By 2024-05-23T13:00:00+01:00 FRANCE: Leasing company Akiem has opened a locomotive maintenance and overhaul workshop near the Dourges Delta 3 intermodal logistics terminal in Ostricourt including a €500 000 contribution from the French government The company has a growing international lease fleet in 22 European countries and in France is the Entity in Charge of Maintenance for almost 60 locomotives with plans to increase this to 120 The workshop has four spaces for the regular support of leased locomotives There are also four spaces for undertaking mid-life overhauls and an ongoing programme to overhaul 150 BB27000 and BB37000 locos at Hiolle Industries near Valenciennes will be transferred to the site and includes a wheelset reprofiling facility which is available for other companies to use EUROPE: Canadian pension and insurance investor CDPQ has completed the acquisition of locomotive leasing company Akiem from SNCF Group and DWS Exclusive negotiations with CDPQ began in August following a competitive auction Closing of the transaction was announced on December 9 following staff consultations and regulatory .. EUROPE: Leasing company Akiem has awarded Siemens Mobility a firm order to supply 65 Vectron AC and Vectron MS electric locomotives from mid-2024 The 6·4 MW locos for use on cross-border freight and fast passenger services will have a maximum speed of either 200 or 230 .. FRANCE: ‘We are constantly seeing that the French rolling stock maintenance market is far less dynamic and competitive than elsewhere in Europe’ said Akiem CEO Fabien Rochefort when the leasing company confirmed plans to build a €10m locomotive workshop at Ostricourt in Hauts-de-France Site powered by Webvision Cloud Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker It’s always fascinating to trawl through early footage of world-class athletes you’re quite literally bearing witness to greatness in the making the following clip featuring 12-year-old Max Verstappen in a junior kart race is no different Filmed at the Ostricourt circuit located in France circa 2009 young(er) Max Verstappen starts somewhere towards the back of the grid the Dutch talent begins to showcase the patented Aggresive Overtakes™ which earned him a place amongst motorsport’s elite Hunting position after position with the relentless determination of a goddamn T-1000 the future Formula 1 champion unsurprisingly ends the race in P1 It’s nothing short of a masterclass in braking and kart control RELATED: McLaren F1 Signs 13-Year-Old Karting Prodigy To Its Talent Rostergoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-ArticlesPOS3'); }); RELATED: Oscar Piastri Just Got One Step Closer To His Formula 1 Debut Of course, this isn’t the sole bit of content from Max Verstappen’s karting days. A few years prior, widespread attention was brought to a clip involving the man of the hour and Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc at age 14 Our pint-sized superstars were battling one another for the WSK Euro Series when they experienced an all-too-familiar incident that forced Verstappen off the track The video linked above documents their respective reactions Max Verstappen would step up to the international stage he raced for their factory team at both the World and European championships notably finishing second at the KF3 World Cup to a far more experienced Alexander Albon as in his future Red Bull Racing teammate Alex Albon This loss was later avenged at the WSK Euro Series and (again) years after the fact in Formula 1 when it became clear who was the bigger swinging dick on the grid.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-ArticlesPOS4'); }); Fast forward to 2015, at the age of just 17 years and three days, Max Verstappen joined Scuderia Toro Rosso as the youngest Formula 1 driver in history – surpassing the record set by Jaime Alguersuari by almost two whole years Check out 12-year-old Max Verstappen dominating in the 2009 Ostricourt kart race above Signup to the Boss Hunting Friday Newsletter Nutella discounts spark chaos in French supermarketsThe Associated PressPARIS — Brawls have broken out in French supermarkets as shoppers scramble to get their hands on discounted jars of chocolate and hazelnut spread Chaotic scenes were filmed in several supermarkets across the country operated by the Intermarche chain which offered massive discounts on jars of Nutella reduced the price of more than a million 950-gram jars from 4.70 euros ($5.85) to 1.41 ($1.75) customers are seen shoving each other and shouting as they try to get as many jars as possible shoppers started to fight in the northern town of Ostricourt Intermarche did not immediately answer a message from The Associated Press seeking comments decried the incidents and distanced itself from the supermarket chain “We want to clarify that the decision for the special offer was taken unilaterally by Intermarche,” the company said in a statement “We regret the consequences of this operation which created confusion and disappointment in the consumers’ minds.” The discount was meant to last until Saturday but stocks ran out very quickly at many supermarkets with no incidents reported in several supermarkets taking part in the promotion.