Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/990836
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 JUNE 2018 22 SPORTS AUTOCROSS THIS Saturday 9 June the Assoc- jazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi opens the summer season events which will be organised on Sat- urday evenings until late at night. This switch in events time is because of the very hot weather during the day at this time of year. This action is of an advan- tage for the viewer as racing is run under artificial lighting and also both drivers and vehicles engine race more efficiently in the evening lower temperatures. The event of next Saturday is the tenth event of the National ASMK Pasta-Poiatti Autocross Championship 2017/2018. This event starts at 7pm and will con- tinue until late at night. Meanwhile on Saturday 2 June ASMK organised the Race Final of the Modified Autocross Class A which was still pending from 26 November 2017. The result for this final showed Andrew Pisani on a Vauxhall Nova win- ning this final and he was fol- lowed by Jean Paul Grech on his Peugeot 106. Third and fourth place finishers were Noel Zam- mit on his Fiat Punto and the Volkswagen Polo of Vince Far- rugia. A look at the points standings after this Autocross Final and after nine events we see that five competitors still stand a chance of winning the championship despite the fact that currently Vince Farrugia is leading the list on his Volkswagen Polo with 181 points. Vince is followed by Jean Paul Grech on his Peugeot 106 and the Ford Fiesta of Karl Micallef, both with 163 points each. The rating continues to show that the Fiat Punto of Noel Zammit has 155 points while Andrew Pisani on a Vauxhall Nova has 151 points. In the Standard Autocross Class Deane Farrugia is leading the list on his Citroen AX with 60 points and is followed by the Peugeot 106 of Nicovich Chircop with 47 points. Johann Vella on an Opel Nova is still in 3rd place overall with 27 points. The rating continues to show the Renault Campus of Kyle Agius with 21 points while Jerome Peplow on a Kia Avella and Chris Formosa on a Ford Fiesta have 19 points each. Meanwhile, a Team of five Maltese Enduro Motorcycle Riders participated in the 'Red Bull Hare Scrambles' Hard En- duro Annual event in Erzberg of Austria. The Maltese team rid- ers were Jamez Zahra and Gary Debono both racing on Sherco motorcycles, Bernard Sammut and Matthew Gauci both on a Beta motorcycles and Ian Sci- cluna on a KTM motorcycle. During the last weekend the five Maltese Riders had to fight hard to qualify among more than 1,500 competitors from around the world who compete in this hard Enduro annual event. During the Saturday Qualifying events for only 500 riders the Malta Team qualified with four riders from the five entrants for the Sunday four-hour long Hard Enduro race on all kinds of Offroad tracks and different terrain beyond one's im- agination. On Saturday the Maltese team qualifiers were Sammut in the 182nd spot, Zahra placed 194th, Gauci placed 223rd and Debono finished in the 359th place. Pre- vious Maltese contestants never managed to place in the top 500 Finalists riders group. Scicluna did not qualify due to a mechani- cal fault. Following the Sunday Race Final the Score Board shows that Matthew Gauci finished in 134th place and reached the 15th Checkpoint from 20, Ber- nard Sammut finished in 160th place, James Zahra finished in 182nd place and Gary Debono finished in 257th place overall. These are very good results for the Malta Team's first attempt when compared to the overall entrants Race Final Score Board as only nine contestants from the 500 qualified riders reached the final Checkpoint. On a different note and in preparation for the Vans Dem- olition in July the Association reminds those competitors who are interested in competing in the Van Demolition and have not yet registered that they still stand the chance to do so on Thursday 14 June 2018 at the Club House of the Association in Mtarfa. This will be the last meeting for the registered Dem- olition competitors. The meet- ing starts at 8pm. More information can be found on the website of the As- sociation www.asmk.org.mt or Facebook page with the name Association Sport Motorcycles and Cars. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIO MICALLEF First ASMK Night Autocross event on Saturday The Maltese team in Australia At the starting line Andrew Pisani on a Vauxhall Nova