New record time for Mtaħleb hillclimb
Weather conditions were not really ideal for hillclimb racing this month, especially after a night of strong south winds that deposited lots of sand on the circuit in Mtaħleb. The 67 drivers who took part in the race held recently revelled in...
Weather conditions were not really ideal for hillclimb racing this month, especially after a night of strong south winds that deposited lots of sand on the circuit in Mtaħleb.
The 67 drivers who took part in the race held recently revelled in the tough conditions, providing spectators that lined the hill with some spectacular driving.
After four runs, Mark Micallef, driving his Auto Trader Malta-MBL Radical ProSport, smashed the previous record for the Mtaħleb hillclimb to claim the honours in this fourth round of the 2013 Grimaldi Lines ICC Championship.
The 28-year-old Micallef was chalking up his third success of the season.
He finished ahead of reigning champion Zach Zammit (Urban Jungle Ralt) by just under half-a-second with Jonathan Tonna (Fat Harry’s Tattus) third after claiming his first podium finish despite racing for the first time with his Group Six car.
Micallef’s record time of 52.162 seconds was set on his fourth timed run.
He was half-a-second inside the previous best record time for the circuit which was established by multi-time champion Hubert Camilleri in 2012.
On Sunday, Camilleri had to retire after suffering a broken transmission.
James Dunford was fourth overall with his Simon’s Garage Radical PR6 and Jason Muscat (B4 Radical Club Sport) was fifth ahead of Adam Bugeja (Jekran OMS).
Alex Zammit produced the best performance in the category for veterans, achieving an excellent time of 55.557sec in his Radical Pro Sport and ranking seventh overall.
Aldo Laferla (Mitsubishi Evo 6) was the best veteran driver in the Saloon Car Section as John Zammit (Lotus Elise) was fastest rear-wheeled drive car, narrowly beating Noel Galea (Ford Escort Mk2).
Steve Buttigieg won the four-wheeled drive category with his Cosworth-powered Ford Escort closely followed by Chris Aquilina (Subaru Impreza).
Didier Bugeja led the way in the section for front wheelers inside his Peugeot ahead of Etienne Grech’s Citroen Saxo.
The next round of the ICC championship will be held in Xagħra, Gozo this weekend.