Camilleri starts title defence

Reigning hillclimb champion Hubert Camilleri will be doing his best at Miżieb to make a positive start to his title defence with his Chevron B39 Cosworth in this weekend's opening round of the Island Car Club Championship, weather-permitting.

The entry list for the first event of the season has an impressive record of 54 starters, including some young competitors who are determined to give Camilleri a good run for his money.

It is remarkable that some senior drivers are still active, and it is heartening to see people like Aldo Laferla, Joe Mifsud and Lino Brincat still able to mix it with a group of second generation competitors.

In foreign countries senior drivers normally set up their own racing teams to continue to live their dream. Here, these drivers continue to compete for class wins or an overall victory.

Brincat won in Miżieb two years ago with a staggering run of 39.349 seconds, and he finished second in September 2008 and March 2009, and fourth last October.

The track at Miżieb is not very complicated but unlike the roads in Sicily, it is very narrow, so it calls for precision driving. The 0.8 km distance makes it a short burst, but it is still very popular with old-timers as well as newcomers.

Camilleri won at Miżieb a year ago with a best run of 39.333 seconds. If the start and finishing lines have not moved, he has yet to beat Paul Deguara's time of 39.006 in September 2008.