NEW 8C Spider Alfa Romeo LIMITED EDITION

(8C Spider Alfa Romeo)

Production of the 8C Spider began in 2009, in Modena, with Maserati in charge of building the cars. As previously announced, 500 cars will be built, each priced at €175,000 (US$241,000) excluding taxes. The production version was unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. 35 of 500 Spiders are going to United States.
Alfa Romeo claims that the 8C Spider's top speed is 290 kilometres per hour (180 mph), which makes it slightly slower than the coupe version. The brakes on the Spider are Brembo carbon-ceramic units. The Spider has a two-layer electrically operated fabric roof. The windshield frame is made of carbon fiber to try to maintain a 50/50 weight distribution.
The Spider version of the super sports car, designed by the Alfa Romeo Style Center, and derived from the Alfa 8C Competizione, the Gran Turismo model that has been so successful throughout the world.
This new car highlights the excellence of the brand in this sector, in the same way that several of its Spiders from the past are acknowledged as being some of the most beautiful cars in the world, cars such as the Giulietta Spider from the 1950s or the legendary Duetto, made famous by the 1967 film ‘The Graduate’, starring a young Dustin Hoffman.
The distinctive feature of the 8C Spide is its fold.away roof, available in a choice of colours and fitted with an electrohydraulic system activated with the simple push of a button on the dashboard. The roof consists of two overlapping fabrics: a weather-proof multi-layer outer fabric and an inner layer ensuring total acoustic comfort in the cabin. The result is the last word in style, aerodynamics, practicality and comfort.
Its engine: Type V8 -90º / Displacement (cc) 4691 / Location Front Longitudinal / Max. power (bph) at (rpm) 450 (7000) / Max. Torque (Nm) at (rpm) 480 (4750) / Specific output (bhp/l) 96 / Maximum revs per minut 7500.
Its gearbox and transmission: Architecture transaxle / driver wheels – torque splitrear / gearbox MTA / Numero of speed 6 / Limited slip differentia.
Its chassis and body: Chassis architecture steel frame/ body material carbon / dashboard carbon / front suspension double wishbone / rear suspension double wishbone / front brakes (mm) 380x32 / rear brakes (mm) 360x32 / standard front wheels 245-35R20 / standard rear wheels 285-35R20.
Dimension and Weight: Overall length (mm) 4381 / Overall with (mm) 1894 / Wheelsbase (mm) 2645 / Fuel tank capacity (lit) 88 / Weight distribution 49%-51%

Maximum speed: (km/h) 290
Acceleration 0-100 km/h(s) 4.4
Braking 100-0 km/h (m) 33[Source: Alfa Romeo Web Page

[Source: Alfa Romeo Web Page]

New York: Golfer Sergio Garcia visited Omega's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan

Golfer Sergio Garcia and Omega

New York-PGA Tour golfer Sergio Garcia visited Omega's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Monday. He had watchmaking lessons and, also, he offered a golf course to a group of local children.

Garcia, who became ambassador for the wristwatch company since 2003, donated his personal Omega "Mission Hills Double Eagle Chronograph Constellation" timepiece, the latest addition to the store's "Ambassador Collection Series" of autographed watches, which already includes watches by two fellow Omega ambassadors: Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Although he's a fan of Omega and its watches and a proud ambassador, Garcia told National Jeweler that he doesn't like to wear a watch while playing golf because it places extra weight on his hand. He said; “"This one, the Constellation, is a great watch and it's very light."

Garcia said he has been proud to be an Omega ambassador and also that he owns probably 10 or 12 of the brand's watches. He added: “They've been very generous".

Sergio Garcia was born in Castello, Spain and started playing golf when he was three. He reached a career high ranking of two after winning the HSBC Champions Tournament and spent much of his career in the top 10 in Official World Golf Rankings. He advises: “The main thing I would say is to enjoy the game and try to be happy with life".

Garcia is scheduled to represent Spain at the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup, the 55th World Cup of Golf, which will take place from Nov. 26-29 at the Mission Hills Olazabal Course in Shenzhen, China.

.

Wimbledon's Championships History

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the club responsible for staging the world's leading tennis tournament, was founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club' private club first situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.

1875 was the year in which, Sphairistike, the game just introduced by major Walter Clopton Wingfield, was added to the activities of the Club. As a consequence, during the spring of 1877 the Club was re-titled 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and so, in order to celebrate the change, it instituted the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws, up till now administered by the Marylebone Cricket Club, was drawn up for the meeting and never changed except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.

By 1882 activity at the Club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title (restored in 1899 and known as 'The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club' ever since).

In 1884 the Ladies' Singles was inaugurated and that same year, the Gentlemen's Doubles was started, with the trophy donated by the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club after the end of their doubles championship, played from 1879 to 1883.

Prior to the First World War the facilities at Worple Road were moved to larger premises in 1922: the foresight of building the present stadium, designed to hold 14,000 people, did more to popularise the game worldwide than anything that had happened to date.

The new ground, which many thought would turn out to be a 'white elephant', was financed partly from the accumulated reserves of the Club and partly by the issue of Debentures. Misgivings about the future popularity of The Championships were dispelled when applications for tickets in the first year were such that they had to be issued by a ballot — a system that has been adopted for every Championship since.

Open Tennis
The expansion of air travel in the 1950s meant more and more overseas players were competing at Wimbledon and other tournaments throughout the world, but with this new era came an epidemic of what had become known as 'shamateurism — the receiving of financial assistance in excess of amounts permitted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the authority in charge of the rules of lawn tennis and the governing body of the game worldwide.

The need for reform was evident. The initiative for reform came from the then Chairman Herman David who in late 1959 put forward a proposal to the Lawn Tennis Association that The Championships be made open to all players. The following July the ITF rejected this move and several years followed in which argument persisted at all levels of the game. In 1964 the Club tried to persuade the LTA unilaterally to declare The Championships 'open' but support was not forthcoming.

Records Broken
In recent years long-standing records have been broken. In 1980 Bjorn Borg of Sweden became the first player to win the Gentlemen's Singles five times in the post-challenge round era; a feat replicated by Roger Federer between 2003 and 2007. In 1985 Boris Becker, aged 17, became the youngest player, the first unseeded player and the first German to win the Gentlemen's Singles. In 1987 Martina Navratilova of the United States became the first player to win the Ladies' Singles six times in succession and in 1990 she attained the all-time record of nine victories in the event. Pete Sampras of the United States registered his seventh win in 2000 and in 2001, Goran Ivanisevic became the first wildcard to win the Gentlemen's Singles.

The 100th Championships in 1986 were celebrated in a variety of ways, including a special dinner party for those who had made significant contributions over the years, and the formation of the Last 8 Club. 1993 marked the 100th Ladies' Championships and the occasion was suitably commemorated.

The occasion of the Millennium was celebrated on the first Saturday when 64 Singles Champions, Doubles Champions four or more times, and Singles Finalists at least twice, paraded on Centre Court.

Wimbledon in the 21st Century
Wimbledon is acknowledge to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the twenty-first century. To that end a Long Term Plan was unveiled in 1993, which will improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.

Stage one of the Plan was completed for the 1997 Championships and involved building in Aorangi Park the new No. 1 Court, a Broadcast Centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road.

Stage two involved the removal of the old No.1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for the players, press, officials and Members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.

Stage three continues. The construction of a new Championships entrance building, housing Club staff, museum, bank and ticket office at Gate 3 has left the Centre Court east side empty and will allow development to provide better facitilies for the public, increase the seating capacity from 13,800 to 15,000 and erect a retractable roof.

[Source: Wimbledon's Web Site]