Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/460957
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2015 Sport MOTORSPORTS FORMULA 1 Ricciardo wary of Ferrari's early pace RED Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo says he is taking the threat of a Ferrari resurgence se- riously, after the Italian marque's perform- ance at the first pre-season test in Jerez. Ricciardo's former team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, topped the opening two days of run- ning, while Kimi Räikkönen brought the test to an end with the fastest time of the week. Although early test programmes are unclear, Ricciardo admits that a similar showing from Ferrari at the next Barcelona gatherings would give rivals plenty to think about. "[At] the first test you try to just worry about yourself, but of course we're aware of what Mercedes did, and the lap time Ferrari put down. It looked good," Ricciardo told the Australian Grand Prix's 'Keeping Track' podcast. "We expect nothing less of Mercedes to be honest, but Ferrari looked like they came out pretty strong. "For now they look good, but it's one of those things. It's still early, and Jerez is a place that A, we don't race at, and B, we never drive in conditions that are like five- to-eight degrees. And the track is really, re- ally abrasive there; the tarmac is a lot more aggressive than any other track. "So they look good, but are they going to be the same once we start racing? I think Barcelona will get us a step closer to that, and then we'll see where we are. "But I'm not taking anything away from them; I think they've come out in good form." Ricciardo hopes Red Bull will be able to make up for lost time in Barcelona, after Renault-related issues left the team seventh out of the eight outfits present on the Jerez mileage chart. "There were two ways to look at it; you could have a bit of frustration looking at how many laps Mercedes did, or you can look at the optimistic picture and look at where we were this time last year," he ex- plained. "I think most of us looked at the optimistic one. It was a lot better than last year, but for sure we're still trying to find our feet. We've got time on our side and we're pretty quick at turning it around. "It wasn't a disaster by any means, and I think we'll just look to keep chipping away now over the next eight days at Barcelona." Daniel Ricciardo ASMK rewards the Champions ON Sunday 8 February the 'Assoc- jazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi' organized the third Moto Enduro Championship event sponsored by ASMK – Pasta Poiatti 2014/15. This was organized in the Quarry at Tor- ri Falka within the limits of Mgarr. The event started at 10.00am and was supported by Dunlop Tyres and KTM of Malta. The 27 competitors were divided into two classes, one Class A for motorcycles with a capacity up to 250cc and Class B for motorcycles with a cylinder capacity greater than 250cc. On the 3.5 kilometers long track Daniel Caruana on a Honda 125cc registered his first best time in Class A followed by Bernard Sammut on a Yamaha 125cc and the 250cc KTM of Nigel Anastasi in 3rd place. During the second Heats Caruana continued to improve his time and defend his position in first place. He registered a best in class time of 4 minutes 41.71 seconds. Sam- mut followed but did not make any improvement in his lap-time. Never the less he kept his place in second position with a best time of 4 min- utes 53.27 seconds. Anastasi fin- ished in third place with a time of 5 minutes 5.21 seconds. In Class B there was an interesting competition between James Zahra on his Yamaha 250cc and Matthew Gauci on his 300cc KTM. From the start Zahra was seen faster and reg- istered the best overall time in the Pole Position. He continued to bet- ter his time in the first timed Heat with 4 minutes 15.21 seconds. Till now Gauci was always in second place with a time of 4 minutes 19.07 seconds. Alex Sant Fornier on his KTM 450cc was places 3rd overall with a lap of 4 minutes and 23.20 seconds. The 2nd Last Heat was crucial es- pecially for the first three riders to try to improve their lap times. This left us in an unusual tense situation. During the last Heat Zahra fell of his bike and lost time to recover. It was difficult for him to improve on his first Heat thus he retired while Gau- ci managed to improve on his first Lap Time and registered his best of the day at 4 minutes 10.48 seconds to finish winning this class ahead of Zahra. Joseph Scicluna on Honda 125cc finished in 3rd in class with his best of 4 minutes 20.73 seconds. Sant Fournier is fourth with his best time of 4 minutes 23.20 seconds. Matthew Gauci finished winning the overall prize of this event fol- lowed by James Zahra in 2nd place. Meanwhile on Saturday 7 Febru- ary ASMK organized the annual Dinner-Presentation at the San Antonio Hotel to honor the Cham- pions and Runner-up's of each Club within the Association. Among the sportsmen ASMK honored Melo Zammit who on a Ford Escort MK 3 won the Autocross Championship and Runner-up Vince Farrugia on his VW Polo. Clayton Camilleri on a KTM motorcycle won again the Mo- tocross Championship. His Runner- up is Paul Muscat on a KTM. James Zahra on a Yamaha won the first Enduro Championship while his runner-up was Matthew Gauci on a KTM. Robert Caruana on a Gas Gas Trials bike won the Championship. His Runner-up is Nick Farrugia on his Beta. During his speech the President of the Association Frans Deguara congratulated all winners while he thanked all the ASMK executive members, helpers and the sponsors who were also present. Parliamen- tary Secretary for Youth and Sports Hon. Chris Agius MP was also invit- ed but could not attend. Also present was the Opposition spokesperson for Sport Hon. David Agius MP. In his speech he offered his support in the ASMK sports field and was con- fident that together with the Parlia- mentary Secretary for Sport and the Executive Committee of the ASMK will continue to work towards this sport to keep moving forward. Hon. Agius also congratulated and pre- sented trophies to the winners while he was also presented with a token to commemorate the occasion. The activities of the Association will continue on Sunday 15th Feb- ruary when the 4th Trials Champi- onship Competition in the ASMK – Pasta Poiatti 2014/15 will be held at the ASMK Sports complex at Ta' Qali with 10 sections to compete. This starts at 9: 00 am. More infor- mation is found in the ASMK Offi- cial website www.asmk.org.mt Matthew Gauci Matthew Gauci wins the Enduro PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMUEL SCICLUNA