Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/844884
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 JULY 2017 23 Sport MOTORSPORTS Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Fine VISIBILITY: Good WIND: Westerly force 2 to 3 becoming West Southwest force 4 SEA: Slight SWELL: Negligible A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. SUNNY 31 º C / 22 º C UV INDEX: 10 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Across 1. Shoe ties (5) 6. Proletarians (7) 8. Surgical knife (7) 9. Pair (3) 10. Examination (4) 12. Seven days (4) 15. Container used for cooking (3) 16. Place in order (7) 18. Underwater missile (7) 19. Skinflint (5) Down 1. Trap for catching lobsters (7,3) 2. Republic in the Caribbean (4) 3. Hit (5) 4. A hand tool (5) 5. Sewing instrument (6) 7. Retailer (10) 11. Blood vessel (6) 13. Whiter (5) 14. Brush a horse (5) 17. Bites (4)) Solution GamesNe2 Ke4 Re6# A mixed experience for Kyle Mercieca at Triscina ALFRED A. FARRUGIA THE kart racing day on Sun- day, 2nd July in the 7th Round of the Regional Championship at the International Triscina Circuit near Trapani in Sicily started on a positive note for 16-year old Kyle Mercieca. In the 7th lap of the qualify- ing session with his 125 RO- TAX Max, Kyle succeeded to register the second fastest lap of 49.891 seconds, just 0.540 seconds slower than the best time of Nicky Gauci. In the 15-lap Pre-final race, Kyle succeeded to keep the momentum finishing in an excellent second position with a time of 12 minutes 45.647 seconds, 11.525 seconds be- hind Nicky Gauci once again. Kyle recorded a best time of only 50.715 seconds in the second lap in the Pre-final race, which was the slowest among the whole group. But this means that he was very consistent to maintain the second place from start to fin- ish. He lapped under 51 sec- onds in all the laps with the exception of laps 11 and 14, in addition to the very first lap. The young kart racing driv- er was preparing himself for a podium finish in the Final race, but fate decided other- wise! In his eagerness to get going, Kyle was penalized 10 seconds for jumping the start, with the result that he dropped into sixth position from the third place at the end of the first lap. In the Final race, Kyle re- corded a fastest lap of 50.424 seconds, faster than the Pre- final, but still the slowest in the group. The Final 20-lap race proved a little too long for Kyle, and in addition to the time pen- alty, his kart was not perform- ing in an optimum way, and he was getting tired! Kyle was obviously very dis- appointed with his result, but he has learnt his lesson. He is now prepared to start training to build more stamina for the next races. There were 4 other Maltese drivers in the 125 ROTAX Max class, in addition to two Italian drivers. Nicky Gauci made a clean sweep of the qualifying session, and both the Pre-final and the Final races. He won each session with a good margin. Lucas Pace who returned to kart racing after a break of 7 years was happy to step on the podium in the Final race, finishing in third place. He qualified 5th in the qualifying session, and placed 4th in the Pre-final race. So Lucas suc- ceeded to move a step ahead with every session. Luke Muscat succeeded to finish the Final race in a very good 4th place. In the qualify- ing session he placed 7th, and in the Pre-final race he also placed 7th as he was penal- ized 10 seconds for something wrong with the nose of his kart! Neville Zammit placed 6th in the qualifying session and in the Pre-final race, and moved to 5th place in the Fi- nal race. All the Maltese kart racing drivers look forward to the next race. Kyle Mercieca