Maltese drivers return to Racalmuto

The Malta team started participating in motorsport events in Sicily in 2008, and showed their form immediately with Zach Zammit and Joshua Anastasi taking first and second place overall at the Cesaro hill climb. For 2009 the team also entered the circuit racing championship at Racalmuto and again they were immediately competitive with Joshua Anastasi becoming the first Maltese driver to win an overseas championship, and many other good placings by Matthew Zammit, Alan Curmi, Johann Spiteri, Edward Calleja, David Anastasi, Patrick Gauci, and others. 2010 saw more of the same. At Cesaro it was Matthew Zammit who made it 3 wins in 3 years for Malta, but at Racalmuto this was Alan Curmi’s year, the young Maltese driver winning the championship in style.

The 6 drivers who will be making the trip to Racalmuto this year will have a difficult act to follow, but there is plenty of optimism among them, and even more determination. Three of these drivers will be racing in the very competitive F6 class for 1000cc Formula cars. These are Matthew Zammit, Johann Spiteri, and newcomer Simon Camilleri. Patrick Gauci will be the only Maltese driver in F7 for 1300cc Formula cars, as will Alan Curmi in F8 for 1600 Formula Cars, whilst Joshua Anastasi races in F9 for 2 litre Formula cars. Malta is therefore represented in all 4 class divisions.

The team leaves Malta on Friday morning for Pozzallo, from where they will make the 3 hour dash to Racalmuto to catch the last 3 hours of Friday’s free practice session. Saturday morning will also be devoted to free practice, with qualifying for grid positions on Saturday afternoon, each group getting 20 minutes of qualifying. A six lap race is on the programme for Sunday morning, followed by a ten lap final on Sunday afternoon. The meeting closes with the presentation of awards on Sunday evening.

As has been the case since 2007, the team will be managed by Joe Anastasi. “We have 6 very dedicated young drivers taking part this weekend. I have been given to understand that there will also be quite a few drivers from mainland Italy so the competition will be even greater than usual. That’s just what we want. I’m confident we will return with plenty of silverware, and the Maltese flag will fly high at Racalmuto for the 4^th year in succession”.