Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/689748
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 JUNE 2016 Sport MOTORSPORTS Clayton Camilleri wins tenth Motocross championship THE Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi last Saturday held the first night event of this season, with the participa- tion of the Autocross cars and Motocross Motorcycles. The evening's activities in- cluded the 11th programme of the ASMK Pasta Poiatti 2015/2016 National Cham- pionships, which also brought to an end the National Motocross Championship. A quick look of the day shows that 40 competitors registered for this Night event. The programme started with the Moto- cross Motorcycles late in the afternoon, seeing Mario Cauchi in Class A on a Hon- da motorcycle competing and dominat- ing this class in both heats. During the racing heats Cauchi was al- ways followed by David Dimech on a Ka- wasaki. The loss of participation of the Camilleri brothers in this final compe- tition was noted. Nevertheless Clayton Camilleri on KTM was declared National Motocross Champion for 2015/2016, making it the tenth Championship win on a KTM for him, ahead of his brother Kyle. The Camilleri brothers, Clayton and Kyle, will for the first time ever be run- ning as numbers 1 and 2 respectively, in the next season. In Class B there was an interesting bat- tle for the lead between Jethro Sant and Gozo rider Robert Spiteri both on Yamaha machines. Although during the two heats Sant both times managed to beat Spiteri in the start, the latter always made good times and each time ended the race ahead of Sant. Spiteri won the highest score and finished the day ahead of Sant and Paul Deguara on a Honda. Fourth place was won by Peter Lee Sammut on a KTM. In the Open Class for Motocross Mario Cauchi on his Honda registered a third consecutive win of this season. Cauchi was followed by David Dimech on a Ka- wasaki while third place finisher was Robert Spiteri on a Yamaha. Later on and at about 8:00pm the Au- tocross Modified class began their racing under artificial lighting and with their rear lights switched on for safety reasons. Here we saw Borg Malcolm and Gordon Johnson both on Opel Corsa cars domi- nate the heats of the day and earning the highest qualif ying score points to secure their place in the final A category. Other qualified drivers were Andrew Pisani and Josef Abela both on Opel Nova cars, Karl Micallef on a Ford Fiesta and Jean Paul Grech on a Peugeot 106. Right from the start of this final Micallef and Johnson offset the rest right to the first corner but it was Johnson who took the lead, followed close by Micallef. Soon the focus went on Grech who was in third place, very closely followed by Ab- ela and Pisani. Those of the latter placing had been putting pressure on Grech but he defended his placing to the end. This race was exciting right through the nine laps. This race final ended with Johnson winning his third race. He was followed by Micallef and Grech. Fourth and fifth places were awarded to Abela and Pisani. The Modified Final Class B drivers were Joseph Micallef and Jonathan Camilleri, both on an Opel Corsa, the Ford Fiesta of Ryan Scicluna, Matthew Borg on a Fiat Ritmo, Josef Grech on a Ford Fiesta and Keith Borg on a Vauxhall Nova. At the Start we saw Borg taking the lead first and just before the first corner. He was followed by Grech and Camilleri but Camilleri soon after the first lap started falling back because of some technical malfunction which resulted in the rest of the competitors each advancing one posi- tion ahead. There was no overtaking during the rest of the race laps and the race finished with Borg taking the Finish Flag first, followed by Grech and Micallef. Scicluna and Borg finished in fourth and fifth places respec- tively. In the Autocross Standard Category there was a continuous contest between 12 competitors. It seems that this class is growing stronger with every race. Ian Fenech on a Citroen AX was the protago- nist during the heats of the day, winning all the three race heats and securing his place in the race final for this category. Together with Fenech there were also Melvin Buttigieg on a Citroen AX, Johann Vella on Opel Nova, Traydon Bailey on Ford Ka and Karl Scicluna on a Peugeot 106. With the Start signal of this race fi- nal Scicluna and Bailey took the lead, fol- lowed by Gozo driver Vella on his Nova. Yet the attention fell on the last two drivers, Fenech and Buttigieg, who were adding pressure on their respective op- ponents ahead. Buttigieg managed to pass Vella who was also under pressure from Fenech. Later Fenech made an un- sporting move on Vella for which he was warned by the day's referee, costing him championship points. Though Vella con- tinued racing for a while from the point of the accident he soon decided to retire from the race and drove slowly to the paddock. Fenech went on with his race and before the end he managed to beat Buttigieg and Bailey. In the mean time Scicluna reached the Finish Flag, securing his race win ahead of Fenech and Bailey. Fourth place was awarded to Buttigieg and Vella who finished in fifth place. The Association is preparing for the twelfth and last National Autocross Championship event by ASMK and Pas- ta Poiatti for 2015/2016. This event will again be held under Artificial Lights on the evening of Saturday, 18th June. For more information one can visit the web- site of the association w w w.asmk.org.mt or the social site Facebook called ASMK Malta or email info@asmk.org.mt. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIO MICALLEF