Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1006805
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JULY 2018 30 SPORTS IRONMAN MOTORSPORTS Record number of Maltese athletes cross Ironman Austria finish line THE increase in popularity in endurance and long distance triathlon has been such that Malta has been very well rep- resented in Ironman triathlons around the world. The Ironman race is not for the faint hearted and is consid- ered to be the ultimate chal- lenge for triathletes. Malta is no exception and the list of 'Ironman' graduates has in- creased substantially over the last few years. Whilst some athletes just do one Ironman race, quite a few discover a thirst for such races and quench that thirst by under- taking several races in a year. Ironman Austria, is undoubt- edly one of the most sought af- ter races with Maltese athletes – suffice to say, this year's edi- tion saw an all time high, with a total of 19 Maltese triathletes, five of which represent Mosta Tri Team, start and finish the race. Some where facing the hilly routes for the first time, others were returning, hungry for more. Current National Triathlon Champion Graham Borg is no stranger to endurance racing, having a substantial amount of Ironman 70.3 races under his belt, including a qualifi- cation at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Aus- tria served as a comeback to Ironman racing for Borg, hav- ing had a mishap at Ironman Mexico four years ago. Borg, who is self coached, explained that a well thought out train- ing strategy enabled him to break the sub 10 hours barrier but with that comes a lot of sacrifice and energy focusing on this distance. "This dis- tance requires specific training so I had to miss out on shorter races, which I could have po- tentially won, but this was my focus and I was determined to achieve it. I have a full agenda of races which include the European Championships in Estonia, Ironman 70.3 Poland and World Championships in South Africa whilst Ironman Barcelona wraps up my in- ternational calendar for 2018. This means a tough summer training long hours in the heat. Bring it on! Josef Bonavia is another Ironman aficionado, who in the span of four years has completed 14 Ironman 70.3 and 6 Ironman races. Austria proved to be a bitter sweet ex- perience for Bonavia, who also had a sub 10 hour target which he narrowly missed by 24 sec- onds. " A silly mistake from my side cost me my target – caught up in the excitement of the race I forgot to wear the race bib, and had to turn back, look for it amongst hundreds of bags in transition and con- tinue racing - lesson learnt, will not happen at my next race in Barcelona in October. William Brydon is probably the only Maltese athlete with the largest number of appear- ances on this famed course - six times, the first being in 2006. Brydon explained that he finds this course to be one of the most beautiful ones with strong support throughout the whole course. Furthermore he considers it to be perfect tim- ing since being held in the be- ginning of summer will not see him train in the midst of the Maltese summer. The first timer's perspective Felicienne Mercieca, is the first Gozitan female triathlete to cross an Ironman finish line - training for Gozitan athletes does not come easy as Mer- cieca explained. "There are no 25m pools in Gozo, so I had to take some very early chan- nel crossings to train properly, moreover, when you need to cover distances of over 100km on the bike, the roads become repetitive and boring. Hav- ing said that Ironman Austria was an amazing experiece, the scenery and atmosphere make all the pain and sacrifi- cies worth it! I will definitely do another Ironman sometime soon" Another athlete who might not share Mercieca's outlook on Ironman is Isabelle Carua- na who took up triathlon in the summer of 2016 after having completed the Alive Cycling Challenge. Caruana was not daunted by her lack of expe- rience in triathlon and suc- cessfuly completed the race. However, it is very unlikely that Caruana will be making a return to an Ironman race, mostly due to the commit- ment its preparation requires which saw her spend less qual- ity time with her family. Maltese athletes at Ironman Austria All Maltese athletes in Aus- tria successfully completed the course to the sound of "You are an Ironman" as they crossed the celebrated blue carpet. The Maltese contingent was made up of Steven Apap Bo- logna, Claire Azzopardi Lane, Stephen Banavage, Nicholas Bilocca, Josef Bonavia (Mo- sta Tri Team), Graham Borg (Mosta Tri Team), Samuel Borg, Stefan Borg (Mosta Tri Team), William Brydon, Vic- tor Calvagna, Isabelle Caruana (Mosta Tri Team), Anthony Fenech, Elaine Fenech, Ed- mond Friggieri, Mark Galea, Michael Galea (Mosta Tri Team), Felicienne Mercieca, Marvic Mizzi, Daren Zahra. Graham Borg Nicky Gauci's third karting victory in a row at Triscina, Sicily ALFRED A. FARRUGIA 17YEAROLD Nicky Gauci has succeeded to win the 125 RO- TAX Max class at the Triscina International Karting Circuit in Sicily, near Trapani, in the 7th Round of the Italian Karting Re- gional Championship last Sun- day. This was the third successive victory for Nicky. In this round 6 sub-divisions of the 125 class were raced togeth- er, including the 125 ROTAX Max, the 125 DVS, the 125 OKJ and the 125 TAG. In the 11-lap qualifying session on the 1,280 metres long karting circuit at Triscina, Nicky suc- ceeded to register the fastest lap of 49.790 seconds in his class in the 5th lap, while Jake Agius placed second 0.195 seconds slower. In the 15-lap pre-final race, Jake managed to overtake Nicky at the start of the race, but Nicky suc- ceeded to regain the first position in his class at the start of the long straight in the second lap. Nicky defended his position very well until the end of the race accumu- lating a gap of 9.546 seconds over Jake. Nicky recorded the fastest lap of the pre-final race in the 7th lap with a time of 50.398 seconds. In the final race, Jake succeeded to overtake Nicky at the start once again but this time it did not last very long as Jake's kart suffered mechanical failure after one lap and he had to retire. Nicky took advantage of the situation and cruised home after 14 laps, recording a fastest lap of 50.513 seconds in the 5th lap. As a result, Nicky has con- tinued to accumulate more championship points, making good for the ones he missed when he could not participate in one of the qualifying rounds due to the examinations at his school. Nicky is now looking forward to the 8th round of the champi- onship on 16th September at the Vincenza Ispica circuit in Sicily. Nicky Gauci at Triscina