Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1105612
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 APRIL 2019 20 DEMOLITION DERBY SPORTS LAST Sunday, the Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi (ASMK) organised the eighth event of the National Autocross Champion- ship organized in collaboration with Pasta Poiatti. The day's programme came to an end with the crowd-pulling Demolition for cars of four meters in length. For this edition of demolition, of the 54 competitors registered, only 50 passed the scrutineer- ing tests. Because of the storm the previos Sunday, the event had been postponed by a week, with all cars kept in the ASMK Complex at Ta' Qali, under constant CCTV supervision to ensure that none of the vehicles could be modified or altered af- ter having passed the technical scrutiny. But on the night of Sunday 7 April, a small number of drivers alleged that cars in the ASMK paddock were tampered with by third parties. The ASMK then acceded to these the com- petitors' request that they be al- lowed to take their cars from the paddock. The eight competitors who withdrew their competition cars from the Complex were au- tomatically dropped from the competition. The Executive Committee in- vestigated the matter and found no evidence to sustain the alle- gations of tampering. The remaining competitors el- igible to participate were: Frans Bowell and Julian Mayo both on a Ford Fiesta, Brandon Attard on VW Polo, Fernando Cremo- na on a Renault Clio, Brian Law- rence Mascari on a Kia Avella, Kyran Mascari on a Kia Pride, Adrian Bonnici on a Peugeot 205, Jurgen Gatt on a VW Polo, Josmar Farrugia on a Hyundai Pony, Josuha Peplow on a Kia Avella, Luca Mifsud on a J10 Subaru, Charles Clint Calleja on a Kia Avella, Larkin Butler on Ford Fiesta, Wayne Mallia on a Fiat Uno, Clayton Gravina on a Peugeot 205, Thomas Galea on a Fiat Uno, Daimler Micallef on a Lada Samara, Eman Farrugia on a Toyota Starlet, Antoine Cassar on a Peugeot 306, Leo Butler on a Lada Samara, Clint Farrugia on a Mazda 1200, Marlon Caruana on a Kia Avella, Christian Cre- mona and Mauro Cassar both on a VW Polo, the Peugeot 205 of Jurgen Azzopardi, Pierre Carabott on a Peugeot 205, the Peugeot 106 of Jonathan Galea, Josuha Bowell on a Ford Fiesta, Massimo Borg on a Daihatsu Charade, Jason Magro on a Fiat Bravo, Philip Mangion on a Tata Indica, Edward Zammit, Mat- thew Mallia and Mario Magro all three on a Skoda Favorit each, Clayton Tanti on a Fiat Uno, Omar Fouad Tayel on a Peuge- ot 106, Michael Delia on a Kia Avella, Charlie Falzon on a Lada Samara, Theo Grazino Camill- eri on a Peugeot 306 and Jurgen Vassallo on a Peugeot 106. At 3pm the drivers and helpers were allowed to access the closed paddock to start preparing their cars to approach the Start Line. The drivers immediately started running their two exhibition laps to show off the cars before being demolished. The Demolition itself lasted 40 minutes of controlled collisions. After the first 10 minutes, the first car was abandoned, soon to be followed by most of the re- maining vehicles on track. In the last 15 minutes a trio was composed of Kyran Mascari on his Kia Pride, Larkin Butler on his Ford Fiesta and Peugeot 205 of Jurgen Azzopardi. During the last combat Mascari had to retire because his car could not longer move even though his car engine remained running. In the last few minutes Azzo- pardi and Butler went head on and it was not long before Lar- kin's car caught fire. This was quickly controlled and Larkin managed to re-start his engine again. But this only led to a fire devel- oping again and he was instruct- ed to abandon his car by one of the referees. Thus Jurgen Azzopardi on his Peugeot 205 secured his first win ever in the '2019 Mini Car Demolition'. The next Demolition Derby to be organised by ASMK is the 'Van Demolition Derby 2019', currently scheduled for July. Further details will be an- nounced in the near future. ASMK is also considering re- quests to organise another small car Demolition for lady drivers only. This is to be discussed and decided by the ASMK Executive Committee in the coming days. More information can found on the association's website - www.asmk.org.mt or Facebook pages named A.S.M.K. Malta or Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi. Jurgen Azzopardi wins 2019 Mini-Car Demolition Derby PHOTO: MARIO MICALLEF