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Day: 15 November 2021

Voxan presents new Wattman

by: Cassandra Tanti
15/11/2021

Voxan, owned by Monaco-based Venturi, has unveiled its new Wattman high-speed electric motorbike as it sets out to conquer even more world records with world champion Max Biaggi at the controls.

The Voxan Wattman was initially due to make its attempts on a Bolivian salt flat in July 2020, but the pandemic made travel impossible, and so it was on the runway at the Châteauroux airfield in France that the team broke 11 world speed records a year ago.

Asphalt proved to be an interesting surface, so the Wattman – modified accordingly – will continue its schedule on another strip. This time, the venue will be the Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, where, on Monday 15th November, the first ultra-high-speed tests got underway.

The Wattman is now under 300 kilos in weight, allowing it to compete in this category. The weight difference is primarily down to a new Voxan-Saft battery design, which is both mechanical and electric.

Saft, the French subsidiary of TotalEnergies, specialises particularly in high-performance, very high-power batteries. The pouch cells used make it possible to increase the batteries’ power by nearly 80 times, compared with around 10 times for standard products on the market. They are assembled in modules, enabling cooling to be managed with a recently patented process, resulting in an ultra-compact construction.

Photo credit: Voxan

The bike continues to rely on the Mercedes EQ Formula E powertrain, which delivers power of 320 kW (compared with 270 kW for the previous version) and offers torque of 1,360 Nm.

Other notable differences compared with the previous Wattman include the motorcycle’s dimensions: to improve stability and air penetration, the wheelbase has been increased to 1,957 mm (from 1,800 mm previously) and the seat height is now 685 mm (up from 610 mm). In the event of significant crosswinds, the team will now have the flexibility to add a fairing that cuts wind resistance.

As for the tyres, longstanding partner Michelin has worked on designs specifically tailored to this challenge. The front 120/70-17 is a tyre from the Michelin Power GP range, which has been modified to tolerate extremely high speeds. For the rear 190/55-17, Michelin has relied on technology that has been proven in MotoGP to develop a tyre with improved grip. The challenge was to channel all of the extraordinary torque delivered by the Wattman’s electric engine, allowing the motorcycle to accelerate as fast as possible without skidding.

Once the new Wattman is ready, further world record attempts will be made within the first six months of 2022. As they did last year, Max Biaggi and Voxan will seek to beat the clock with two types of motorcycles in two separate categories: “partially streamlined” (traditional sports bike) and “naked” (roadster with no streamlined elements).

SEE ALSO:

Voxan back on the world speed record trail

Gildo Pastor’s motorcycle team makes history books

 

“We must do everything to avoid a new confinement”

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/11/2021

The French government has reacted to the bombshell announcement by the Austrians that all unvaccinated people will be put into lockdown, urging people to “take responsibility” to prevent the same measures from happening in France.
Amid a surge in Covid infections, the Austrian government, via Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, announced on Sunday that lockdown measures will be imposed, effective Monday 15th November, on all those aged 12 and over who remain unvaccinated in the country.
The decision sent shockwaves throughout Europe and prompted the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, to take to the airwaves Sunday night to warn the people that authorities are determined to do everything necessary to prevent another lockdown, and that other countries, such as Austria, are pre-emptively taking action.
“Everything must be done to avoid a new confinement”, Le Maire said on BFMTV. “Because it is not good for us, for our private lives, for society, for the morale of our children, for the economy and the businesses which have started to restart.
“Everyone must take their responsibilities and, in their soul and conscience, weigh the pros and cons. I think the pros of vaccination far outweigh the cons. Even if you are not doing it for yourself, do it for your loved ones, for all the frustrated citizens who see people returning to hospitals and intensive care rooms who have not been vaccinated, do it for others.”
While the minister acknowledged that the situation in France is better than the same time last year, he reminded people that contamination is still very possible. To put a fine point on it, he reminded people that social distancing was as important as ever.
The Austrian lockdown was planned for in September in the event that 30% of intensive care beds became occupied by Covid patients. With only 65% of the population fully jabbed, the inevitable happened and that grim milestone was passed, triggering the lockdown.
The Austrians are not alone. Authorities in the Netherlands announced a three-week partial lockdown on Friday due to rising cases.
“Tonight, we are bringing a very unpleasant message with very unpleasant and far-reaching measures,” Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a televised address, ordering restaurants, supermarkets and non-essential retailers to close early and reimposing social distancing measures. “The virus is everywhere and needs to be combated everywhere.”
Norway, too, announced new measures on Friday, whilst German ministers are heading down a similar path to their Austrian neighbours, telling the public that the unvaccinated will be banned from gyms, indoor dining, bars, cinemas and hairdressers from next week.
 
Photo credit: Matteo Jorjoson on Unsplash
 
 

Monaco celebrates National Day at Dubai Expo

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/11/2021

Prince Albert was joined by his sister Princess Stephanie and several family members at the Dubai Expo on the weekend for National Day celebrations that included a circus show and performances by the Ballets de Monte-Carlo.

Prince Albert II of Monaco was accompanied by Princess Stephanie, her son and daughter-in-law Louis Ducruet and Marie Chevallier, and her daughter Camillie Gottlieb for what shaped up to be a real royal family affair in Dubai.

The Prince and his extended family were there to officially open the pavilion and to celebrate Monaco’s National Day as well as to cement the relationship between Monaco, the United Arab Emirates and other countries around the world.

“International expos are, in general, a key platform for international exchanges and dialogue, as well as to provide various opportunities to move forward,” said Prince Albert during the official flag raising ceremony. “Expo 2020 Dubai is also a great opportunity for us to enhance our cooperation with the UAE and establish links with other countries.”

Photos credit: Igor Pliner Photography

The Prince highlighted the attractiveness of Monaco as a centre for tourism, innovation, international exchange and global action to protect the environment as well as a place that is finding new ways to produce and save energy.

He went on to speak of the opportunities for the UAE and the Principality to work together, including in the realms of technology, sustainability, culture and sports.

Prince Albert was the first head of state to visit the expo for his country’s national day, an event that clearly put Monaco in the spotlight. Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum accompanied Prince Albert on a tour of the expo, and was also present for the signing of a tax treaty between the two countries.

Other high-ranking officials present from Monaco included Minister of State Pierre Dartout, President of the National Council Stephane Valeri, and Finance Minister Jean Castellini.

In addition to the official ceremony and flag raising under the AL Wasl dome, festivities included a show by the Monte-Carlo Circus Festival, of which Princess Stephanie is president, which featured the most recent winners of the festival.

There were also two performances of Core Meu by the Ballets de Monte Carlo, choreographed and created by Artistic Director Jean-Christophe Maillot.

Princess Charlene was notably absent from the trip, although Prince Albert had earlier indicated that her attendance would be dependant on her health situation. The Princess was only reunited with her family in Monaco on Monday 8th November after spending eight months in her native South Africa due to a severe sinus problem.

SEE ALSO: 

Monaco enters into tax treaty with UAE

Welcome home Princess!

Monaco fall just short of rugby sevens glory

by: Luke Entwistle
15/11/2021

Monaco Rugby Sevens were comprehensively beaten by a dominant Barbarians side in the final of Inferno Super Sevens finals at the La Défense Arena, Paris. Prior to their heavy 14-40 defeat, Monaco had successfully overcome La Rochelle and, most impressively, last season’s champions – Racing 92.
Monaco kicked off proceedings in Paris with their curtain raising fixture against La Rochelle on Saturday afternoon. Having signed only a matter of days ago, Dan Norton and Cecil Afrika didn’t take long to find their feet as they scored the opening two tries for the Monegasque side, having gone behind to La Rochelle’s converted opener.
Missed conversions however meant that Monaco took only a slender lead into half-time. Afrika then extended Monaco’s lead with his second try just after the break, which was duly converted. La Rochelle then pulled one back, but Monaco held on to progress to the semi-final stage, winning 17-12.
Next up was Racing 92, the reigning French champions were hoping to retain their crown, having won the inaugural championship a year earlier. The champions quickly found themselves trailing, however, thanks to a converted Demai-Hamecher try. Racing 92 had the steely determination that saw them lift the trophy last year, and quickly responded, although the try was not converted.
Monaco Sevens extended their lead early in the second-half. McNulty, having had a try disallowed in the dying seconds of the first-half, got his reward this time, as his try was successfully converted. Racing 92 responded with a second unconverted try, but the game was put beyond the champions by Courtaud, whose converted try saw Monaco to a surprisingly comfortable 21-10 victory.
Monaco were to face the Barbarians in the headline act, a team whose imperious form in their quarter-final and semi-final fixtures saw them register a mammoth 74 points in the two fixtures.
The Barbarians wasted no time getting going here either. Without barely allowing Monaco a touch of the ball, the Barbarians scored three converted tries without reply. Dan Norton’s try just before half-time gave Monaco hope of an unlikely comeback. This hope was, however, quickly dashed, as the Barbarian’s blitzed the Monaco side early on in the second-half.
Similarly to the first-half, the Barbarians scored three unanswered tries to extend their lead to 7-40. Courtaud’s late consolation try for Monaco only served to make the final score less emphatic, but with a 14-40 victory, the Barbarians superiority was still plain for all to see.
Despite a disappointing final, Monaco Sevens centre Paulin Riva believes they can still be proud of their efforts, having only finished constructing their side earlier in the week, saying, “We are proud to have reached the final today. The Barbarians are a good, well-run team… We arrived with a week’s preparation. We tried to adapt as well as we could and to create relationships as quickly as possible.”
Monaco will be hoping to build on what, despite a difficult final, was undoubtedly a successful tournament and go one further next year.
 
 
Photo credit: David Nivière
 
 
 

Consistent Leclerc once again best-of-the-rest in Brazil

by: Luke Entwistle
15/11/2021

Charles Leclerc secured a fifth place finish at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, to consolidate Ferrari’s third place Constructors’ Championship standing. The drama, however, took place out-front as Hamilton overtook Verstappen late-on to take an unlikely victory, having been demoted to the back of the grid earlier in the weekend.
This race weekend threatened to be dominated by off-track incidents, but an enthralling wheel-to-wheel battle between title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen, ensured that this Brazilian Grand Prix weekend would be remembered for what happened on-track.
The third edition of the novel ‘sprint’ format saw qualifying pushed forward to the Friday and the traditional Saturday qualifying slot replaced by a sprint race, which was to determine the grid positions for Sunday’s race. Having initially secured pole position for the sprint race, Lewis Hamilton was subsequently disqualified and demoted to the back of the grid as his rear-wing was found to be in breach of technical regulations. Max Verstappen, who finished second, was also fined for inspecting said rear-wing whilst the car was in Parc-Fermé.
Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, had a disappointing qualifying. Out-paced by his teammate, he was forced to settle for a lowly eighth place. He sought to quickly rectify his error in the sprint race, overtaking Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris before going wide at turn four as he attempted to pass Sergio Perez. Having been overtaken once more by Norris, and ceding his position to a charging Hamilton who, having started at the back of the grid, ultimately finished in P5, Leclerc had to settle for P7. Hamilton’s woes were far from over, and a 5th-place grid-penalty demoted the Brit to 10th, whilst promoting Leclerc to 6th. Bottas, meanwhile, took the chequered flag with Verstappen in second.
In the race, Leclerc got off to a blistering start, overtaking both his team-mate and Norris, whose McLaren picked up a puncture before reaching turn one. Elsewhere, Verstappen jumped Bottas, and Hamilton once more fought his way through the field, overtaking all of his rivals with a sense of inevitability.
Having overtaken the rest of the field with relative ease, Hamilton came unstuck as he approached Verstappen. The Dutch driver, despite lacking straight-line speed, managed to maintain a consistent, albeit miniscule, one-second gap to Hamilton thanks to his pace in sector two. After 30 laps of wheel-to-wheel racing, which almost saw the two collide as both ran wide at one point, Hamilton completed the move on Lap 59, as Verstappen was helpless to defend from a Mercedes that was benefitting from a slipstream and DRS.
Hamilton saw out the victory and closed the gap on his title rival to a mere 14 points with three races remaining. Leclerc, meanwhile, having started strongly, had a lonely but efficient race as he secured his second consecutive P5 finish, further increasing Ferrari’s lead on McLaren.
Post-race Leclerc reflected on the importance of his strong start, saying, “That was a really nice race. I had a very good start, which was my first target. After that, the race was all about managing the tyres and maintaining the gap.”
He will be hoping to further solidify Ferrari’s 3rd place Constructors’ standing at the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix next weekend.
 
 
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
 
 
 

Monaco in Spain

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/11/2021

Monaco’s presence in Spain this month is undeniable, with two events focusing on issues close to the heart of the Principality: tourism and the environment.

The 2nd Tourism Innovation Summit, held on 10th November in Seville, brought together over 500 delegates and provided a stage to those interested in collaborations and new ideas.

The event attracted two representatives from Monaco – the country’s Ambassador to Spain Catherine Fautrier-Rousseau and Director of Monaco Tourism and Congress Guy Antognelli.

Antognelli, along with Miguel Sanz, Managing Director of Turespaña, took part in a side event on the vision and repositioning of tourism in a post-Covid world. The occasion had the duel purpose of also allowing the Ambassador to meet authorities from Seville and the greater Andalusian region to speak about the possibilities of working together in the fields of the economy, new technologies, education and environmental practices and protections.

Ambassador Fautrier-Rousseau has had her hands full this month with another event, this one in anticipation of Mediterranean Day, which is officially on 28th November.

The Embassy of Monaco in Spain organised, in collaboration with IE University Madrid, a conference on the theme ‘The future of the Mediterranean: the challenge of protecting its environment’.

Santiago Íñiguez, Executive President of EI University Madrid, gave credit to Fautrier-Rousseau for collaborating on the event, saying that young people are responsive to this topic and that it is necessary to involve the next generation in this field where both creativity and innovation will be required.

Issues touched upon included the challenges facing the coastal countries on both the north and south coasts of the Med with regards to environmental protection, as well as how to pursue the development of economies and populations whilst enforcing proposed protections. 

Bernard Fautrier, Advisor to the Cabinet of the Prince in Charge of Environmental Issues, stated in a recorded message how crucial it was to act and spoke about

the many concrete initiatives taken by the Principality in this area, such as the MedFund and BeMed.

Lucile Courtial, Secretary General of Beyond Plastic Med (BeMed), a Monegasque initiative launched in 2015, also spoke and presented the various innovative actions taken against the plastics invasion in the Mediterranean.

Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Isidro Gonzales Afonso recalled the importance of the role played by the UfM in this area. Indeed, member countries adopted at the recent Environment and Climate Action Summit an action plan to put in place numerous measures to preserve this sensitive area.

President of the Mediterranean Network of Marine Protected Areas (Med PAN), Purificacio Canals, spoke of the benefits of marine protected areas saying that, if managed effectively, they can constitute an investment and a refuge for biodiversity.

Finally, Alexander Van de Putte, Professor of Strategic Foresight at EI, spoke of the way in which the Mediterranean can become a vector for the development of renewable energies and insisted on the protection of the environment as a key factor of geopolitical stability.

The Embassy of Monaco also involved two Spanish artists who are committed to the protection of the environment: Luis Prieto Moreno, founder of MadBlue Summit and the Piel de Atun movement, as well as Pepe Monserrate, a known sculptor.

 
 
Photo credit: Julia Robles