Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/671725
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 APRIL 2016 Sport MOTORSPORTS ON Sunday 24 April, 2016 Assoċjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi organized the ninth championship event for the ASMK Pasta Poiatti 2015/2016 Championship. The day's pro- gramme included Autocross cars and Motocross Motorcycles in which 42 competitors registered for the day's events. In the Autocross section we had seen both the Standard Class to- gether with the Modified classes A and B. In the Autocross Modi- fied class no one competitor won all the Heats of the day though there was great competition be- tween Andrew Pisani on an Opel Nova and Josef Grech on a Fiesta. Both were the favorites of the day. Other drivers who qualified for this Class A were Christian Mark Galea on a Fiat Ritmo, Borg Mal- colm and Gordon Johnson both on an Opel Corsa and Ivan Bir- mingham on a Suzuki Swift. Right from the Start of the Fi- nal Class A we saw Galea mak- ing a very good launch and right by the first corner he had already developed a competitive advan- tage. Galea left behind him John- son and Grech battling for second place until after the second corner there was a contact between two cars which was out of the vicinity of the referee. This resulted in a collision on track between the rest of the finalists. This was a bad outcome for Borg who was forced to retire as he found himself face to face with Johnson's car as well as with several tyres on track as a result of the accident. The race final continued with Galea taking the Finish Flag followed by Grech and Pisani. Birmingham finished in fourth place, followed in fifth place by Johnson. For final Class B starters were Jean Paul Grech on a Peugeot 106, Jonathan Camilleri and Joseph Micallef both on an Opel Corsa, Christian Apap on a Fiesta Ford, Keith Borg on an Opel Nova and Noel Zammit on a Fiat Punto. From the Start Line we saw Mi- callef and Grech taking the lead ahead of the rest with Micallef taking the lead after the first corner. Grech and Borg followed Micallef 's lead. During the Final race all competitors defended and kept their placing right to the Fin- ish Line. This resulted in Micallef winning another B Final. He was followed by Grech and Borg and Zammit and Camilleri followed in 4th and 5th places respectively. In Autocross Standard Quin Camilleri on a Citroen won all the Heats and secured his place in the Final Race. Yet he was forced to retire as during the third Heat he twice fould other drivers on track. This resulted in Camilleri being shown the Black Flag as per the ASMK Rules which state that a secpnd Warning in the same heat will result in a Black Flag. The Referee was forced to report the driver's adverse behaviour to the ASMK Executive Committee. After all this matter the final for the Standard cars was composed of Terence Azzopardi on an Opel Corsa, Andreas Zammit on an Opel Nova, Traydon Bailey on a Ford Ka, Lucas Pace on a Citroen AX and Melvin Buttigieg on Cit- roen AX too. From the Start Pace took the lead, followed by Zammit and Azzopardi. During this final there were no placing changes right to the Finish Line. This race Final ended with Pace registering his first win in this class followed by Zammit and Azzopardi. Bailey won fourth place. The Motocross races were more attractive to watch than usual as on this day there was the par- ticipation of two MX riders from Sicily Clubs. Both raced in the Motocross Class B. Despite the challenge of the foreign riders dur- ing the competition, Gozo rider Mario Cauchi on his Honda won both Heats of the day's competi- tion and was declared the day's winner. Cauchi was followed in 2nd place by James Zahra on Sher- co and the Sicilian Fabio Galota on a Kawasaki finished in third place. The other Sicilian Ema - nuele Buongiovanni on a Honda finished the day in fifth place. In Class A the competition was mainly between Kyle Camilleri on a KTM and Trevor Muscat on a Honda. During the first heat Camilleri managed to take the lead and defended his place right to the Finish. Muscat followed in 2nd place. During the second heat of the day we saw some problems being faced by both Camilleri and Muscat. During the 2nd race Camilleri fell off his bike and Muscat took the lead until Camilleri regained his motorcycle and did his best to close the gap between the two. A few minutes before the Fin- ish Muscat fell off his bike and Camilleri regained his lead in the front. Yet, a couple of laps before the Finish Camilleri's bike devel- oped a mechanical fault and was forced to retire completely. Mus- cat soon closed the gap and took the lead again right to the Fin- ish. The Final Result in this class registers Muscat as the winner followed by Pierre Jourdan on a KTM. Camilleri closed the day in third place. Meanwhile the ASMK activities continue on Saturday when the TRIALS section will be organiz- ing the seventh competition of the season sponsored by ASMK and Pasta Poaitti. This will be held on Saturday 30th April at the ASMK Sports Complex at Ta' Qali. Rac- ing starts at 4:00 pm. More information is avail- able on the website of the As- sociation www.asmk.org.mt or facebook pages named A.S.M.K. Malta or Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi. One can al- so make contact by email at:- info@asmk.org.mt Galea and Pace win Autocross and Muscat wins Motocross PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIO MICALLEF PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MANGION