Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/442526
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 JANUARY 2015 MOTORSPORTS FOOTBALL ASMK organise first event for 2015 ON Sunday 4 January 2015 the "As- socjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi" organized the first motorsport event of the New Year. The Enduro section within ASMK organized the second Championship event which was spon- sored by Pasta Poiatti and Dunlop. Although the Association possesses permissions to organise such Enduro events be held outside the ASMK sports complex at Ta 'Qali, this event was an exception where the Enduro course was laid on and in between the Motocross and the Autocross tracks for the Enduro Motorcycles. This was possible thanks to several mem- ber/helpers under the leadership of Mr. Eddie Bonello. They managed to make a course of two kilometers with various types of driving routes suit- able for both the novice and expert Enduro riders. 31 competitors registered and took part in this event which was divided into two classes. Class A for motor- cycles under the 250cc and Class B for engines greater than 250cc. Class A was battled between thirteen rid- ers and all struggled to make the best possible time laps of the two timed heats following the Pole Position. During the day Joseph Scicluna rid- ing a Honda 125cc 2T began to domi- nate this class during his 1st timed run where he registered a best time of 2 minutes 59.99 seconds. Scicluna continued to improve in his second Heat when he registered a best time of day in that class of 2 minutes 53.70 seconds and earning him first place in Class A. But the battle in Class A con- tinued mainly for second and third places between Bernard Sammut on Yamaha YZ 125cc and Daniel Caru- ana on 125cc Honda CR. The fight between the pair for best time was sealed when Sammut registered his best time of 3 minutes 11.48 seconds in the second Heat while Caruana registered his best time of 3 minutes 11.50 seconds in the first Heat. Sam- mut won second place followed by Caruana with a narrow gap of just 0.02 seconds. Fourth place was won by Elvin Debono on a 250cc KTM with a best time of 3 minutes 11.69 seconds. In Class B saw 16 competitors compete in this class. The battle for the lead here was expected between champion James Zahra on his Yama- ha 250cc and Matthew Gauci on a 300cc KTM motorcycle. In the first Heat Gauci was seen at the front of the scale with a timed lap of 2 min- utes 47.73 seconds while that of Zahra recorded 2 minutes 49.15 seconds. In the second heat Zahra was much de- termined where he improved in his timed lap and registered his 2nd lap at 2 minutes 43.69 seconds to finish and win first place in class followed by Gauci. Gauci closed the day in second place with his best time of 2 minutes 47.19 seconds. Third place was won by Edward Ciantar on KTM 200cc with a best time of 2 minutes 54.98 seconds. Andrew Cassar won fourth in Class B on his KTM 300 with a best time of 2 minutes 55.04 seconds. The ASMK Enduro races also records and awards the overall win- ner's result which once again was won by James Zahra on his Yamaha with a best time of 2 minutes 43.69 seconds. Matthew Gauci is Runner-up on his KTM with his best time of 2 minutes 47.19 seconds. Third place best time was recorded by Joseph Scicluna on his Honda with his best lap of 2 min- utes 53.70 seconds. More events by ASMK will take place on Sunday 11th January when the 6th program for the Autocross cars of the Gozo drivers class and of the Standard and Modified classes will take place in the ASMK – Pasta Poiatti 2014/15 championship. The program starts at 11: 00am while practice sessions will be held on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile after five events a brief look into the Autocross National Championship we find that Chris- tian Mark Galea on his Fiat Ritmo is leading at the top of the rankings with 111 points. Galea is followed close by Philip Vella on his Opel Corsa with 108 points. Third place ranking goes to Vince Farrugia on his Volkswagen Polo with 77 points while fourth place is Jason Martin with 71 points also on a VW Polo. For more information one can visit the ASMK Official website at www.asmk.org.mt Aidan Friggieri on Tottenham's radar TOTTENHAM Hotspur have been linked with signing Aidan Friggieri. Italian website TMW report Tot- tenham are 'strongly interested' in the attacker, who had a trial over the summer with Serie A side Lazio. The site describes him as 'probably the best talent of Maltese football'. Friggieri played against England in for Malta's under-17 side over the summer when the nation hosted the European championships in the age group. Friggieri had one goal and one assist in two subsequent matches against Holland and Turkey. Aidan Friggieri (L) makes his way past Turkey's Burak Bekaroglu If Liverpool offered me a deal last summer I'd be staying - Steven Gerrard LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard admits had the club offered him a new contract last summer he would not be bringing an end to his long association with the Reds at the end of this season. However, the midfielder insists he does not want to "point the finger" at anyone for his impending departure. A contract offer was not made to Gerrard, who turns 35 in May and is reported to be on the verge of signing with Major League Soccer side LA Gal- axy, until November - by which time he had already been told by Brendan Rodgers his playing time would be managed. Such a tactic had already seen him left on the bench for Liverpool's Champi- ons League match against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and that, combined with the delay in offering him an ex- tension, resulted in the player coming to a decision about his future. "If a contract had been put in front of me in pre-season I would have signed it," he told the Liverpool Echo. "I'd just retired from England to concentrate all my efforts on Liverpool. I didn't want my club games to be tailored. "My injury record had been fantastic for the past two and a half years and I had a great season from a personal point of view last season. "It's all ifs, buts and hindsight now. That period between the summer and the end of November gave me thinking time. "There's no blame and I'm not angry about it. There are other people in the squad and the club had other things to worry about. There is no finger point- ing from me towards the manager or anyone else at the club." Rodgers spoke to Gerrard in late No- vember and it came as something of a surprise to the player. But once the writing was on the wall the former England captain knew his days at Anfield were numbered. "I've got to be honest, that chat with Brendan came earlier than I was ex- pecting," he added. "It was about a month before that he first mentioned to me about managing my game time. "We had another chat on the subject recently - 10 days to two weeks ago. It was tough but I understood. It's been very amicable. Everyone knows how much I rate Brendan. Our relationship is very good. "There hasn't been a cross word be- tween us. Brendan has been fantastic for me. My only regret is that I didn't get to work with him at a younger age. "Since I was 16, 17 years of age, the moment I come into work on a Mon- day morning my preparations be- gin to play 90 minutes the following weekend. That's the buzz. I've always worked hard all week to prepare and make sure my performance is right come the weekend. "When it gets to the stage where you don't know if you're going to be start- ing or not it becomes different. I've never wanted to be a squad player. If I was missing games now, I'd be sitting out even more next season. I knew it would get worse and worse as time went on." Steven Gerrard