Il Caffe
A room off the paddock. Espresso on the counter, family photographs on the wall, and a door that stays open for anyone who races with us.
Chrome, carbon and a proper espresso
The machine is built the way the karts are: polished chrome shell, carbon fibre flanks, a green light along the drip tray and the Lanzetti oval on the front. Two groups, one ritual - short, hot and honest.
- Espresso
- Single origin, Italian roast profile
- Caffe corretto
- Reserved for podium Sundays
- Cornetti
- Baked for the early transporter run
- Walnut counter
- Brass rail, marble top, checkered floor
The Lanzetti Racing photo album
Left open next to the espresso machine. Turn one page at a time, or take the contents page and skip to the chapter you came for.
"Not luck. "
Paul Williams, National Chairman, Alfa Romeo Owners' Association of South Africa
Alfa Romeo has never used the four-leaf clover to wish a car well. It marks the cars built to race - the mark you earn, not the mark you hope for.
Painted on Ugo Sivocci's Alfa Romeo RL for the Targa Florio - a green clover on a white square set on point. He won.
The modern badge, introduced in June 2015: the clover inside a rounded triangle. Reserved for the cars built to race.
Both marks above are deliberate artistic interpretations, hand-drawn for this page. They are a tribute, not a reproduction - we do not hold permission to use the Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio, and no affiliation or endorsement is implied. All rights remain with Alfa Romeo.
Nothing is more valuable than a good name.
Matteo grew up with Alfa in the family - the badge on the workshop wall long before there was a kart in the garage. He handed Sebastian the same affection along with the surname, which is why an Italian's line about Alfa Romeo sits comfortably in a South African paddock.
"Ho per l'Alfa la tenerezza di un primo amore. L'affetto puro di un bambino per la propria madre."
"I still have, for Alfa, the tenderness of a first love. The pure affection of a child for his mother."
Enzo Ferrari - Scuderia Ferrari, racing team of Alfa Romeo, 1929-1938
Photographs the family hung themselves
Three generations of mornings, grids and long drives home. Nothing staged, nothing borrowed.
Clubs and community
The Alfa people who kept the badge alive
Long before there was a race number, there was a workshop and a community of people who refused to let these cars disappear. South Africa's Alfa Romeo clubs are still doing that work every weekend - restoring, driving and passing the stories on. We are enthusiasts among them, and we point people their way whenever we can.
- Alfa Romeo Owners' Association of South AfricaThe national body, seven autonomous regional clubs under one roof.
- Alfa Romeo Club of South AfricaThe Johannesburg hub - breakfast runs, track days and restorations.
- Cape Alfa Romeo ClubThe Western Cape gathering, and some of the best drives in the country.
- Castrol Classic SAClassic oils for the cars that still run on the old recipes.
Independent clubs and businesses, listed with respect. No affiliation or endorsement implied.
"Nothing is more valuable than a good name."
Matteo Lanzetti
Have a photograph of the family, a kart or a race weekend that belongs on this wall? Send it through and we will frame it.
The stories are free. The racecraft is earned.
Everything on these walls started with one family, one kart and one standard. If your driver wants the same grounding, the door is open.