Fierce competition was the order of the day for riders competing in the third race of the Malta Mountain Bike Association Downhill National Point Series, recently held in Dwejra.  With a first prize consisting of a ticket to compete in the Megavalanche, the world’s most famous Downhill Marathon in the Alpe D’Huez, the adrenaline pumping action came as no surprise.

The action started immediately with a few crashes in the race run – Mark Zammit (previous winner Elite Category) suffered an unfortunate crash that put him out of the fray for a place on the podium.

Open category newcomer Luka Grixti, who registered the best qualifying time, suffered a similar fate to Zammit.

Elite rider Ryan Darmanin suffered a bad crash in the qualifying run but managed to pull it together to clinch his first Downhill Race win.

Darmanin has been performing well in the cross-country open category, becoming a familiar face on the podium.

The Open Category saw Andrew Caruana, Francesco Sultana and Chris Galea taking the top three positions. For Caruana it was his second victory having won the first race of the series in Wardija. Whilst Galea has participated in all three races of the Series so far.

The Masters’ category was a three-way affair between John Micallef, Kenneth Galea and Derek Pepe. All three are currently on the upper part of the overall leader board.

“Downhill racing is a particularly niche sport and definitely not for everyone,” Malta Mountain Bike Association president Pierre Zammit Endrich said.

“However we have seen the race atmosphere improving with every race that goes by and more spectators are coming to watch our races – having a final straight finish with a kicker jump at the end resulting in riders flying through the finish is spectacular and definitely attracts the crowds.”

The final race of the National Points Series will take place on June 10 in Ġnejna.

The Downhill National Point Series is being supported by MTB Malta, HSN Signs, Wheel Wizard, Pro Action, Dacoby and Epic No Limits.