The ASMK Pasta Poiatti National Championships continued last week when autocross and moto-cross races were held at the circuit in Ta’ Qali.
A total of 33 competitors demonstrated their skills with some stepping up their challenge as the championship nears its conclusion before the summer break.
The three qualifying heats were highly competitive with the level of racing challenging both the drivers and their vehicles’ endurance.
Christian Galea and Andrew Pisani won all three heats to qualify for the Class A Finals.
Melo Zammit (Ford Escort), Patrick Cassar (Opel Corsa), Josef Grech (Ford Fiesta) and Vince Farrugia (VW Polo) also progressed.
All eyes were on Galea and Cassar as they are the leading drivers in the Class A championship.
As the red lights turned off, they sped ahead but a mechanical failure on the steering system of his Opel forced Cassar to retire.
Zammit took advantage but was put under pressure by Farrugia and Pisani, on his Nova.
Zammit held his own though to finish ahead of Galea and Farrugia.
In Autocross Class B, Mario Scicluna finished first to maintain his challenge for the title.
Philip Vella and Kurt Sammut were second and third respectively in the same class.
The Motocross Championship is also in its final stages. Clayton Camilleri, riding a KTM 250cc, leads Class A ahead of Paul Muscat, on another KTM.
Joseph Bigeni, from Xagħra Gozo, dominated Motocross Class B races.
He had to contend with the challenge of Trevor Muscat, on a KTM, who managed to stay ahead of Brandon Cassar Muscat on a Yamaha YZF.
Meanwhile, three ASMK Enduro riders took part in races in Francavilla on Sunday. Thanks to the support of ASMK and Virtu Ferries, Nikolai Abela, Andrew Cassar and Andrew Albanozzo made the trip to Sicily and competed in all four stages of the series.
Each stage consisted of one timed cross section, a timed Enduro section and untimed liason sections.
The Maltese riders took some wrong routes and lost precious time in the liason sections which were not properly marked.
Despite the difficulties, Cassar still returned with a trophy after being classified third in the T3 class while Abela was fourth.
The next ASMK Championship event will be held on May 19.