The Assoċjazzjoni Sport Muturi (ASM) have just held another round of championship races at Ta’ Qali which included the first trials event after a break of more than ten years.
Trials-riding involves natural or man-made obstacles and penalty points are incurred according to performance.
Fifteen riders are competing in Classes A and B.
The ASM competition was based on six sections and each rider had to negotiate his way across the obstacles three times.
Veteran rider/coach John Bonello, on a Gas Gas bike, led Class A in its initial stages along with Gary Bonello (Montesa), both with 14 points.
But after section no.4, Damon Bonello and Robert Caruana (both Gas Gas) took over with the former going on to top the overall classi-fication.
Caruana was the runner-up and John Bonello third.
Trials novices were bracketed in Class B where less challenging sections were placed along the route.
Competition was high with the lead changing hands several times until David Dimech secured first place with only seven penalty points incurred to finish ahead of Rowen Bonello and Jonathan Camilleri.
The top three in the Trials were presented with their trophies by Frans Deguara, the ASM head.
The day’s racing also included a series of events for Autocross drivers.
Patrick Cassar left his mark on his comeback by winning the heats and dominating the six-car Class A competition.
Cassar, on his Opel, seized the lead from Christian Galea (Fiat Ritmo) early on and never looked back to take the chequered flag ahead of the rest.
Galea held Melo Zammit back as Manuel Muscat followed on his VW Polo. Christian Calleja, who joined Autocross only some months ago, reacted well to the continued pressure from Malcolm Borg on another Opel Corsa.
In the Class B final, Philip Joe Vella battled hard for the lead with Matthew Borg, both on Opel Nova. Borg overtook Vella in the second lap before a series of mechanical failures decimated the grid to just three cars.
In the end, Borg won outright with Vella settling for second place and Mario Scicluna third.
The next ASM championship races are scheduled for March 11.