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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2014 Sport 22 MOTORSPORTS WINTER OLYMPICS Autocross and Motocross championship continues next Sunday Zahra wins First Fawwara Enduro THE 3rd round of the ASMK – Pasta Poiatti Enduro champion- ship was held on Sunday 16th February at a disused rock cutting quarry in Faw wara l/o Siggiewi. Competitors and spectators be- gan to appear on location where they found the organizers on site and a very technical and profes- sional track set up. By 10:00am sharp the entry list was closed with 34 competi- tors who were divided into three healthy classes that for under 250cc m.cycles, Class B for over 250cc & a Trials bikes class too. A look at the starters list predicted close competition amongst the riders and irrespective of the en- gine capacity classes. A free untimed lap in groups of five riders was set for the rid- ers. This was followed by a timed round 'pole position' run which determined the starting order for the remainder of the enduro race. During the pole position runs Alex Sant Fournier on his KTM 450 came out on top by putting in a 5mins. 33.60 run followed by young James Zahra on his Yama- ha 250 with a 5mins. 35.83. Joseph Scicluna riding his Honda 125 placed 3rd with a 5mins. 37.50. Just 3.9 secs. separated the top 3 riders in the 'pole run'. Alex Sant Fournier was first off in Round two counting towards the final race results. He was de- termined to make his mark with a safe and clean run on the course which stopped the computer clocks at 5mins. 19.48. Next was Zahra who had to borrow a friend 's bike after his Yamaha developed technical engine problems before the 1st Timed Run. Despite all this James crossed the finish line in 5mins. 01.43 while Matthew Gauci on his KTM 300cc crossed the line at 5mins. 05.36. At the end of this 1st round it was Zahra in first place followed by Gauci and Sant Fournier in third. Determined to improve his time Sant Fournier was first off on his last lap. The course slippery rocky sections had dried out thus offer- ing the riders more grip to push even harder in the difficult areas. A ten second improvement and his best time of 5mins. 09.23 placed Alex Sant Fournier in the 2nd place but was not enough to catch with the top two riders. Gauci was off on his final super run and clocked a 4mins 55.69 and putting him in first place. James Zahra the last competi- tor on the Start Line needed to improve his best time in order to better Gauci's time. He did an amazing 4mins 54.83 recorded on the Timing computer and this was enough to put him in 1st place overall by just 0.86 of a second. James Zahra on a Honda won 1st Overall on a Honda 250cc, Gauci in 2nd and Sant Fournier in 3rd both riding on KTM. Class A under 250cc was won by James Zahra on a Honda, Joseph Scicluna is placed 2nd on another Honda and Mario Micallef is 3rd placed on a KTM.Class B for over 250cc results:- Matthew Gauci placed 1st, Alex Sant Fournier 2nd and Andrew Cassar is 3rd placed. All riders in Class B ride on KTM's.Trials Class results:- Rowen Bonello is 1st on a Gas Gas 280cc, Robert Caruana is 2nd on a Beta and Manuel Camilleri is 3rd on a 300cc Gas Gas. Trophies were presented to the top 3 in each class and to the over- all winner. A Dunlop MX51 mo- tocross tyre was also presented to the overall winner by event spon- sors Dunlop Tyres. ASMK thanks all participating Enduro riders, the Marshalls for their help, Dunlop sponsor, loca- tion owners Schembri Barbros and Polidano Group, Thomas Smith Insurance and the authorities for issuing the necessary permits for this Enduro location. Next En- duro race is scheduled in another interesting location in about 6 weeks time. The 9th Round of the Autocross and the 3rd Round for the Mo- tocross ASMK-Pasta Poiatti Na- tional Championship races will be held next Sunday 23rd February at ASMK Race Complex at Ta Qali. First race starts at 11.00am. Sat- urday Practice sessions are open for all and attendance is for free. More information in w w w.asmk. org.mt James Zahra the overall winner Nicolai Abela NHL may block players from future Olympics THE three most powerful men in hockey - Rene Fasel, head of the In- ternational Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Associa- tion chief Donald Fehr - had no firm answers for reporters when asked whether NHL players would be back in four years' time. "Yes, Rene would love for Don and I to say today that we are coming (to Pyeongchang), but he knows that's not the case," said Bettman. "This is the fifth time we have participated in the Olympic tournament - where we are in this process should not be a shock to anybody." In North America, talk persists that Sochi will mark the final time that NHL players will be seen on Olym- pic ice. Bettman insisted nothing has been decided and negotiations would continue, as has been the case after every Winter Games. "Let's try to be very clear, it's nothing that's been discussed, it's nothing that will be discussed while we are here in Sochi," said Bettman. "All of us are here to enjoy this com- petition, and while I have seen lots of commentary over the last couple of weeks the fact of the matter is there isn't anything that has been said in the last two weeks that hasn't been said the last eight years." Since NHL players were first wel- comed into the Olympics at Nagano in 1998, the league's relationship with the International Olympic Commit- tee (IOC) has been a complicated and often tumultuous one. The NHL has refused to make a long-term commitment to the Games and indications are that team own- ers no longer believe the worldwide exposure they gain from competing is worth shutting the league down for two weeks in the middle of the season and handing over their players to the IOC. Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider has been among the most vocal dis- senters, saying before the start of the Sochi Olympics, "I hate them". "What we do next is something we will all have to reason on, taking into account a variety of factors," said Bett- man. "We are here because we think it is great to be here today for this tour- nament. "What comes next we'll all have to figure out as we have done each of the other times the NHL players have par- ticipated." Fehr said the NHLPA will not back going to Pyeongchang until the mem- bership has been briefed and had de- tailed discussions. "From our standpoint we have a process we go through," said Fehr. "We have a significant time period in which we talk to the players, see what they have to say, figure out what they want and they tell me what they would like to do and we try to make that hap- pen." While the NHL waited until the last minute to confirm their participation in Sochi, the league is expected to move quickly to make a decision on Pyeongchang. "I believe my colleague (deputy com- missioner) Mr. Daly was quoted ear- lier in the week he had hoped, as do I, that it could be done in six months," said Bettman. "As a logistical matter we don't see why it couldn't be done in that time frame, and frankly if we are going to continue to participate having as long a runway as possible to use the advantages would be a good thing. "And if we're not going to participate then it gives the various national fed- erations an opportunity to adjust to that." Fasel is preparing for another round of tough negotiations with Bettman. The Swiss IOC member pulled out his trump card at the media briefing by touching on the romance of winning an Olympic gold, long a key part of the IIHF's sales pitch. "I love to bargain with these people, it's fun to do that after every Olym- pics," laughed Fasel. "There is nothing like a gold medal in the life of an ath- lete, nothing. "The Olympic gold medal you can- not replace. Look at the faces here next Sunday when the players will get the gold medal. So different." The NHL was non-committal about players' future participation in the Olympics on Tuesday, leaving open the possibility that the Sochi Games might be the last to showcase the world's best players. Download the MaltaToday App now