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22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 JUNE 2016 Sport MOTORSPORTS FORMULA 1 Heineken F1 deal triggers new call for alcohol ban DUTCH brewer Heineken's spon- sorship deal with Formula One, announced last week, has led to renewed calls from European campaigners for a ban on alcohol sponsorship in the sport. European Alcohol Policy Alli- ance network Eurocare, which groups public health and non- governmental organizations, said on Tuesday it wanted stronger leg- islation from the European Com- mission and member states. France, a country without a For- mula One grand prix, already bans alcohol sponsorship of sporting events. "F1 should ask themselves if they want to be a motorsport or an al- cohol brand event," said Eurocare general secretary Mariann Skar in a statement that estimated the Heineken deal to be worth $150 million to F1 over five years. "If both the sport and the drinks producers want to be seen as re- sponsible industries, they should stop this deal and move away from alcohol sponsorship in F1." Eurocare also published a letter sent to Jean Todt, the president of Formula One's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Todt, a Frenchman and former Ferrari principal, has made reduc- ing the number of motoring fatali- ties a cornerstone of his presiden- cy and is a United Nations special envoy for road safety. "We would like to remind you that drink driving is one of the key killers on the road. It is therefore worrying that F1 is now bringing the link between alcohol brands and motor sport even closer to- gether," the letter said. "We would like to request that you take this issue seriously and consider moving away from these sponsorship agreements, as you did with tobacco sponsorship." Tobacco companies were big backers of Formula One until the sport kicked the habit in 2008, although the Philip Morris brand Marlboro remains a Ferrari part- ner without on-car branding. A report published by Eurocare last year analysed the 2014 show- case Monaco Grand Prix, one of the most-watched races of the sea- son, for alcohol brand exposure and found viewers received an av- erage of 11 references per minute over two hours. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and Force India all have alcohol brand- ing while Diageo's Johnnie Walker has been Formula One's official whisky since 2014 with consider- able trackside advertising. Heineken branding was promi- nent at Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Formula One, with most other motorsport series, also has a po- dium ceremony that involves the spraying of Champagne or spar- kling wine -- with the exception of races in the Islamic world. Heineken have said the F1 part- nership will promote the brewer's "If You Drive, Never Drink" cam- paign. ASMK Championships end under artificial light on Saturday NEXT Saturday 18th June 2016 Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi will be holding the last programme of the 2015/2016 ASMK Pasta Poiatti Champi- onships Season. During this special evening the Association will launch the day's programme from 4: 30pm. This special event is to include two sections for mo- torcycle sport which are the Mo- tocross and Trials events. Later in the programme from 7:30pm the Autocross cars will start their racing and continue until late at night. During the last event of two weeks ago the Motocross Cham- pionship came to an end. During this next event they will be per- forming again on a friendly ba- sis. Yet, next Saturday the ASMK Pasta Poiatti Championships for the three Autocross Cars classes and also for the two Trials class- es will be coming to an end. An overview of the situation in Autocross we see that in the Modified category Christian Galea Mark on his Fiat Ritmo will be confirmed again as champion yet another time. It is expected that Malcolm Borg on an Opel Corsa will win the Runner-Up placing in the Na- tional Championship. The same cannot be said for the 3rd placed championship winner of the year as Gordon Johnson and Joseph Micallef both on an Opel Corsa are very close to each with regard to the points result for this posi- tion. Josef Abela on a Nova and Josef Grech on a Ford Fiesta also stand a chance for 3rd place. In Autocross Standard Cham- pionship class the situation is somewhat yet unconfirmed too. Deane Farrugia on a Citroen AX is still leading the classification by a marginal lead. During the last event he lost the chance of securing his championship win as he was suspended from the race following an anti-sporting action during his third Heat of the day. Farrugia still heads the points scale as he still holds an advantage over second placed Ian Fenech on Citroen AX and third placed Traydon Bailey on a Ford Ka. In the Trials National Champi- onship everything indicates that Damon Bonello on Gas Gas is ex- pected to win yet another Class A Championship title in the sport of Trials motorcycling. Da- mon is followed by Rowen Bonel- lo on Beta who again is in duel with Joseph Scicluna on a Gas Gas motorcycle for second place in this classification. In Class B everything is uncertain who will win this classification. Ian Sci- cluna on Gas Gas currently has a marginal advantage over Ma- nuel Camilleri also on a Gas Gas motorcycle. So it is expected that this last competitive event will be decisive for this classification. At the end of the day's pro- gramme ASMK is expected de- clare and present the Champions Trophies to the winners on site. During this last race of this ac- tivity some kind of surprise is expected to follow during the celebrations together with other preparations done by both the drivers and fans to honour the Championship winners. For more information one can visit the ASMK website at www. asmk.org.mt or via the Facebook social site called A.S.M.K. Malta or Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi or at info@asmk.org.mt PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIO MICALLEF Autocross Standard