The first round from the 2016-17 Island Car Club Hillclimb Championship was held last weekend at Mtaħleb, one of the most popular circuits in the calendar.

The weather wasn’t really encouraging in the morning but the sun soon showed up and all cars were ready to go for the first practice run following the all-clear signal from the safety officers on site.

The surface was suitable for racing as all 46 drivers in competition set about to roar their engines up the hill in the least possible time.

Eventually, the overall winner was 2012 champion Zach Zammit in his new Urban Jungle Empire Evo. He clocked an impressive time of 57.098 seconds.

Zammit was closely followed by 2015 championship winner Keith Camilleri in his Fracht Malta Radical Pro Sport.

Camilleri’s time at the chequered flag was 57.188 seconds.

The entry list included a list of former champions and 2013 title holder Mark Micallef raced home in third place inside his Avon Malta Radical Pro Sport. He hit the clock at 57.234 seconds.

The fastest four-wheel drive time on the day belonged to Andrew Cassar in his monstrous Attrans Toyota Celica GT4 – 64.839 seconds.

Didier Bugeja had the best timing in the FWD section as he clocked 65.352 seconds behind the wheel of his Snow White Peugeot 106.

The fastest ride for RWDs was clocked by John Zammit in his Rush Sports Audi Powered Lotus Elise – 63.145secs – as Teddy Aquilina took the honours in the category for veterans.

Aquilina drove his Cosworth-powered Escort to the finish line in 66.705 seconds.

The second round of the hillclimb championship will be held in Xagħra, Gozo, on October 23.