Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/606717
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2015 Sport MOTORSPORTS ATHLETICS Podium Finish for Spiteri Maltese triathlete Fabio Spiteri ends 2015 Triathlon season at the grueling Dubai International Triathlon IT was an early morning start at the Dubai Marina Jumeirah Beach in rough seas for Spiteri and another 600 triathletes. Rough seas and low visibility saw the front group of swimmers, of which Spiteri was part of, head towards a wrong marker buoy and making good progress into the race before being instructed by race marshalls to turn back. This mishap resulted in a loss of approximately 6 minutes, how- ever Spiteri's experience enabled him to keep calm and focused on what was a disastrous start to the race. Finishing off the swim, which was 300m longer than usual, in 37 minutes 2 seconds, Spiteri dashed into transition to head towards the 90km cycle segment, which saw triathletes heading from Al Qudra cycle path towards the aptly named Endurance City in the desert. Facing most of the route on head winds made it for a tough ride however Spiteri, who has shown his prowess in this discipline, was having a great day to produce the the third best bike split from all participants and moving to the top 10 triathlete list at the end of the segment. As the desert tem- peratures kept on rising, reach- ing temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius, triathletes not only had to face a 21km run route amid desert paths but also had to con- tend with the incessant pelting of sharp sand blowing constantly in their faces. Spiteri completed the run in 1 hour 28 minutes. Spiteri crossed the finish line 4 hours 37 minutes after the start of the race to finish in 6th place overall and second place in his age group (40 - 44 years), secur- ing another podium placing in the process. Commenting af- ter the race, Spiteri said "Whilst training in the hot Maltese sum- mer eases a bit the difficulty when racing in such conditions, we are still not used to racing in dry desert conditions. Although I've raced in this region before, this was the first time I've had to contend with sand hitting my face constantly, making it tough- er than expected. Naturally I am pleased with my result and proud to keep the Maltese f lag f lying on the podium". Fabio Spiteri's participation was made possible through the support of Garmin, Go&Fun, Mochika Outdoors, Festina, Wheel Wizard and spe- cialeyes. Spiteri was joined by Dubai based triathlete John Vella who secured a personal best time of 6 hours and 9 minutes. Spi- teri will now undertake a short break before kicking off prepara- tory training for the 2016 season, where he will be undertaking Ironman Texas as his major race for the season. Agones SFC Triathlete Fabio Spiteri in the gruelling run segment of the Dubai Interna- tional Triathlon 22 Sport ON Sunday 22 November 2015 the 'Assoc- jazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi' organized the third event of the season of the ASMK - PASTA POIATTI 2015/2016 National Championships. It consists of races by the Autocross Cars and Motocross Motorcy- cles. The day's event started at 10: 00am where under a large tent erected for the occasion Mass was celebrated as is annual practice to remember former ASMK mem- bers who left this world for a better life in eternity. A Look at the day's event which officially opened the Motocross Championship. This year this Championship was launched later than usual because the Maltese Motocross team of this ASMK section had been pre- paring himself well for his first experience of racing in France earlier this month. During the day Class A rider Clayton Camilleri on his KTM dominated the his class by winning all the Heats while he was always been followed by his younger broth- er Kyle Camilleri also on a KTM of smaller engine capacity. Edward Ciantar finished in third place on his Kawasaki. In Class B Gozo rider Mario Cauchi on a Honda dominated this class with his win- nings in both Heats. Cauchi was always followed andd sometimes close behind by Elvin Debono on a Kawasaki while John Stellini also on a Kawasaki finished in third place. The 'Open Class' was also dominated by brothers Clayton and Kyle Camilleri. In the Autocross Modified Cars Class Christian Mark Galea on his Fiat RITMO dominated and won all the 3 Heats on the day thus securing his place on the Class A Start Grid. Along with Galea also qualified Noel Zammit on a Fiat Punto, Malcolm Borg on his Opel Corsa, Christian Apap on his Ford Fiesta, Josef Grech also on a Ford Fiesta and Philip Joe Vella on an Opel Nova. Right from the start Vella and Galea took the helm of the race followed by Apap and Grech respectively. There were no changes in the position during this final but all the 6 drivers in competition exhibited excel- lent clean driving and showed that they are masters on the loose ground surface. This race ended with Vella registering his 2nd win so far followed by Galea. Apap entered in third place followed by Grech and Zam- mit respectively. For the Class B Final the qualiefied drivers were Jonathan Vella on Ford Fiesta, Joseph Micallef and Jonathan Camilleri both on a Opel Corsa, Josef Abela on his Opel Nova, Delia Duncan on a Ford Fiesta and Ivan Birmingham on a Suzuki Swift. Right from the Start of this race final we saw Camilleri heading in first position while Abela and Micallef followed. The spectators attention was on Birmingham and Micallef with the latter was making pressure on Birmingham and finally Micallef succeeded in overtak- ing Birmingham thus gaining a position. After this move Birmingham started add- ing pressure on Micallef who unfortunately made contact with the tire barrier on a curve on the track and overturned his car. Although there was no room for alarm the race was Red Flagged for safety reasons. The Final ended with Camilleri winning this Class B final followed by Abela and Mi- callef.. Fourth and fifth place finishers were Birmingham and Vella respectively. The Start Line of the Autocross Standard Class was composed of Traydon Bailey on a Ford Ka, Ian Fenech and Fenech Deane both on a Citroen AX, Michael Scicluna on a Peugeot 206 and Johann Vella on his Opel Nova. Starting this final we saw Fenech and Farrugia making a very good launch. Far- rugia took the helm followed by Fenech. Shortly after the first lap Fenech took the lead on Farrugia who added pressure and managed to retain his lead again. Mean- while this final race for the Standard specs cars ended with Farrugia winning ahead of Fenech. Scicluna finished in third place who was followed by by the Gozo competi- tor Vella in fourth place. The ASMK events will continue next Sunday 29th November 2015 by the Trials riders on their special motorcycles. They will be riding their second competition of the tournament which is going to be or- ganised at the closed down Quarry named ix-Xagħra tal-Maghlaq in the limits of Qrendi with beautiful scenery surrounding the place. This event starts at 9: 00am. For more information please visit the ASMK electronic site named www.asmk.org.mt Camilleri Brothers Dominate the ASMK Motocross