Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/398422
21 Sport maltatoday, Wednesday, 15 OctOber 2014 MOTORING FORMULA 1 CYCLING The "Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi" last Sunday opened the 2014/15 season ASMK Pasta Poiatti National Championships, when the first activity was that by the enduro Section for Offroad Motorcycles. This event was held inside a rock- cutting quarry in Fawwara and it was made possible thanks to site owners Schembri Barbro and Poli- dano Group. 25 enduro and Motocross riders registered for this enduro event and were divided into two classes: – those in Class A for motorcycles under 250cc and Class B for motor- cycles over 250cc engine capacity. The temporarily laid course was 3.8 kilometers long and included tracks mainly used by quarry machinery, footpaths and rainwater filled chan- nels and pools among other terrain. The competition against the clock mainly between the leading com- petitors in both class 'A' and 'B' was high but an interesting one during the day's three races. Carmelo Borg on a Suzuki Motor- cycle battled to beat Joseph Sciclu- na's time on honda in Class A. Sci- cluna registered a time of 5 minutes 27.34 seconds while Borg registered a close time of 5 minutes 27.74 sec- onds. Scicluna closed the day in first place followed by Borg while third place was won by edward Ciantar on a Kawasaki with a best time of 5 minutes 41.22 seconds. Last Season's winners competed in Class B where bikers compete with motors larger than 250cc. Matthew Gauci on 2T KTM 300cc motorcy- cle registered his best time of the day with 5 minutes 16.39 seconds. This result made him win this class ahead of his best competitor James Zahra on 4T Yamaha 250cc motorcycle. Zahra registered his best time of 5 minutes 21.35 sec- onds and won second place in this class. Third place was won by Alex Sant Fournier who battled hard on his KTM 450cc with his best time of the day was 5 minutes 32.10 sec- onds. The 'Overall Classification' of the Day was awarded to Matthew Gau- ci, 1st Overall, as he recorded his best overall time though in Class B Gauci also won the first 20 points awarded for this season's enduro Championship 1st place. Runner-up James Zahra registered the second best time of the day while Joseph Scicluna and Carmel Borg, both of Class A, won the third and fourth best places Overall too. The next enduro Championship event is scheduled to be held on Sunday, 9 November at the ASMK Sports complex at Ta' Qali. This event is also open to non-ASMK members. Meanwhile during this com- ing week the association is very committed with regard to the Autocross cars as all cars must be re-inspected for safety standards and conformity with the regula- tions by the ASMK Scrutineers to be able to compete in this coming Sunday's first Autocross Champi- onship event. New drivers and cars together with established drivers of all ag- es are expected to participate in the 2014-15 National Autocross Championship held at Ta' Qali Motor Sport Racing Circuits com- plex. First races on Sunday start at noon with Warm-up Laps followed by three heats and two Finals for Class A and Class B drivers. In addition to the Autocross event at Ta' Qali on Sunday the Trials bik- ers will be riding their first 2014-15 Championship competition at the Blokrete Ltd Quarry in Naxxar. Registration takes place on site and the 1st Sections starts at 9am. here are classes for novices/beginners to the sport and another for experi- enced Trials riders. Also this Sunday the ASMK Mo- tocross riders will be riding a com- petition in Gozo in a 'Pre-Cham- pionship Race'. This race is made possible after the Nadur track has been re-furbished by ASMK dur- ing the construction of a temporary Autocross track last September. The race in Nadur Gozo welcomes all Maltese and Gozo Motocross riders to participate in this event which is due to start at noon this Sunday. Also this Sunday, FMI Licensed enduro Riders Andrew Cassar and Mathieu Salomon will be compet- ing in a Special enduro competi- tion as a '2 men Team'. This event at Marina di Ragusa (SR) is named "2 Ore di Coppie" and is organised by Moto club Scicli – Ragusa. Bianchi 'will not give up', insists driver's father MARuSSIA'S Jules Bianchi "will not give up" despite remaining in a critical condition after crashing at the Japanese GP, his father Philippe said yesterday. In the wake of Bianchi's horrific accident during the Japanese Grand Prix on October 5, Philippe Bianchi revealed that Jules' situation is "desperate" and it is "a miracle" he is still alive. Bianchi, 25, suffered a diffuse ax- onal injury to his brain, where the damage is more widespread, follow- ing a crash into a recovery vehicle at Suzuka. upon his arrival at the Mie Gen- eral Medical Centre in Yokkaichi, the Frenchman underwent imme- diate surgery, but remains in a criti- cal condition. Philippe, along with Bianchi's mother Christine, brother Tom and sister Melanie has since maintained a constant bedside vigil. Speaking for the first time since the accident, Philippe said: "The situation is desperate. every time the telephone goes we know it could be the hospital to tell us Jules is dead." "he will not give up, I'm sure of that. I can see it. I believe it." In an interview with Italian news- paper Gazzetta dello Sport, Philippe added "I speak to him. I know he can hear me. his doctors have told us this is already a miracle; no one has ever survived such a serious ac- cident. But Jules won't give up. "his trainer Andrea [Ferrari] says if there is one person who can make it happen, with his will, it's Jules." Philippe conceded the past few days since the accident have been "tough", adding "In a week the life of this family has been destroyed. "What are we doing here? Living a nightmare in a place very far from home. "everyone keeps asking me how Jules is, but I can't reply, there is no answer. It's very serious, but he's stable. "One day he seems a bit better, other days a bit worse. The doc- tors don't say. The damage from the accident is very bad, but we don't know how it will evolve." Clinging to hope, Philippe said "when Jules gets a bit better we can transfer him, maybe to Tokyo, and things will be a bit easier. "But who knows when that will happen, if it will happen. We have no certainties, we just have to wait." Following an investigation into the cause of the crash, FIA race di- rector Charlie Whiting concluded there was "a perfect storm" of con- ditions. With heavy rain falling and the light fading, Bianchi smashed into the back of a recovery vehicle that at the time was removing the Sau- ber of Adrian Sutil who had spun off the track and into a tyre barrier one lap previously. Although the FIA are due to bring in new safety measures following the incident, Whiting further stated with regard to the incident "nothing could have been done better". Tinkoff-Saxo owner 'serious' about €1 million Grand Tour showdown in 2015 TeAM Tinkoff-Saxo has said it is "very serious" about its proposals to have the world's best four riders compete in the three Grand Tours for a €1 million prize. Tinkoff-Saxo's proposal to pit cycling's top four grand tour riders against each other in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and the Vuelta could provide a platform to make the sport more attractive to a wider audience. Last week, team owner Oleg Tinkov offered a €1 mil- lion prize pool to be shared between Giro winner Nairo Quintana, Vuelta champion Alberto Contador, and the last two Tour de France win- ners, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, to battle for supremacy on all three grand tours. however, the Russian business- man's eccentric character meant that his proposal was generally met with a good dose of scepticism. But team CeO Stefano Feltrin gave the project more substance, revealing Tinkoff-Saxo had actually approached rival teams. "This isn't a joke or a publicity stunt. We are very serious about it and we feel it is a proposal that will help cycling move forward," Feltrin said. "We first approached the other teams during the recent Vuelta and we are encouraged by the recent positive reaction to our idea. We look forward to further discussing it with the key stakeholders. "Team Movistar manager euse- bio unzué said he thought it was a good idea while Team Sky manager David Brailsford thinks it has a lot of merit," Feltrin said. Feltrin added that 2015 would be a good year to trial the scheme be- cause there was "no major interna- tional sports events … it might even be the biggest sports story next year and capture the attention of audi- ences that don't usually follow cy- cling." The route for the 2015 Giro d'Italia, revealed on Monday, raised the possibility of the quartet com- peting against each other before launching rival general classifica- tions campaigns in the Tour de France a little over a month later. The Vuelta is raced in August and September. The 2015 Tour de France route will be unveiled on Wednesday, 22 October with the Vuelta route to be published next year. It is unusual for top riders to take part in all three grand tours with a credible hope of prevailing in each one of them. Only 32 men have completed all three races in the same year since the Vuelta was added to the roster in 1935, while just three men have ever won a stage on each Tour in the same year. Six riders, including Contador and Nibali, have achieved a career hat trick across the races but nobody has managed to win all three grand tours in the same year. The last rider to win two in one year was the late Italian Marco Pantani in 1998, when doping was rife in the sport. ASMK Cars and bikes to race in Malta, Gozo and Sicily James Zahra on a Yamaha