Three teams from the All Wheel Drive Club obtained high placings when competing the Winch Trophy Sud in Sicily recently.

The Maltese crews were Robert Caruana and John Zammit, Maurice Farrugia and Adrian Bezzina and Kevin Mallia and Neville Ciantar.

Caruana and Zammit won the competition to make it three in a row in a major Sicilian extreme offroad race. Farrugia and Bezzina finished third ahead of Mallia and Ciantar.

Caruana introduced his own highly-modified vehicle at the Winch Trophy Sud race. His design is based on a Range Rover 4.6-litre on Volvo portal axles.

The vehicle overcame obstacles in an overwhelming manner also thanks to the competent driving and expert navigation skills of Zammit.

The team’s first race overseas was at an event organised by the Cassibile Offroad Club in October 2009. In May, Caruana and Zammit participated in the Sicilia Trophy at Montalbano and did the double after claiming the top prize.

One of the awards for winning the race in Montalbano was free participation at the WTS challenge event that took place on November 6 and 7. The result was close with Italian Stefano Gallone finishing a mere 59 seconds behind.

Thanks to their victory, Caruana and Zammit have now earned free entry for the WTI final round in Cerveteri, on the outskirts of Rome, on December 11 and 12.

The Maltese duo have also been invited to take part in the upcoming Sicilia Trophy Challenge in May to defend their title.

In a statement, the All Wheel Drive Club said Caruana and Zammit plan to participate in both these events where they will be giving their all to achieve another good result for themselves, the club and country.

“The committee is extremely satisfied with the results obtained by the Maltese drivers, and wishes to congratulate them for their performance,” the club’s statement said.