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THE NEWSLETTER
January 2008 Edition
The Caffe Oasis - Karting Club (Malta)
Championship 2007/08 Kicks off
The much awaited Maiden Championship Organised by Karting Club (Malta) finally kicked
on Sunday 9th December 2007. A total of 27 drivers presented themselves at the Hal Far
Race track. This number of drivers means that all the 5 Categories will be of a highly
competitive nature.
The weather conditions were not ideal for a Karting event, as there was a high risk of rain.
In fact racing was suspended twice because of downpours.
The committee members would like to thank all the Sponsors, Marshalls, helpers and
media representatives, who have made the event such a success.
A full article regarding the competitive aspect of the day can be found further on in this
newsletter.
This newsletter is distributed free of charge to all Karting Club (Malta) Members. Thus, it
would be greatly appreciated if members could forward their email address to the editor, so as
to reduce the postage expenses. Please forward your email address to the editor by sending an
email to secretarymkc@gmail.com.
The Editor
January 2008 Edition Page 2
Message from the Club Public Relations Officer –
Mr. Michael Turner
It has been an eventful season so far and a good start to the CAFFE OASIS CHAMPIONSHIP
despite the awful weather.
The KCM Committee and Secretary and Race Officials must be congratulated for the
professional manner in which the competition has been conducted. This enables KCM to stand
with head high among the international Karting brotherhood, which is essential to future
development of Karting in Malta.
Continuing contact with foreign Karting clubs and organizations has highlighted the fact that
the sport is run abroad on a commercial basis, i.e. investment is available but only that which
shows a profit for the investors.
Therefore we must be able to show, by the end of this Championship, that Malta has a thriving
and growing Karting community which can support inward investment, and a dedicated track.
This should not be too difficult because you are already showing you can manage yourselves
in a professional manner.
We shall also need to produce the appropriate space available for a track to be used
commercially.
There is already interest from abroad and people prepared to make propositions both on the
racing and also on the tuition and training aspects. So given appropriate support from official
bodies, by end 2008, we should be aiming to prepare detailed business plans and projections,
based on the firm achievements of this championship season. The same will apply to potential
sponsors.
Congratulations to all on the achievements so far!
The First Christmas Dinner for Karting Club (Malta)
The First Dinner Organised by the Karting Club (Malta) was held on Saturday 22nd December
2007 at the Harruba Restaurant, Hotel Intercontinental Malta, St Julian’s.
This was a fantastic event with a turnover of close to a hundred persons. Whilst celebrating
the Festive Season with Family and Friends, all the persons present were offered a buffet
consisting of more than 30 items ranging from antipasti, pasta, fish, roasts and sweets.
Following the dinner a raffle took place. An array of prizes was up for grabs, ranging from
Food vouchers to Karting Material. The Organisers wish to thank all the sponsors who
decided to offer some of their products or services to help the Club raise some funds.
Finally the Organising Committee would like to thank all the staff at the Intercontinental Hotel,
for making us all so welcome and offering us a very pleasant evening.
January 2008 Edition Page 3
The Caffe Oasis – Karting Club (Malta) Championship
2007/08 – Standings
Kid’s Class
Position Driver Name Kart Number Pole Positions Races Won Points
1st Joseph Saliba 101 0 1 23
2nd Ryan Borg 10 0 0 18
3rd Nicolai Aquilina 18 1 1 13
100cc Air Cooled
Position Driver Name Kart Number Pole Positions Races Won Points
1st Jacques Mizzi 111 1 1 23
2nd Christian Mallia 7 0 1 23
3rd Braydon Bonnici 4 0 0 0
125cc Water Cooled - Restricted
Position Driver Name Kart Number Pole Positions Races Won Points
1st Roderick Cascun 1 1 2 26
2nd Peter Bonnici 5 0 0 17
3rd Ramon Caruana 11 0 0 16
4th Ryan Cassar 33 0 0 13
5th Elmar Grech 45 0 0 10
125cc Water Cooled - Racing
Position Driver Name Kart Number Pole Positions Races Won Points
1st Keith Schembri 45 0 2 26
2nd Charles Grima 25 0 0 18
3rd Raymond Borg 36 0 0 13
4th Jesmond Mallia 28 0 0 10
5th Renald Farrugia 4 1 0 7
6th Philip Galea 7 0 0 6
7th Lawrence Fabri 67 0 0 0
100cc Water Cooled
Position Driver Name Kart Number Pole Positions Races Won Points
1st Clayton Mizzi 24 0 0 20
2nd John Micallef 2 0 0 15
3rd Trevor Muscat 4 0 1 13
4th Rueben Mifsud 33 1 1 13
5th Chris Seguna 3 0 0 13
6th Keith Attard 10 0 0 13
7th Glenn Vassallo 16 0 0 11
8th Jacques Mizzi 111 0 0 4
9th Natalino Farrugia 7 0 0 0
Championship & non-Championship events organised by Karting Club (Malta) are governed by the General
Competition Rules as issued by the club. Drivers who require a copy of the said GCR are to request one either by
calling on 9982 3585 or email secretarymkc@gmail.com.
January 2008 Edition Page 4
The Caffe Oasis - Karting Club (Malta)
Championship 2007/08 – Race 1
On Sunday 9th December 2007, Karting Club (Malta) held Championship Race 1 at the Hal
Far Karting Raceway. This race was highly awaited by the club members since it had
already been postponed twice due to bad weather. Incidentally, the weather conditions
once again played a very important part, where there were instances when the Event was
close to being postponed before it started or being cancelled halfway through.
Joseph Saliba, Jacques Mizzi, Keith Schembri and Clayton Mizzi all resulted as the winners
in their respective classes, with most of the races being highly competitive.
Kid’s Class
The four drivers in this class put up a very
entertaining race, with Nicolai Aquilina
deservedly winning Pole Position with a time of
35.190 secs., followed by Joseph Saliba, Ryan
Borg and Neil Micallef. Race 1 was closely
fought between Aquilina and Saliba, even
though Micallef surprisingly jumped into 1st
position as soon as the Race Director waved the
Starting Flag. The inexperienced Micallef,
though, couldn’t keep the other drivers behind him for long and so Aquilina and Saliba had
a close contest for the win with Aquilina resulting victorious.
Race 2 had a different story line. Once again Micallef jumped into 1st position at the start
but the rest of the pack were involved in a collision which resulted in Aquilina having to
retire from the race. Micallef maintained the lead for 5 of the 10 laps, but then was
overtaken by both Saliba and Borg. This time around, Saliba had a comfortable run to
victory as Borg wasn’t as fast as usual and therefore couldn’t pose any threat to the
runaway Saliba.
The overall result for this class was as follows: 1st Joseph Saliba, 2nd Ryan Borg, 3rd Nicolai
Aquilina and 4th Neil Micallef
100cc Air Cooled
This class is intended for junior drivers who are in the process of moving from the Kid’s
Class to the Senior Levels and therefore can be considered as a “Schooling Class”.
January 2008 Edition Page 5
Jacques Mizzi, immediately started setting the pace from Qualifying, where he registered a
strong 31.158 secs. Christian Mallia suffered mechanical failure and could only register a
time 0.642 secs. slower than Mizzi’s, while Braydon
Bonnici was forced to retire immediately due to
engine failure.
Both Races were therefore compromised by the
difficulties Mallia was suffering and Jacques Mizzi
had an easy run to victory in Race 1 but was unlucky
when he suffered technical difficulties and had to
retire in Race 2. One has to mention, though, that
Mallia’s fastest lap, registered in Race 1 compared
positively with Mizzi’s fastest lap, registered during Qualifying. Mallia’s lap time was a mere
0.226 secs. slower than Mizzi’s.
Overall result for this class was as follows: 1st Jacques Mizzi, 2nd Christian Mallia and 3rd
Braydon Bonnici.
125cc Water Cooled - Restricted
Once again Roderick Cascun resulted as victorious in this class and now can be truly
considered as the strongest title challenger. His Qualifying time of 31.526 secs., faster
than the 2nd Qualifier Elmar Grech.
In Race 1, Cascun had a very good start, where he
managed to immediately create a gap between
himself and the following drivers. Surprisingly, the
newcomer, Peter Bonnici settled in 2nd place and
maintained this position until the end of this race.
Caruana Smith and Ryan Cassar followed with
Elmar Grech, another title contender, suffered
technical difficulties and had to retire during Lap 1.
Race 2 offered another surprise, where on start, Bonnici raced ahead of Cascun and
maintained the first position for 6 laps. Unluckily on Lap 6, he was involved in an accident
with the following drivers and was relegated to the last position. Elmar Grech and Cascun
put up an entertaining competition for 1st place with Cascun resulting victorious.
Overall result for this class was as follows: 1st Roderick Cascun, 2nd Peter Bonnici, 3rd
Ramon Caruana Smith, 4th Ryan Cassar and 5th Elmar Grech
January 2008 Edition Page 6
125cc Water Cooled - Racing
In this Class, Renald Farrugia and Keith Schembri were clearly the fastest drivers on track.
This was proven by their Qualifying times. Farrugia set a blistering time of 29.940 secs. a
massive 0.631 secs. faster than 2nd placed Keith Schembri, while the rest of the pack were
all amassed in 0.6 of a second.
Farrugia continued on where he had left during the
Qualifying Session and led the race from Lap 1 to
Lap 19, with an advantage peaking to 3 secs. on
2nd Placed Schembri. Jesmond Mallia made a
great run moving from 7th to 3rd place. Unluckily,
Farrugia suffered technical difficulties in the very
last lap and moved from 1st to 4th with the finish
line in sight. Thus Schembri, Mallia and Charles
Grima took the three steps of the podium.
In race 2, Schembri, who was starting from Pole, tried to create a gap between him and the
rest of the drivers, knowing that Farrugia, the only one who could offer him a strong
competition, was starting from 4th. Schembri’s lead lasted for 14 laps, with Farrugia
overtaking him on lap 15. Bad luck struck Farrugia once again and he had to retire from
the race on lap 17 handing once again the victory to Schembri. This heat resulted in a
disastrous one for the rest of the drivers with Mallia, Galea and Fabri all retiring. Only 3 of
the 7 drivers managed to complete all the 20 laps.
Final Classification read as follows: 1st Keith Schembri, 2nd Charles Grima, 3rd Raymond
Borg, 4th Jesmond Mallia, 5th Renald Farrugia, 6th Philip Galea and 7th Lawrence Fabri.
100cc Water Cooled
Expectation was very high for this Event. Drivers
like Trevor Muscat, Rueben Mifsud, Clayton Mizzi and
Chris Seguna were all among the favorites for
the final victory. Trevor Muscat distinguished himself
during Qualifying by recording a lap time of 29.539
secs. with his closest follower being Rueben Mifsud
with a lap time of 29.814 secs. The rest of the
drivers, with the exception of Natalino Farrugia, who
couldn’t get himself a fast rhythm all through the day,
were all packed in a gap of 0.352 seconds.
January 2008 Edition Page 7
Both races for this class were the worst affected by the bad weather. Race 1 had to be
stopped after just 3 laps, because it started to rain and driving was extremely dangerous.
On restart, Mifsud managed to edge past Muscat, with
Mizzi following a close 3rd. Keith Attard who started the
race in 6th position and John Micallef who started in 8th
Position both had a very good start. Both drivers
managed to gain 2 places within the first curve and
Attard was running 4th while Micallef was running 6th.
Mifsud and Muscat were running very close as were
Attard and Seguna. Trevor Muscat, on Lap 7 managed
to edge past Mifsud and thus gained the lead of the
race. He started to set a fast pace and managed to
create a gap of 1.121 secs. on the 2nd placed Mifsud but unluckily had to retire on lap 11.
Mifsud moved into 1st once again and the top three were Mifsud, Mizzi and Attard
respectively. This remained so until the 19th lap when disaster struck Attard. Vassallo,
running in 5th position tried an impossible move of overtaking both Attard and Micallef in
one go. Unluckily he collided with Attard and both drivers fell behind in the classification.
Rueben Mifsud went on to win the race followed by Mizzi, Micallef, Seguna, Attard,
Vassallo, Jacques Mizzi and Farrugia.
Following an appeal, the results for Race 1 were changed as follows : 1st Rueben Mifsud,
2nd Clayton Mizzi, 3rd Keith Attard, 4th John Micallef, 5th Chris Seguna, 6th Glenn Vassallo
DNF Jacques Mizzi & DNF Natalino Farrugia.
Race 2 was characterized by the fact
that Muscat was starting from last
position, thus having to force his rhythm
to make up positions. He immediately
gained 4 positions on start, Attard lost 2
and Vassallo ended last. Mifsud on the
other hand was steadily creating a gap
between himself and Mizzi. On lap 6,
when the gap was at 1.043 secs., Mifsud
was forced to retire due to an engine failure and thus Mizzi took control of the race. In the
meantime, Muscat was steadily gaining positions and finally on the 10th lap he successfully
attacked the 1st Position. Muscat’s pace was too much for Mizzi and within 4 laps the gap
was already 1.667 seconds. On lap 16, rain started falling once again and the Race
Director, Mr. Paul Gatt, decided to call an end to the race.
Final classification for this class was : 1st Clayton Mizzi, 2nd John Micallef, 3rd Trevor
Muscat, 4th Rueben Mifsud, 5th Chris Seguna, 6th Keith Attard, 7th Glenn Vassallo, 8th
Jacques Mizzi and 9th Natalino Farrugia.
January 2008 Edition Page 8
Karting Club (Malta)
Participates in
On Sunday 23rd December 2007, Paqpaqli Ghall-Istrina 2007 was held at the Malta Fairs
and Conference Centre in Ta’ Qali. Karting Club (Malta) was represented by a consistent
number of Karts and their owners. We can proudly state that our stand was one of the best
in the whole show. We would like to thank Mr. Paul Mizzi for making Kart Transport Van
available for the event.
Unluckily, weather again played a very important role in this event. A number of activities
planned to be held in the parking area had to be cancelled. A track was to be prepared for
our Club’s members and other motorbike owners, but this was called off because of the
precipitation.
Even though the number of participants didn’t reach that planned, the fundraising was still a
success, raising more than € 14,000 for such a noble cause. Karting Club (Malta) are
proud to have been included in this charitable event and we would like to forward our
congratulations to the organisers for such a successful result.
All Championship and Karting Photos are courtesy
of Mr. Julian Calleja.
They can be viewed and ordered on
www. geocities.com/juliancallejamccall
Thanks Julian for your continued Support!
January 2008 Edition Page 9
The General Competition Rules
Explained: Race Categories
Mini Kart (Kid’s Class)
Age Bracket: Participants must not be over the age of 14 years
Weight Limitation: The Minimum Combined Weight (Kart, Driver,
Driving Suit, Helmet, etc.) Must not be less than 105 Kgs
(Additional Weight is accepted)
Carburator/Exhaust Systems: These must not be altered from
the original manufacturer’s specifications.
Rear Shaft: This must not exceed 30mm in Diameter
Tyres: Only Vega White Sizes Front 10x4.00-5 and
Rear 11x5.00-5 are accepted
Pedals: Pedal extensions are accepted, provided that they are
approved by the Race Scrutineers before each event.
Engine and Chassis: All the Engine and Chassis regulations that can
be found on the General Competition Rules are applicable for this class.
January 2008 Edition Page 10
Basic Kart Set-up:
Ride Height
Changing the ride height of your kart makes a big difference to handling. When there isn't a
lot of grip on the track and the kart is sliding all over the place raising the chassis can help
a lot by raising the center of gravity. Normally you would want to run the chassis low for a
low center of gravity to maximise overall grip. On bumpy street tracks having the chassis
higher is a good idea because street tracks usually aren't very grippy and you will avoid any
ground clearance issues with the brake disc and sprocket - and on a street track its better
to have a kart which binds a little than to have one which slides a lot to avoid oversteering
into curbs. You can also try to change just the front or the rear ride height to affect
handling. If you are experiencing lots of understeer for example you may want to raise the
front end and see if you can generate a bit more front end bite.
Toe-in/Out
Setting the front end alignment is important to have a kart that handles predictably, and
should be checked often. On karts you will mainly be looking to have 0mm toe to about
2mm toe-out. Having toe-out will make the kart more responsive to steering movements
and will improve turn-in. The more your tyres are pointing away from dead-ahead however
the more rolling resistance you are introducing. In wet weather you would be looking to run
2mm or more toe to reduce understeer which is common place because not as much
weight is transfered forward under braking.
Advertise on
For Further Details Please contact Mr. Philip Galea
(Mob: +356 7947 4687) or email on
secretarymkc@gmail.com
January 2008 Edition Page 11
Mr. Anthony Borda, Honorary President of the Malta
Drag Racing Association dies at the age of
December 2007 marked a very sad moment both for Maltese
Motor Sport and for Karting Club (Malta). Unluckily on
Sunday 1st December 2007, Mr. Anthony Borda, the Honorary
President of the Malta Drag Racing Association died at the
age of 56, through heart failure.
Apart from the fact that our friend Anthony was one of those
persons who really worked hard to improve the local motor
sport scene, he was also a very good friend of our club. He
was one of the first club officials to offer his true and tangible
support to Karting Club (Malta).
Mr. Borda was the person who came up with the idea of hosting our club’s members in the
November Edition of the MDRA ¼ mile competition. He went out of his way to make us
feel welcome on the day and to help us increase our exposure to the Maltese Motor Sport
Enthusiasts.
Through these pages, the Committee and Members of the Karting Club (Malta), would like
to forward there deepest sympathy to the Borda Family and all of his friends.
May God give him eternal rest!
Members’ Area
In this section we will be including a list of new members, any members’ birthdays and
special member related occasions which might be happening during this month.
New Members: Daniel Duncan Mallia (Ziffa) – Zabbar
Birthdays: Mark Migneco – 3rd January
Ramon Caruana Smith – 8th January
Elmar Grech – 16th January
John Sultana – 19th January
January 2008 Edition Page 12
Fernando Alonso Goes Back To His Roots
Fernando Alonso, the FIA Formula One Ex-Champion,
surprised everyone and visited Lonato Track in Italy,
for a session of Karting. When interviewed, Alonso said
that he needed this session to relax after a very difficult
Formula One season.
The kart chassis used by Fernando
Alonso, carries his own name, that
is, FA Kart, owned by Marco Genis’
Spanish team. Engines used were
Vortex KF1 and KZ1. With both set
ups, Fernando proved to be an
ace behind the wheel, being
recording extremely good laptimes. His best lap time being 42.70 secs. It is to be said that
even though the track had areas which were excessively slippery, he managed to record
times which were very close to the ones recording during the latest official events.
Karting Club (Malta) Forthcoming Events
13th January 2008 – Championship 2007/08 Race 2
27th January 2008 – Championship 2007/08 Race 3
10th February 2008 - Championship 2007/08 Race 4
24th February 2008 – Championship 2007/08 Race 5
Official Race Results and lap times will be available after each race on www.mylaps.com
All local Photographs are courtesy of Mr. Julian Calleja McCall and are available on
www.geocities.com/juliancallejamccall or call on 9946 6884
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