Malta Hillclimb championship - round 6.

[Joshua]

Yesterday Saw the 6th round of the Maltese hilclimb championship take place at Xaghra in Gozo which is the small sister island of Malta with a great 80 plus entries.

The weather was cold, windy, wet and horrible and the event started late since we had to wait for the hill to dry out as cars are not kitted out with rain tyres here in Malta. Cars completed the 1st practise run of the day and went straight on to the next run which was to be a timed run which counted towards the results.

After this run it was Alan Curmi in his 1400cc Kawasaki motorcycle engined single seater on Dunlop HC100 hillclimb slicks who made it to the top quickest in a time of 49.3. In second place it was Zach Zammit driving his 2000cc Honda powered Ralt RT36B with a time of 49.7 and in third place Hubert Camilleri driving his 2100cc Cosworth powered Chevron.

The next timed run began but it was not to be as after only a few cars did their run the heavens opened and the hill was wet again bringing the event to a halt which meant that the above results were final.

This was Alans first ever overall win here in Malta. Being the only competitor there running Dunlop HC100 hillclimb slicks which have now had more than half a championships running + testing and the rest of the field all running on the usuall Avons was a statement in itself. Not only is the HC100 proving to be a match for the Avon, but it is proving to stay far far more consistent in performance after every hillclimb.

Next hillclimb here is on the 13th November.

[image]

Cheers Joshua

Sitting here on a old and blustery day looking forward (if that's the right thing to say!!) to winter months of no racing it's nice to think there's drivers out there still enjoying throwing their cars at the Hills ---- and in a place where a wet event is actually noteworthy and wets not worth the bother

Lucky you! --- if we paused every event while the track dried we'd still be working on completing the 1976 BHC

Enjoy your event on the 13th

K

[temevalleyterrapin]

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has actually used these Dunlop HC100 tyres in the UK. Does anyone have any actual experience in our temperatures? I dont mean someone 'who has heard' or 'mates tried them' i would like a genuine opinion from someone who has bought some and driven on them to give their opinion. Anyone?

[Joshua]

All I can say is here in Malta there are only 2 guys that have ran both Avon and Dunlops on the same car back to back.

Alan ran his car all last season on Avon A91's with his results going backwards from the year before when he was on Dunlops. This year he has switched back to Dunlops and is getting better results with every event and a 1st overall yesterday. This was in cold weather with NO sun to heat the tyres prior to the run!!

Zach Zammit started off the seaon at the first event of the year (Mizieb) on his old Dunlops from last year doing a time of 38.899, he then switched to a brand new set of Avons and a month later (again at Mizieb) his time was 39.175.

For consistency, there is nothing like them.

[Radical]

Not a great deal warmer than a good summer's day?

Weather in Malta in October
October offers weather that is still very suitable for the beach, with excellent sea temperatures, yet more comfortable for general sight-seeing. During the latter half one may witness the effect of the rains, when the previously brown countryside turns into a bright shade of green.
Daytime Temperature Night Time Temperature Hours Sun Rainfall Sea Temp.
Average High Average Low 7 70mm 23˚C
25˚C 30˚C 19˚C 14˚C


Weather in Malta in November
November is one of the wetter months, although still warm and offering very many beautifully sunny days, at great contrast to the weather situation in most of Europe. The (not very) brave may even take a dip in the slowly cooling seas on these days.
Daytime Temperature Night Time Temperature Hours Sun Rainfall Sea Temp.
Average High Average Low 6.5 110mm 20˚C
21˚C 24˚C 15˚C 10˚C

[Joshua]

Alan Curmi won overall again at the 7th round of the 2011 Malta Hillclimb championship. Alan ran on the same set of Dunlop HC100's that he has been running all season. He made a new 1600cc class record at the Mtahleb hill and also won overall putting him up into 1st place overall in the championship with multiple champion Hubert Camilleri driving his 2100cc chevron cosworth in 2nd place just 1 point behind Alan and Zach Zammit in 3rd driving his 2000cc Ralt Honda, just 3 points behind Hubert.

Tomorrow is the 8th and Final round of the championship to be held at Gnejna bay. All 3 drivers are in with a chance of winning the championship. It should be an interesting day.

[climber49]

Thanks for the updates Josh - it's always good to hear who's doing well around the world!
Let us know how the Championship finishes up (my monies on the Kawasaki )
All the best for the Festive Season
Regards
climber

[Joshua]

Hi Climber, unfortunately Alan smashed it good and proper in the 2nd run of the day after being quickest in the morning practice run, so that was him out and down to 3rd in the overall championship but still won the 1600cc class championship.

Hubert (Chevron) won the overall championship but Zach (Ralt) managed to win the class championship.

[SteveSlowboy]

Has Adam Bugeja appeared in my old OMS SF2? - would be interesting to see how he gets on with it.

Steve

[Joshua]

Hi Steve,

No, Adam came circuit racing with us to Sicily a few months ago with the car and got on pretty well. He hasnt been hillclimbing it locally at all though......mind you, if you saw the condition of our hills I dont think you would either.