Newly-crowned European drag racing champions Kalanċ Racing Team returned home yesterday following their triumph in the FIA Top Methanol division secured at the renowned Santa Pod track in England on Sunday.
Kalanc Racing Team were declared 2014 champions after fellow Maltese team Mr Whippy failed to reach the final last weekend, leaving Chris Polidano on top of the standings, a mere three points ahead of Manty Bugeja and the 2012 champions.
Greeting Polidano and his crew at the airport were Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Chris Agius, Nationalist Party spokesman for sport Robert Cutajar, Malta Motor Sport Federation president Tonio Cini and Paul Pace, head of the Malta Drag Racing Association.
“This is a great achievement for us,” Polidano told Times of Malta.
“This success is a culmination of a project that got underway in 2012 with our first participation in the FIA championship. On that occasion we were the runners-up and that result spurred us to continue and consolidate our works.
“This was a difficult cham-pionship to win and the team was faced with some tough challenges but we always believed in our project.
“I feel we fully deserve this trophy as we were the most consistent team this season, placing in the top three in almost all the races we competed in.”
Kalanċ Racing Team had good reason to celebrate at Santa Pod on Sunday as they also left their mark in the FIM Super Street Bike Cup with Shawn Buttigieg managing a creditable third placing in the championship.
Buttigieg led the standings going into the last round but his hopes were dashed by mechanical problems to his Suzuki Hayabusa leaving the way open for Steve Venables to be crowned champion.
“Really, it could have been so much better for me and the team,” Buttigieg said.
“I was fastest in qualifying and things looked so promising. But then this gearbox problem cropped up and the chance was lost.
“However, there’s nothing to be ashamed of as this was a great experience for us all. We were so close but we’re all determined to return next season and do better.
“I had one of the fastest bikes in the championship so we only have to adjust a few things to re-launch our challenge.”
Another Maltese driver who had a full debut in the FIA series this year was Duncan Micallef.
He was third overall in the Top Fuel Drag Racing Championship.
Micallef was in contention for second place in the final standings but engine trouble forced him to settle for joint third place with former world champion Urs Er-bacher, of Switzerland.
Norway’s Thomas Naatas was crowned champion and Mikael Kagered, of Sweden, was second.
Micallef said: “A third placing on my debut season is an excellent result.
“There is a tinge of disappointment though to the fact that last weekend I could have improved my position in the final classification but we had an engine blow-out in the semi-finals.
“Pity, it had to end that way but we’re already looking forward for next season. We have to unearth new sponsors but I’m confident we’ll be back in 2015.
“This was a whole new experience but we’ve learnt a lot. Hopefully, that will help me to achieve better results next time round.”