A near-capacity entry list was registered for the recently-held Mtaħleb race, the fifth round from the 2014 Grimaldi Lines Hillclimb Championship organised by the Island Car Club.
The weather looked set to influence proceedings as the first timed run took place on a sun-free track.
However, the third and fourth runs were held on a hot surface as the sun finally emerged, improving grip levels to an optimum form. The change in conditions gave drivers much needed confidence as now it was easier to judge just how hard one could push.
Zach Zammit, in his Urban Jungle Ralt, went on to chalk up his third win this season following a blistering time of 51.825sec, an excellent performance that kept the 2012 champion consistently scoring points in the championship standings.
Again, Zammit proved he is the one to beat in the overall class even though he had to contend with the challenge coming from Keith Camilleri.
Camilleri (Chevron Creative Solutions Radical Prosport) nosed ahead after the third run with a time of 52.216sec. At that juncture, he was ahead of Zammit by a fraction of a second.
However, the championship rookie was unable to make progress in the final run and that meant he had to settle for second place.
Competition for the other 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.
Tonna produced a scorching third run that was just half-a-second slower than Camilleri – 52.791sec.
The fourth driver overall at Mtaħleb was Kurt Camilleri on board his Radical Sr Supercharged (52.948sec). He edged last year’s champion Mark Micallef (Radical ProSport) by just under one tenth of a second.
Alex Zammit (Radical ClubSport), the best veteran of the fifth round series, followed in sixth place ahead of Patrick Gauci (Hawk DLB6) and Adam Galea (Dalk) in that order for the top eight times in the overall list.
In the rear wheel drive class, John Zammit (Lotus Elise) claimed the honours following an outstanding performance and a best run of 56.835sec.
The timing was enough for Zammit to place 10th overall.
Ryan Mangion’s Ford Escort Mk1 trailed home in second place (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 to finish three seconds faster than the second-placed Honda Integra of Renato Farrugia (63.224sec).
The fastest run in the four-wheel drive class was achieved by Steve Baldacchino who had another fine showing in his Subaru Impreza (61.408sec). Mike Fenech (Audi TT) did his best but could only manage second place (62.362sec).
Martin Spiteri, at the wheel of his AC Cobra, placed first in the Classic Modified Class as John Drury steered his Austin Mini Cooper to second place.
The championship will now observe a break and the series resumes in September.