A brightly decorated remote controller. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Nestled among the Pembroke military barracks, a race track for remote-control cars is a second home for a father and son team who are making inroads on the international racing scene.

“It’s addictive and extremely competitive, model racing is so much more than a sport to us,” says Simon Delia, 47.

Mr Delia and his son Nicholas, from Santa Lucija, split their time between racing at the Pembroke track, working at their model car store and travelling abroad to take part in international competitions.

“I always wanted a son with whom to share my racing passion. Sure enough, in 1991 Nicholas was born.

“In 2003 we entered and won our first competition – we’ve been a team ever since,” Mr Delia, the team mechanic, says as he lays out his specialised tools along the track’s pit stop.

We’ve won and lost competitions because of pit stops

Meanwhile Nicholas, the remote control operator, makes his way up the rusty ladder that leads to the racers’ terrace where, joined by a handful of other racers, he plans out his route along the track’s creeping corners and narrow straights.

“I was 10 years old when I started racing with my dad. I used to drive him crazy asking to have a go on his car; eventually he gave me my own and I’ve been racing ever since,” says Nicholas.

This year has been good for Team Delia, which, fresh off the back of several local victories, took home two bronze medals in international competitions held in Italy.

“It’s been a very good year for us. Nicholas placed fourth out of 150 international competitors a few weeks ago so we should have had three bronze medals, but I suppose we can’t complain,” says his father.

The model cars, which reach speeds of up to 150 kilometres an hour, use the same lap time technology used in rally and Formula One racing – and burn their way through as many as three sets of tires a race.

“The racer navigates the course but the mechanic is extremely important.

“Technical faults are commonplace, you need to identify the problem and solve it in as little time as possible.

“We’ve won and lost competitions because of pit stops.”

Although the track’s bumpy asphalt often infuriates teams, the possibility of the track being removed has racers even more flustered as the last bastion of local model racing could soon become sequestered by local government.

“We had a spot in Ħal Far but the Government turned that into a car park, now we keep hearing that this place might be flattened out too.

“I just hope we still have somewhere to keep the sport alive,” Mr Delia said, barely audible over the screeching tyres and squealing engines of the speeding models.