Audi RS 6 GTO concept to be presented at Top Marques Monaco

23/05/2023

The Audi RS 6 GTO concept, which pays tribute to more than 40 years of quattro technology, will be unveiled to the public for the first time at Top Marques Monaco next month.

The concept is based on the Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO of the 1990s but built for the future generation by a group of passionate apprentices in Neckarsulm, Germany, in 2020. A group of 12 third-year Audi Academy students with four different skill sets built and worked for 25 weeks alongside Audi designers and technical teams to bring the project to fruition.

The global launch of the Audi RS 6 GTO is the sixth world premiere confirmed for the 18th edition of Top Marques Monaco, taking place from 7th to 11th June at the Grimaldi Forum. Its participation was a closely guarded secret until Tuesday, when Audi France announced the presence of the long-awaited concept.

*The Audi RS 6 GTO is the sixth world premiere confirmed for Top Marques Monaco this year. Photo source: Top Marques Monaco*

The Audi RS 6 GTO concept will be joined on the podium by the QUANTiNO by nanoFlowcell, the very first electric roadster which runs without a battery; the IR8 Tribute by Dallara Stradale; not one by two restomod Ford Broncos from Florida and the FLEX by Venturi, a lunar Rover heading for the Moon with SpaceX in 2023.

“We are really thrilled that Audi has chosen Top Marques as the launchpad for its RS 6 GTO concept car,” Salim Zeghdar, the CEO of Top Marques Monaco, said. “Over the last few years, we have really worked on establishing the event as a recognized podium for global launches, and this, for me is a real sign of approval from the automotive industry.”

Audi’s concept car will be unveiled with the other world premieres at the official inauguration ceremony taking place at 5pm on Wednesday, June 7 in the presence of the press.

A VIP Opening Cocktail sponsored by Airbus Corporate Jets being held the same day at 8pm will give visitors an opportunity to view the vehicles ahead of the public opening on 8th June.

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By Monaco Life with press release

Top athletes set to compete at Herculis this summer

by: Stephanie Horsman

23/05/2023

The Herculis EBS races are back in July and, this year, the roster is filled with world record holding athletes looking to better their times at the Stade Louis II.

Every summer, the Herculis EBS races attract some of the world’s biggest track and field names to the Stade Louis II to compete, often for world records. Here are just a few of the standout runners expected at this summer’s event.

FAITH KIPYEGON

The 1,500m women’s race is Kenyan Faith Kipyegon’s for the taking. Last year at Herculis, she missed out on the world record by a slim, and heart-breaking, three-tenths of a second. She will have her chance at redemption this summer as she looks to beat her own personal best for the year as well as perhaps take over that world record spot.

EMMANUEL KORIR

Another Kenyan, Emmanuel Korir, has established himself as the King of the 800m, having taken home the gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the World Championships in Oregon the following year. He is no stranger to the Monaco track, having raced in the 800m and 1,000m in the last two editions. Hopes are high for his success this summer.

5,000M HAS STIFF COMPETITION

In the 5,000m, the competition will be stiff, but a few names stand out. One is Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who became World Champion last February and is looking to cross the finish line first again. He will get a serious run for his money from Ethiopian Behiru Aregawi, a world record holder in the 5,000m and the winner of the Wanda Diamond League in 2021 for the 5,000m. Also one to watch is France’s Jimmy Gressier, who has twice been European record holder in the 5,000m, in 2020 and 2023.

In addition to these races, there are also other exciting track and field events like the javelin throw, long jump, high jump, pole jump and lots of other running races.

The Herculis EBS is being held on 21st July and tickets are going for as low as €15. To reserve a spot or for more information, please click here.

Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.

Photo of Faith Kipyegon by Dan Vernon

New Brad Pitt gin, The Gardener, to feature in Monaco GP cocktail

by: Stephanie Horsman

23/05/2023

The Gardener, a gin co-created by Brad Pitt and launched during the Cannes Film Festival, will be the key ingredient in the Hôtel Metropole’s Grand Prix signature cocktail, the Monaco Rush.

What better way to invoke the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix than to imbibe a drink made from a superstar’s distillery at a luxurious hotel?

This is precisely the case with the Monaco Rush, an inspirational cocktail being offered at the Hôtel Metropole Monte-Carlo’s Lobby Bar that features The Gardener gin, a spirit created by Brad Pitt alongside the Perrin family and world-renowned distiller Tom Nichol.

FRENCH INSPIRATION

American actor Brad Pitt wanted to create a spirit “reflective of the place with which he fell in love”. He collaborated with former master distiller Tom Nichol, the second person ever to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gin Guild.

In addition to The Gardener gin, the Perrin family also produce Brad Pitt’s Miravel rosé.

The Gardener gin is a tribute to the Riviera.

Notes of fresh and dried citrus permeate, including grapefruit, lemon, and sweet and bitter oranges from the region around Cap d’Antibes. Add to this the inventiveness of the Metropole’s mixologists, who blend the gin with peach coulis and liqueur, blackcurrant cream, mint and lemon juice… And the Monaco Rush is born.

Described as “an elegant, refreshing and daring cocktail”, it will be found on the menu of the Lobby Bar from this week as the Grand Prix takes off.

*The Gardener gin and the Monaco Rush. Photo credit: Studio Phenix*

LAVISH SETTING

The cocktail, which costs €41, is just one reason to head to the Lobby Bar. Designed by Jacques Garcia, the space has a kind of private club atmosphere with décor combining tasteful objets d’art and antique books that give it the warm feeling of being in the sitting room of someone’s English country home.

Other charms include Yoshi, the only Japanese restaurant on the Côte d’Azur to have been awarded a Michelin star, which offers typically Japanese cuisine in a contemporary setting designed by Didier Gomez, and Odyssey, the lounge-restaurant imagined and designed by Karl Lagerfeld that serves modern Mediterranean cuisine.

So this Grand Prix weekend, when wondering where to go for elegance, glamour and a delicious cocktail, think no further than the Hotel Metropole and their new Monaco Rush.

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Photo credit: Serge Chapuis

Monte-Carlo Fashion Week ends on awards high

by: Stephanie Horsman

23/05/2023

Monte-Carlo Fashion Week’s 10th edition has come and gone with international fashion insiders, exciting local designers and top buyers all coming together to focus on creativity and sustainability.

True to the ethos of the Principality, Monte-Carlo Fashion Week (MCFW) presents not just gorgeous designer clothing and accessories, but ones that have sustainable, ethical and environmental standards at their hearts.

The 10th edition of the event, which was first created in 2013 by the president and founder of the Monegasque Chamber of Fashion, Federica Nardoni Spinetta, was a stand-out example.

Under the High Patronage of Princess Charlene and supported by the Monaco mairie, government and Tourism and Congress Department, it welcomed a plethora of high profile designers and speakers that included the likes of Benoît-Louis Vuitton, Corporate Director of Louis Vuitton, and Carlo D’Amario, CEO of Vivienne Westwood, who also walked away with the MCFW Ethical Business Award.

In addition to players in the fashion world, the event, which ran from 17th to 21st May, also had a bit of star power in the form of American actress Kelly Rutherford, best known for her role as Lily Van Der Woodsen in the hit series Gossip Girl, who attended the awards ceremony at the end of MCFW.

Runaways at The Prince of Monaco’s Car Collection

All throughout, runway shows of designers’ latest collections were held at HSH The Prince of Monaco’s Car Collection.

Simone Guidarelli opened MCFW with his exclusive collection, followed by Nardoni Spinetta’s own brand Beach & Cashmere Monaco, which was accompanied by shoes from Von Lowenstein. Other Monegasque names such as Marlea Monte-Carlo, FITME Monte-Carlo and Crisoni also presented their latest creations.

MCFW attracted a number of international designers and artists too, amongst them Laura Spreti and Collini Milano from Italy, British brand Velvet Pink Banana, India’s Runa Ray in collaboration with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Japanese Mami Okano and Brazilian artist Marcos Marin and Diana Mara.

Italian brand Genny, led by Sara Cavazza Facchini, closed the catwalk with a grande finale under the Grande Verrière du Grimaldi Forum.

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Yacht Club de Monaco: a hub for discussion and pop-ups

Down on Port Hercules, the Yacht Club de Monaco hosted various conferences and pop-up boutiques from brands such as Thalie Paris, Flavia Fleming, Nicolò Tonetto, Ika Butoni, Ushak, Hemcael, Inessa Creations and Leslie Monte-Carlo, as well as several of the labels that featured in the catwalk shows.

The winners of MCFW 2023

The final night revealed the winners of this year’s MCFW accolades and seven exceptional companies were recognised for their achievements.

Fausto Puglisi from Roberto Cavalli was the recipient of the Legacy Award, whilst Sara Cavazza Facchini, Artistic Director at Genny, took home the Made-in-Italy Award, and Matteo Ward, CEEO and co-founder of WRAD, was granted the Positive Change Award.

Carlo d’Amario, CEO of Vivienne Westwood, was presented with the Ethical Business Award, Fashion Channel came away with the Visionary Award, Soya Chartier clinched the Made-in-Monaco Award, and finally, Beste was handed the Ethical Circularity Award.

“We are very satisfied with the course of Fashion Week and [are] proud to support international designers and fashion personalities by offering them the Principality of Monaco as a prestigious showcase to the world to present their collections and to give them a platform to discuss the importance of sustainable and circular fashion,” said MCFW’s founder, Nardoni Spinetta, after the closure of this year’s stellar event.

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Photos above: Collection by Marcos Marin and Diana Mara, photo by Monaco Life

Key fishing stocks expected to fall dramatically in the Mediterranean

by: Elsa Carpenter

23/05/2023

The warming of the Mediterranean Sea, caused by rising global temperatures, could have drastic repercussions on the region’s prized fishing grounds, according to a new report.

As part of the CLIM-ECO² project financed by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, researchers from the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM) teamed up with those from the University Côte d’Azur, the Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Genoa Marine Center to study the future of fishing in Mediterranean against a backdrop of rising temperatures and dramatic shifts to the geographical distribution of regional species.

Their findings, which considered a range of possible climate scenarios up to the year 2090, are now set to be published in the June edition of the Science of the Total Environment journal.

“Certain emblematic species, such as the sea bass and the gilthead sea bream could see their catches decrease by 40% across the whole of the Mediterranean in the years to come,” reads a statement from the CSM.

The Mediterranean region is warming 20% faster than global averages and the Sea is expected to rise in temperature by between 1.8°C and 3.5°C by 2100. This is going to have considerable knock-on effects for the region’s marine life, leading to scientists such as those from the CSM to call for a real need “to limit global warming and to develop climate change adaptation strategies for the fisheries sector”.

Catches could decrease by 75%

This new study, which lists the CSM’s Doctor Nathalie Hilmi as a co-author, breaks down the potential “catch reduction” according to fishing techniques. For midwater or pelagic trawling and purse seine fishing, catches are expected to decrease by 20 to 75%. For fixed nets and traps, that figure is a reduction of 50 to 75%, and for bottom trawling, hauls are likely to experience a drop exceeding 75%.

The southern and eastern Mediterranean countries will be the most affected by “significant declines”, says the study, in line with the United Nations’ Environmental Programme’s projections for warming hotspots in these zones.

A group of key commercial demersal and pelagic fish and cephalopod species were considered in the report. Alongside the threats to Mediterranean biodiversity and its fishing industry, the Monaco-backed study also revealed important changes to the future geographical redistribution of these stocks as species head north for cooler waters. As such, catches for many of the species studied could increase in North Sea and in the North-East Atlantic.

There may still be a future for these species elsewhere, but that does little to damp concerns for the future of fishing in the Mediterranean.

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Photo source: Krisztian Tabori for Unsplash

Banque Havilland announces new Porsche Supercup partnership

by: Cassandra Tanti

23/05/2023

Banque Havilland has announced a new partnership with the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, which is raced ahead of the F1 grand prix.

The Porsche Supercup, officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the Formula 1 world championship.

This new partnership will put the Banque Havilland branding on the Porsche race cars and its clients on the race track, be it in the grand stand or even in a Porsche cockpit.

“We are delighted to begin our partnership with Banque Havilland. It is an exciting new energy for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and we are glad to welcome them onboard,” said Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. “This sponsorship is the latest addition to our fantastic portfolio of partners, and we look forward to supporting Banque Havilland’s aim of driving deeper engagement within their community of partners and clients.”

Banque Havilland was established in 2009 and is privately owned. Its headquarters are in Luxembourg and the group operates other locations in Monaco, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Dubai and the UK.

The thrill of the race

The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars will run their laps prior to the F1 race cars at the Monaco Grand Prix and seven other races this year at locations including Silverstone and Budapest.

Professionals, rookies and pro-ams will compete against each other in identical cars – so all teams and drivers have the same chances.

The Supercup provides a platform for up-and-coming racing drivers to make a name for themselves. Rookie Max van Splunteren won the Rookie Classification in 2020, and then managed to secure a position on the grid at the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“We are thrilled to joining forces with Porsche. It is an exciting and purposeful opportunity for Banque Havilland to join the family of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup,” said Marc Arand, Group CEO. “In racing, in sports, and luxury cars in general, the maxim is to develop everything to perfection and to achieve excellence in execution. This is also reflected in our values with which we offer our clients the best service every day. The constant questioning of established routines is the key to success and one example is the staging of the racing series with renewable racing fuels.

“Through this partnership, Banque Havilland can support the move towards a more climate-friendly racing in the future and will continue to reach our clients and partners in new and exciting ways, sharing a common passion, while delivering unique experiences in Europe”.

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Photo source: Banque Havilland

Day: 23 May 2023

Audi RS 6 GTO concept to be presented at Top Marques Monaco