Saturday was very gloomy and rainy, so the turn-up was limited, but Sunday exploded with many special and rare machines. To mention a few, 2300 Rio, AR 8 Camper van, 8C 2300 Monza, 6C 2500 Touring, RL from 1923, 2600 Zagato, a couple of GTAs, a whole display provided by Scuderia del Portello, no less than 7 versions of 1900s, and many, many more gorgeous Alfas.
The weekend has attracted around 1400 cars and Alfisti from many corners of the world, and if you haven’t visited the Spettacolo yet, I’m hoping you know now what to plan for next year!
