Johann Spiteri dominates at Racalmuto

Johann was the only Maltese representative at Racalmuto for this event but he certainly left his mark, driving his Jedi Suzuki superbly to capture pole position on Saturday, then dominating the 12 lap race from start to finish, and producing the fastest lap of the day in the process.

This was the first occasion in which I was not busy looking after half a dozen or more competitors, so I was able to spend more time seeing the professional way in which Johann and his father Charles go about their racing. I have known Charles since I myself started racing in 1964, and have always known him to be a perfect craftsman and perfectionist. Son Johann has inherited this excellent trait.

A perfect example was qualifying on Saturday. Johann would go out onto the track, do a couple of slow laps bedding in tyres, brakes etc, and getting everything up to the correct temperatures, then would do a couple of “fliers”. Again he would do a couple of slow laps to cool everything down, followed by another 2 fliers.

This would go on for the whole 20 minute session, but in the end he would finish up half a second faster than the next man, and considerably faster than the rest of the field of Formula cars, which included quite a few bigger and more powerful cars.

Thanks to his second win of the season, and the points system which requires competitors to drop their worst scores, Johann now leads the class jointly with young Filippo Costa, who had a win in Johann’s absence, but has otherwise had to settle for second place. Johann had to miss round 2 of this year’s championship due to business commitments, but won round 1, was second in round 3, and won again last weekend.

The next round, round 5 of the National circuit championship of Sicily, takes place on the 3rd weekend in October, and for this round a healthy Maltese entry will be present in a number of classes. And Johann will of course be there to consolidate his championship position.
We wish him and all the Maltese drivers the best of luck.