ASMK Trials Championships start this Sunday in Naxxar

This Championship consists of eight Trials non-speed events with the first event taking place in the hard-rock cutting quarry at ‘Targiet Ghomor’ limits of t’allawommu in Naxxar. This event is scheduled to start at 9: 00am.

Meanwhile on Sunday 25 October the Association opened the Autocross Cars Championship with the first event taking place at the ASMK Sports Complex at Ta' Qali. 25 competitors registered for this event in the Autocross Modified and Standard Classes.

In the Autocross Modified class Philip Joe Vella on his Opel Corsa dominated the day by winning all the 3 Heats thus securing his place in the Final Class of the day. Malcom Borg and Joseph Micallef both on an Opel Corsa together with Christian Mark Galea on his Fiat Ritmo and Godfrey Gauci and Christian Apap both on a Ford Fiesta.

Right from the Start of this Final Race we saw a good launch by Vella and Galea with the latter taking the lead after the first right corner and was followed by Vella and Apap. Shortly before the first lap ended Borg and Micallef retired due to mechanical damage. Thus Gauci was seen adding pressure on Apap who defended his place. Shortly before the end of the race Gauci made contact on Apap which resulted in Apap going off the track and had to stop. After this move Gauci was penalised by the referee of the day. Meanwhile the final race finished with Galea winning the first Autocross event followed close by Vella. Apap placed third while Borg and Micallef finished in fourth and fifth places respectively. Gauci is also suspended from the next event.

The qualifyers for the Class B Final Race were Gordon Johnson on a Peugeot 205, Jurgen Mallia on a Honda, Noel Zammit on a Fiat Punto, Josef Abela on an Opel Nova, Jonathan Camilleri on an Opel Corsa and Ivan Birmingham on his Suzuki Swift. From the start of this final Zammit and Camilleri make a good start and both took the lead ahead of the other starters. Zammit held the leading position for a number of laps ahead of Camilleri and Birmingham. The attention was drawn on Abela who was pressing on Birmingham. Two laps later Abela made fouled on Birmingham and changed places but the referee of day penalized Abela by 3 points following this action. Towards the end of the final laps Zammit had to retire due to a mechanical failure. This made it easy for Camilleri to win the race followed by Abela and Birmingham. The Fourth and the Fifth places were won by Mallia and Zammit. Johnson retired from the start of the race due to a mechanical failure.

The Autocross Standard Class has showed substantial progress since its introduction last year. Nine (9) competitors competed in the 3 qualifying Heats. Five (5) starters staged on the Start Line for the Final Race which counts for the Championship points. Deane Farrugia on a Citroen AX and Traydon Bailey on Ford Ka dominated the day and qualified for the Final during qualifying Heats. Ian Fenech on a Citroen AX, Lawrence Galea from Gozo on his Honda Civic and Samuel Bezzina on Volkswagen Polo all lined up for the Last race of the day. Right from the Start Fenech and Farrugia made a good start with the latter taking the helm of the laps while Fenech and Bailey followed. Bezzina was pressing on Bailey who succeeded to overtake on Bailey a few meters before the Finish Flag. This resulted in Farrugia winning first place ahead of Fenech and Bezzina while Bailey finished in fourth place ahead of Galea.

Meanwhile the ASMK notifies the general public and motorsport fans that the ASMK events scheduled for November are as follows:- Next Autocross event will be on Sunday 8th November and starts at noon. The next Enduro for motorcycle enthusiasts will be taking place on Sunday 15th November and starts at 10:00am while on Sunday 22nd November the Autocross Cars will be racing again while the Motocross riders will be competing their 1st event all at the ASMK Race Circuits complex at Ta Qali. This event starts at 11:00 am. Further information is available in the Official website www.asmk.org.mt