Zammit dominates at Mtahleb

The opening round from the 2014 Island Car Club (ICC) Hillclimb Championship, sponsored by Grimaldi Lines was held recently in Mtahleb, limits of Rabat.

John Zammit  in his Group3 Lotus Elise Photo by David Axisa
John Zammit in his Group3 Lotus Elise Photo by David Axisa

By Etienne Grech

The weather turned out to be good and a total of 64 cars participated, varying from standard road legal right up to single-seater Formula type racers.

Zach Zammit placed first in his Urban-Jungle Ralt. He recorded his benchmark time of 52.545sec which marked a maiden victory for the 24 year old. Zammit was champion back in 2012 and with this victory he is showing top form, reassuring a repeat in title success.

Keith Camilleri driving his Chevron-Creative-Solutions-Radical Prosport clinched second place with an excellent time of 53.383sec. The rookie driver sped uphill in an impressive manner, sending a strong message to rivals that he could be the man to beat.

Jonathon Tonna placed a creditable third after a formidable drive in his Fat Harry’s Tatuus Hayabusa single-seater, producing a blistering third run just half a second behind the runner up – 53.885 sec.

James Dunford on board his Simon’s Garage Radical PR6 was fourth overall (54.358 secs) after a fine clean drive that nearly got him on the podium. However with a dedicated team to rely on with an expertise in racecar preparation and setup, maximum competitiveness is definitely ensured.

Reigning champion Mark Micallef was fifth fastest (54.969 secs) in his Auto-Trader Malta & MBL-Malta Radical Prosport. Micallef had to deal with technical difficulties during the race which forced him to miss two runs out of four.

Kurt Camilleri rounded off the top six overall standings in his supercharged Chevron Auto-dealer Radical SR (55.470 secs).

Alex Zammit won best performance in the veteran category, achieving an excellent time of 55.755sec in his Radical Pro Sport, ranking 7th overall.

Good competition at Mtaħleb was not only reserved to the single-seaters alone as the top Touring cars of various sizes got engaged in a scintillating performance leaving the audience totally awestruck, many of them within tenths of a second away from each other.

In the front-wheel drive series, Didier Bugeja (Peugeot 106) placed first ahead of Jeremy Cassar (Volkswagen Golf) and Etienne Grech (Citroen Saxo).

The honours for fastest four-wheel drive cars went to Dr. Anthony Bernard who steered his powerful Mitsubishi Evolution to an outstanding 11th place overall. Michael Fenech (Audi TT) was runner up whilst Chris Aquilina (Subaru Impreza) claimed third place.

John Zammits’s dynamic Audi-powered Lotus Elise was quickest in the rear wheel drive category, placing thirteenth overall. Noel Galea (Ford Escort) followed whilst David Anastasi (Mini) grabbed third.

The next championship race is scheduled for Sunday at the Mellieħa bypass. The club advised that with the authority’s consent, Triq Louis Wettinger (Mellieha by-pass) shall be closed off from 8am till 17.00pm. Whilst apologizing for any inconvenience caused, the Island Car Club is encouraging the general public to assist this exciting event.

Over 70 drivers are expected to race against the clock. The first run of the day commences at 9am.