Mr Whippy will not be defending their FIA title in 2013 but instead are looking to take part in a number of races in the US drag racing series in October, team owner Joe Carabott told The Times yesterday.
Last year, Mr Whippy wrote a new chapter in the annals of Maltese motor sport after being crowned European champions in the Top Methanol championship organised by the FIA.
Their outstanding results in the continental series got the recognition they deserved from the local media last weekend when Mr Whippy were named Team of the Year at the Sportivi Nazzjonali con-test as cockpit man Manty Bugeja topped the SportMalta award vote.
Carabott thanked the Mr Whippy sponsors but said that financial constraints and other commitments had made it almost impossible for his crew to participate in the FIA championship this year.
“The FIA championship last year entailed not only a huge financial sacrifice but all members in our crew had to miss their regular jobs for all of us to fulfil this ambition,” he said.
“The crew did well as results show but doing it all over again will be impossible so we decided to stay out of the European circuit. However, we are still planning to compete abroad and in October we could race in the US series.
“We are thinking about taking part in the last three races of the series really which will be run in Las Vegas and California.
“The best dragster teams in the world will be there so this could be a real challenge if we succeed in our plans.”
Bugeja, 50, said he was honoured and proud to receive the SportMalta Award.
“It was overwhelming really to see so much support coming our way from the media, the associations and the general public on Saturday,” he said.
“2012 was indeed a memorable year for our team as all the hard work we put in during the last 10 years have been rewarded.
“I have no words to show enough gratitude to Joe Carabott for having so much faith in my ability and to our group of mechanics and other helpers who gave their contribution for Mr Whippy to assemble a very competitive dragster.”