Third win at Mtahleb for Zammit

By Etienne Grech

The weather looked set to influence proceedings for a change, but many who persevered with the elements found their patience richly rewarded!

The first timed run took place half way through the morning and, broadly speaking, were on a “sun free” track. The third and fourth runs were on a hot track as the sun finally emerged, radiating on the road and improving grip levels to an optimum form. This gave the drivers extreme confidence as it was very easier to judge just how hard one could push.

Zach Zammit in his familiar white Urban Jungle Ralt attained his third win this year with a blistering time of 51.825sec, an excellent performance that kept the 2012 champion dominant. He proved the man to beat again in the Mtahleb overall class, Zammit has Keith Camilleri sharing the top driving this season and they will keep the pressure on each other no doubt.

Keith Camilleri driving his Chevron Creative Solutions Radical Prosport nosed ahead after the third run with a time of 52.216sec. He was ahead of Zammit by a near 69 milliseconds. But no improvement on the final run for the rookie driver meant that he had to settle for second.

Competition for the last spot on the rostrum was equally tight with Jonathan Tonna grabbing third after an exacting drive in his Fat Harry’s Tatuus Hayabusa single-seater. He produced a blistering third run just half a second behind Camilleri – 52.791sec.

The fourth driver in the overall list was Kurt Camilleri on board his Radical Sr Supercharged (52.948 seconds) who edged last year’s champion Mark Micallef (Radical ProSport) by just under one tenth of a second.

Alex Zammit (Radical ClubSport) who emerged as the best veteran in the field followed in sixth place (55.145sec) ahead of Patrick Gauci (Hawk DLB6) and Adam Galea (Dalk) in that order for the top eight overall times.

In the rear wheel drive class, the mighty black Lotus Elise of John Zammit grabbed top honours with an outstanding performance, but such is the strength in the class that it was enough to put him 10th overall (56.835sec). Class rival Ryan Mangion’s Ford Escort Mk1 trailed home behind with a narrow margin of just under a second (57.828sec).

Didier Bugeja dominated the front wheelers with a personal best time of 60.179sec. His Peugeot 106 Gti roared up the winding hill and outperformed second placed Honda Integra of Renato Farrugia by a mere three seconds (63.224sec).

Honours for best four-wheel drive class went to Steve Baldacchino who had another fine showing in his Subaru Impreza (61.408sec). Mike Fenech in his Audi TT pushed hard all morning, but could only manage second place (62.362sec).

Martin Spiteri at the wheel of his AC Cobra placed first in the Classic Modified Class. John Drury steered his familiar Austin Mini Cooper to second place.

Due to the extreme heat levels, the championship will now observe a break. Races will resume in September.