Micallef wins the Hill Climb Championship

The 28-year-old endured technical difficulties, which compelled him to miss the first timed run, but with dedicated team effort, they made light of the damage to his Radical Prospot car and he fought back in a dramatic final run to clinch his sixth overall win and the title.

New comer Jonathon Tonna, finished a fine second after a courageous drive in his Fat Harry's Tatuus Hayabusa single-seater, producing a blistering final run just under three tenth's of a second behind the leader (53.060sec) which was not enough to overhaul Micallef's outstanding pace and meant he had to settle for the runner-up position.

Reigning champion Zach Zammit was third driving his Urban Jungle Ralt single-seater (53.158sec) once again taking a spot on the podium. Zammit was in the lead after the first timed run ahead of podium adversaries Tonna and Micallef, but the final run saw a drastic change in positions and reflected the intense competition that these talented drivers produce.

Hubert Camilleri was fourth overall (53.358sec) with his Mclaren-Garage Chevron, just two tenths of a second behind Zammit. Multi-time champion Camilleri was second fastest after the first timed run but he was also narrowly outpaced on the final run.

Adam Bugeja with his luminous yellow Jekran OMS was fifth fastest (54.399sec) ahead of James Dunford in his culminating Simon's Garage Radical PR6 (55.063sec) who grabbed sixth place with a fine clean drive edging out the rest of the group 5 rivals and rounding off the top half dozen.

Alex Zammit won best performance in the veteran category, achieving an excellent time of 56.359sec in his Radical Pro Sport, ranking 10th overall.

Aldo Laferla, the most experienced member of all, who has been racing in local hillclimbs since the 1950's retook the victory stand at mtahleb after grabbing the honours for fastest four-wheel-drive car of the day (63.852sec) with his Mitsubishi Evo 6. He was closely followed by Steve Baldachino in his Subaru Impreza (64.428sec).

Etienne Grech preceded the front wheelers in his blaring Citroen Saxo VTS who excelled with an excellent time of 62.552sec. Luigi Mifsud was second fastest in his Honda Civic, 1.3 seconds away from Grech.

John Zammits's vibrant Audi-powered Lotus Elise was quickest in the rear wheel drive cathegory, placing twelfth overall, narrowly beating Noel Galea in his familiar Olympic-blue Ford Escort Mk2.

The next appointment for the 2013 Grimaldi Lines Island Car Club championshiphill climb is next Sunday 20th October. This will be held at Triq Louis Wettinger, ( Mellieha bypass ), Mellieha and will be the final event of the season.

Over 70 drivers are expected to race against the clock with road-legal as well as highly-modified racing cars, not to mention the single-seaters, all battling for overall victory. This time round, the club is hosting a number of classic race cars who participated in last weekend's Mdina

Grand Prix. They will be joining the local participants and hence the competition is bound to be exhilarating.

As interest in the championship has increased significantly during the season, an open paddock will be held after the race and the Island Car Club are looking to enhance the prize-winning celebration, allowing motoring enthusiasts to mingle with the drivers and their crew and view racers from close quarters.

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 general public is invited to assist this exciting event.

The first run of the day will commence at 9 a.m.