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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 MARCH 2014 Sport 22 MOTORSPORTS HORSE RACING FORMULA 1 Zammit continues to dominate ASMK Autocross ON Sunday 30th March ASMK will be organising the eleventh (11) Autocross event of the ASMK- Pasta Poiatti National Autocross Championship 2013/14. This 15 event championship is being held at the ASMK Sport Complex at Ta Qali. First race is scheduled to start at noon. Time is passing fast and the championship is still wide open from 2nd place onwards. Though Melo Zammit on his Mk 3 Escort No. 61 failed to qualify for Class A and had to run in Final B Class during the last 10th event he still tops the Championship scale with 162 points. Second placed Chris- tian Mark Galea won 133 points so far on his Fiat Ritmo. Third placed are Gordon Johnson on his Peugeot 205 and Vince Farrugia on his Volkswagen Polo. Both John- son and Farrugia won 130 points each which is 3 points less than 2nd placed Galea on his Ritmo and 4 points ahead of 5th placed Josef Grech with 126 points on his Ford Fiesta No. 62. The difference is so minimal between 2nd, 3rd and 5th places so one expects high competition between these top drivers in this classification list. All placings are expected to change and stabilise their positions in next Sundays Fi- nal races. Thus, these drivers will be the main attraction throughout the next event. The Gozo Autocross section seems to be stabilised with Do- menic Zammit on his Alfa Sud who tops the Gozo Championship scale. Joseph Vella and Joseph Agius both on Fiesta cars are placed 2nd and 3rd overall. Marvin Grima on his Opel Corsa is placed 4th overall. A look into the Class A and Class B shows that Melo Zammit also heads the Class A points. Chris- tian Mark Galea follows on his Fiat Ritmo and Emanuel Muscat on his Opel Corsa is placed 3rd overall in Class A. Josef Grech on his Ford Fi- esta is placed 4th in Class. Andrew Pisani still heads Class B drivers list on his Vauxhall Nova though he suffered mechanical problems in his last race event. Philip Joe Vella on another Vaux- hall Nova now is placed 2nd overall in this class while Vince Farrugia is 3rd placed on his Volkswagen Polo together with Kurt Sammut on his Ford Ka who shares the same number of points as Farrugia. ASMK would like to notify the general public that entrance to the ASMK site at Ta Qali will be open for free to all during Saturday's Autocross practice and testing sessions as from 2.00pm onwards. More information can be obtained though the website www.askm.org. mt BOV Tazza l-Kbira – 80 Years of Racing History THE Chairman of the Malta Racing Club Dr Matthew Brincat said that next Sunday and Monday 30th and 31st March sees the start of the Malta Racing Club's biggest annual event for local horse racing – It-Tazza l-Kbira which literally translates as The Big Cup. It is with pleas- ure that we announce that this year's sponsor is Bank of Valletta. Every owner and driver aspires to see his name on the roll of honour of this trophy which sees the participa- tion of the best horses currently rac- ing on the island. This year is more special as we are celebrating the 80th anniversary since the first edition was held way back in 1934 and which was won by Frise Poulet. Naturally at that time this was held at the old racetrack. Although it has been 80 years, due to several reasons it was not held every year but since 2008 it has been held regularly. This year's edition sees the registration of 61 horses which have been divided in 5 races from which the first six will qualify for the semi finals. Amongst these 61 horses we have 5 mares and one can say that there is a participation from 8 different nations – 33 French, 17 Swedish, 5 German, 2 Italian as well as a Belgian, Dutch, American and Danish. In this edition 8 new horses will be making their first start and we also have last year's winner Nabab du Chatelet. The 30 horses that qualify for the semi finals will race each other again on Sunday 13th April when they will be divided in 3 races from which the first four will go on to the final on Sunday 27th April. This year the total prize money awarded will be a record one as part of the 80th Anniversary celebrations. In fact in just the final 8000 Euro will be distributed from which €4250 will be given to the winner, €2000 for the second placed, €1000 for the third place, €500 for fourth and €250 for whoever finishes fifth. Another €9600 will be distributed during the heats and semi finals. The finalist horses will also be given a commemorative blan- ket which they will use dur- ing the pre-race parade. The winning owner apart from receiving It-Tazza l-Kbira for a year, will also be given a com- memorative trophy which will be a special one due to this year's anniversary. For this we thank the company b.e.d and its director Samuel Agius Livori who is responsible for designing the commemorative logo which will be used during these weeks. The owners of the horses that finish from 2nd till 5th place will also receive a trophy. As always, the Malta Racing Club will be preparing a special pro- gramme on the day of the final in or- der to entertain all those present. The press conference was also ad- dress by the CEO of Bank of Valleta Mr Charles Borg who said that 'Bank of Valletta is no stranger to horse rac- ing having already supported the or- ganisation of horse racing in the past. With BOV's tradition of supporting sporting excellence, it is indeed our pleasure to support the highlight of the Malta Racing Club's calendar. With the quality of the horses partic- ipating in this race, we have no doubt that this race will attract the interest, not only of the horse racing commu- nity but also of the general public. McLaren has turned a corner, says Button JENSON Button feels that McLaren has "turned a corner" with the design of its 2014 For- mula 1 challenger. Last season, McLaren endured a torrid term as it struggled to get on top of its MP4-28, with the outfit failing to record a victory for the first time in seven years and also missing out on the podium for the first time since 1980. But in Australia, following the exclusion of Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull, Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen secured a double ros- trum finish, leaving the Briton in a positive mood about the upcom- ing Malaysian Grand Prix. "Australia was a really motiva- tional race for the entire team," Button explained. "Even though we still have work to do, it feels like we've turned a corner, and that we have a racecar we can defi- nitely work with this year. "It's important that we keep pushing hard on the develop- ment front – we brought useful upgrades to Melbourne, and it was encouraging that they worked straight out of the box, but it's essential that we keep pushing new items through the develop- ment pipeline, especially at these f lyaway races, where it's harder to bring new parts." Magnussen reckons Malaysia will provide a greater challenge for the team, but the 21-year-old Dane is confident of adding to his points tally and hopes to prolong McLaren's stay at the top of the Constructors' standings. "I think it'll be a tougher test than Australia – the ambient tem- peratures will make it tougher for the drivers; and the track temper- atures will be higher too, which will make it harder on the tyres," Magnussen commented. "My aim will be to score more points – consistency is going to be very important – and to keep learning. "I'm really looking forward to it – the car feels fantastic to drive, and I hope we'll have another good weekend."

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