Flawless Micallef drives his Radical to Gnejna triumph

Mark Micallef delivered a flawless winning drive from start to finish in the second round of the 2013 Grimaldi Lines Hill Climb Championship organized by the Island Car Club (ICC) to clearly revive his challenge for this year’s championship.

2 April 2013, 12:00am

2 min read

Ryan Mangion slides into a corner. Photo by David Axisa

Micallef in his Autotradermalta-MBL Radical Prosport maintained his lead as various other drivers did improve their times in a uniform and consistent manner. He managed a record time of 33.970sec.

2012 champion Zach Zammit who won the first hillclimb appointment in February, also held at Gnejna, managed to clinch 2^nd place in his Urban Jungle Ralt with an excellent time of 34.677sec.

In 3^rd place Captain James Dunford for the first time secured a place on the podium after performing a dazzling display in his Simon's Garage Radical PR6 with a brilliant time of 35.956sec.

Runs began early in the morning with the initial feedback from participants being that the road conditions were good and improved as time progressed. An extremely competitive atmosphere was present in the pits, with crews scrambling to find that crucial split of a second that would enable their driver to leapfrog the nearest competitors in the provisional standings.

The level of commitment in the last-timed run was high but for some the day ended badly with the occasional car being pushed beyond its mechanical limits and some drivers also incurring penalties and missing out on a chance to achieve a better time.

In other categories, the modified saloons are leaving their mark. On certain tracks, these cars look more suited than some of the single seaters.

John Zammit was fastest rear-wheel-drive car in his Lotus Elise. Noel Galea followed in his blue Ford Escort Mk2 and Philip Tabone grabbed 3^rd spot in his Lowcost.

In the front-wheel-drive series Didier Bugeja was fastest in his familiar Peugeot 106 followed closely by his brother Roswell Bugeja in his Peugeot 205 and Etienne Grech in his Citroen Saxo.

Steve Balachino took the honours for fastest four-wheel-drive in his red Subaru Impreza. Steve Buttigieg followed in 2^nd place by a 10^th of a second in his red Ford Escort Mk1 and Chris Aquilina was 3^rd in his White Subaru Impreza.

Alex Zammit won best performance for the veteran category in his Radical Club Sport.

The next race from the ICC championship will take place at Mtahleb Hill, limits of Rabat, on Sunday.