Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/517560
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 MAY 2015 MOTORSPORTS TRIATHLON Danica Bonello Spiteri producing impressive results all over Europe AS part of preparations for the upcoming European Games to be held later on this month in Baku, Azerbaijan, Danica Bonello Spiteri has managed to produce strong re- sults on foreign ground. Her first performance was in Horst, Holland, racing in the Elite category in the European Du- athlon Sprint Championships. Amongst a very strong field of some of Europe's top duathletes, the first 5km run was fast from the word go, covering the distance in 17min 46seconds. The 20km bike was pancake flat in a typical Dutch style, but a very technical course with plenty of turns through pic- turesque villages. Coming off the bike in a group of three athletes, the 2.5km run was head to head until the final 500m where she was outsprinted by one of the athletes, leaving her to settle for 9th place overall in a commendable time of 1hr 4min 41seconds. 'The race was literally the fast and the furious. I don't think I've ever had to run so fast in my life, covering the first kilometre in 3.12, I knew it was going to be hard racing. I gave it my best and I'm pleased with the result,' Danica said. Danica's next commitment was on Spanish grounds, where she raced with her Spanish team CTOA, participating in the Span- ish National Team Champion- ships. In both events Danica raced in the Elite category. The first race was over a sprint distance triath- lon where she was a strong mem- ber of her team, helping her team mates complete the team triathlon in 1hr 11min to place 6th overall in the Elite Category. 'The race was a new format of tri- athlon racing for me, where team work is essential and this is what led to my team doing so well. We worked at drafting in the swim, bike and run sections to ensure that the stronger athletes put in more work to ensure a faster race. I was happy to work hard for my team and we are pleased with the result' The second race held was over super sprint distance (300m swim, 7km bike, 1.7km run) in relay format, consisting of three team members, Elena Aguliar, Nuria Blanco and Danica Bonello Spiteri. 'My Spanish team felt that I was the stronger member of the team and put me into the last leg of the re- lay. I knew that since the distances were short it was going to be hard racing. Once I set off in the swim, our team was in 12th place and I put in a strong swim. The bike sec- tion had a little mishap, that possi- bly cost our team some time, but as soon as I got off the bike, I literally just ran! I'm in very good running form at present, and the run seg- ment was only 1.7km, but I man- aged to beat three more athletes, thus putting my team into the 8th place overall. I was thrilled with all the support from my club whilst racing and it enabled me to dig deeper. In fact, I managed to put in the second best run split overall, by just two seconds!' In the last days, Danica entered two cycling races in the UCI World Tour held in Syros, Greece. She was first in her category and second overall in the Time-Trail race on Thursday, while she got the same result again in a mass-start race on Sunday. This enabled Danica to qualify for the UCI World Cham- pionships in Copenhagen, Den- mark, this September. Other Maltese cyclists pro- duced some great results in Sky- ros, namely Marie-Claire Aquilina by winning both races as well as Etienne Bonello and James Mifsud by placing in the overall standing and claiming podium finishes in the men races. Through participation of these races, Danica Bonello Spiteri is on the right track towards producing a strong performance in her up- coming European Games in Baku in June. Participation at these events was possible through kind assistance from Malta Olympic Committee, KMS Flexischeme, Malta Triathlon Federation, Ecco, Quest Vitamins, BBB Bike parts, BuffMalta, Club CTOA, along with Liliana Spiteri (Holland) and Nuria Blanco (Spain). Danica (C) of the podium in Skyros, Greece May 2015 ASMK Pasta Poiatti 'end of season' races next Saturday ON Saturday 30 May 2015 'Assoc- jazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi' will continue the Autocross and Motocross racing events at Ta' Qali. This event will bring to the end another championship spon- sored by ASMK and Pasta Poiatti. These activities are expected to start this Saturday late afternoon. The motocross races start at 4:30pm and the Autocross classes start later in the night. Everyone is invited to attend. Also on Saturday, the Trials Championship comes to an end during a competition held in a quarry in Naxxar. This seventh Trials Championship event is made possible in this location by kind permission and thanks to BLOKRETE Ltd who have fully cooperated with ASMK to hold the Trials competition in their lo- cations. This event is expected to start at 4:00pm. Meanwhile last Sunday 24 May 2015, the ASMK Enduro National Championship came to an end. This last event was held at the quarry in Torri Falka l/o Zeb- bieh on the road to Mgarr. Special thanks go to Hardrocks Ltd who always offered its premises to ASMK to hold our Enduro events. Thanks also go to Dunlop Tyres who also sponsored the Enduro Championship events through- out the year. The Enduro track laid on vari- ous road surface conditions was a little longer than three kilom- eters. 27 competitors on various mo- torcycle models registered for this event. They were divided into two classes. Class A welcoming motorcycles up to 250cc cylinder displacement. Here we have seen Joseph Scicluna on 125cc Honda who dominated this Class A. In his Practice Timed run counting for the Pole Position he showed good times and also registered the best time in class of 3: 45.70 seconds to finish in 1st Place. Ber- nard Sammut won Second place on a 125cc Yamaha with his best time of 4 minutes 2.92 seconds. Third place in Class A was won by Damon Bonello on a 250cc Su- zuki with a best time of 4 minutes 2.94 seconds. Daniel Caruana on a 250cc Honda finished in fourth place with his best time of 4 min- utes 8.38 seconds. Class B which is highly com- petitive with experienced Enduro Riders we saw Matthew Gauci on 300cc KTM 300cc dominate the Class B during the whole day with his best time of 3 minutes 37.95 seconds. Obviously he finished 1st in Class B. Gauci was fol- lowed close by Alex Sant Fornier on 450cc KTM who registered his best time of 3 minutes 40.05 sec- onds. Third place was won by Vic- tor Bajada on a 300cc KTM with his best time of 3 minutes 47.05 seconds while fourth place was won by the current championship winner James Zahra. This time Zahra was riding a KTM 200cc and registered his best time of 3 minutes 54.63 seconds. The Best Overall Result Classi- fication of the day was dominat- ed by Matthew Gauci followed by Alex Sant Fornier both on a KTM motorcycles. The 2014/15 National Enduro Championship has now come to an end. For the second consecutive year James Zahra won the Championship Title on a Yamaha where dur- ing this season Zahra won two events from the six available. He also finishing in 2nd in three activities and finished in 5th in this last event. Altogether Zahra won a total of 102 points. Mat- thew Gauci on a 300cc KTM won four of six events during this sea- son. He finished in once in 2nd place and was absent in another competition. Gauci finished this tournament with 97 points. The Association thanks the organ- izing team and all competitors who took part in this tourna- ment which was a demanding and competitive one. Meanwhile on Monday 25th May the ASMK hels the Auto- cross Classes A and B of the Sat- urday 16th May event. Racing of these Finals started at about 9:00pm under artificial lighting of the track and spectators ar- eas. The Class A Final was won by Philip Joe Vella on Opel Corsa who battled hard for the finish with his 2nd placed team mate Christian Mark Galea on a Fiat Ritmo. Third place was won by Gordon Johnson on his Peugeot 205. The Class B Final race was won by Matthew Borg on a Vauxhall Nova. He was followed by Chris- tian Apap on his Ford Fiesta while third place was won by Ry- an Scerri on his Opel Corsa. For more information one can visit the website www.asmk.org.mt or the Facebook social site named ASMK Malta or Association Sport Motorcycles and Cars. One can also make use of the email ad- dress:- info@asmk.org.mt Dale Galea