Cassar prevails in Class A final

Round eight from the 2009/10 ASM National Championships, sponsored by Ashika and Poiatti, was held at the offroad racing circuit in Ta' Qali last Sunday.

In Autocross races, Chris Aquilina (Opel Corsa) secured his seat in the Class A championship after collecting the highest number of points in qualifying.

Karm Mifsud (Imp) grabbed the lead at the start of the nine-lap Class A final but Patrick Cassar (Opel) stormed ahead on lap three as Chris Galea (Fiat Ritmo) and Ivan Birmingham (Suzuki Swift) were engaged in a tight duel for third.

At the chequered flag, it was Cassar who preserved his lead to finish ahead of Mifsud, Galea and Birmingham in that order.

Mario Scicluna (Opel Corsa) set the early pace in the Class B final, closely followed by Silvio Sciberras (Citroen AX). No driver was giving away an inch but their lively challenge only lasted until lap seven when Sciberras was black-flagged for an infringement that forced Scicluna to retire.

This episode paved the way for Cisku Racing Team brothers, Malcolm and Matthew Borg (both Opel) to battle it out in a family contest for first place which was claimed by the former.

Brian Azzopardi, who replaced his Escort with a Fiat X19, was third ahead of Lennie Cortis's Fiat Uno.

Banger racer Dennis Vassallo won two first places and a second in his three heats.

At present, Vassallo has a marginal lead over Tony Spiteri and Clayton Bugeja in the championship.

Competing in 12-minute races on the twisty and hilly tracks, motorcross riders are always exciting to watch. The leading racers in 250cc were Clayton Camilleri, Stefan Dimech, Chris Muscat and young Darren Mizzi.

The next motocross event will be a non-championship series in Nadur, Gozo, on Sunday.

First races at the Xħajma track start at noon.