Driving skills were tested to the full last weekend as Autocross and Motocross contenders at the sixth round of the ASM Pasta Poiatti Championship had to deal with a very tricky circuit rendered slippery by the afternoon showers.

Notwithstanding, competition was interesting and kept those present on the stands on their feet.

Patrick Cassar (Opel Corsa) won all his qualifying heats and the Class A race final to close the gap in the Autocross standings with Christian Galea (Fiat Ritmo) who had to settle for second place ahead of Philip Vella (Opel Corsa).

Jurgen Mallia (Honda Civic) took the lead right from the start in the Autocross Class B final. The wet surface compelled him to drive with caution yet fast enough to take the chequered flag at the finish with a comfortable lead.

This was Mallia’s first win of the season. Ryan Scerri (Ford Fiesta) was the runner-up on the day and William Formosa (Ford Fiesta) came home third.

In Motocross Class A, the battle for the honours was reserved to four riders – Clayton Camilleri, Carmel Borg, Paul Muscat and Stefan Dimech.

Dimech won two heats and was runner-up in a third race to accu-mulate the day’s best 72-point tally on his Honda CRF 250cc.

Due to a last-minute technical hitch, Borg had to change bike but he still managed a first place.

His other placings were good enough for Borg to secure him the second place overall at the end of the day with 63 points, just one ahead of Camilleri on his KTM.

Motocross Class B was another tight affair with Trevor Muscat (KTM) and Brandon Cassar (Ya-maha YZ) the main protagonists.

Muscat won two heats and Cassar was first in one race as Gozo rider Joseph Bigeni stayed in contention with three podium finishes.

The next event will be reserved for Trials riders. Races will be held on Sunday afternoon.