There’s no doubt that motor-cycling ranks very high in the list of favourite sport among the Maltese.

This appeal has been constant along the years but the parti-cipation of Mitchell Pirotta (www.mitchellpirotta.com) in the 2011 World SuperSport Championship is likely to increase the local inter-est as the Australian of Maltese descent made his debut of fire at the Phillip Island race in February.

World Superbike and Super-Sport are huge championships with races held in all parts of the globe. Among the most popular riders in the grid are Carlos Checa, Troy Corser, Chris Vermeulen, Tom Sykes and world champion Max Biaggi.

As from this year, former MotoGP 250cc winner Marco Melandri has also joined the Superbike fold where he is riding for Yamaha.

This year, Australia’s hopes of a title in SuperSport hinge mostly on Broc Parkes, of Kawasaki.

Attention is also being given to Pirotta though. He is riding for Italy-based Kuja Racing Team.

The most successful racer so far this season has been Italy’s Luca Scassa with two wins for Yamaha.

The calendar, which includes 12 rounds and comes to a close in Portimao in October, got under-way in Australia. Pirotta had high hopes of a fine showing in front of his own people but was let down by a mechanical fault.

The 22-year-old fared much better in Donington last week and crossed the finish line 17th, having started from no.25.

The next appointment will be in Assen, Holland next Sunday.

“In January I figured in a series of test sessions in Portugal with my new team which although a challenging event, I still succeeded in fine-tuning the bike to my style,” Pirotta said.

“We have now had our first two races of the season. In Australia we had to retire because of a technical issue. In Donington, things got better and the bike looked more competitive.

“Now we’re focusing on our next race but in the meantime I have also been training in Malta so I can maximise my fitness.

“During my time here, I’m willing to meet Maltese riders and, perhaps, share my cham-pionship experiences with them and give any assistance, if required.”

While in Malta, Pirotta is also looking to attract more sponsor-ships to join “a viable promotion opportunity in supporting my world motorcycle racing endeavours.”

“Participating at the World SuperSport Championship has been a dream of mine for many years,” Pirotta revealed.

“As I’ve said, the season has only just started but the knowledge and skills I gained from the entire experience were invaluable to my overall career and future races.

“From this I was able to see first-hand the enormous potential we have commerically on the world stage.”

Motorcycle culture

Pirotta has been involved in the motorcycle industry since leaving high school.

“I have a genuine love, dedication and a desire to succeed in this sport,” he said.

“The motorcycle culture is second nature to me as my parents own and operate a motorcycle dealership, On Two Wheels Motorsports, in Sydney.

“I am still employed there so I understand the day-to-day running of the business, selling of new and used motorcycles. In my current position I manage the sales team and doing all finance and insurance as well as promotional campaigns.”

In 2000, Pirotta joined the Five Magic Motocross Schools and competed at Mammoth Mountain and other locations in the US.

He also crossed the Tasman channel to train and compete in New Zealand.

At national level, Pirotta achieved fourth place in the Australian Championship (ASBK Super Stock 600) in his first year.

He then won the NSW Championship and was runner-up in the Australian Championship.

In his third season, Pirotta claimed first place in the Australian Formula Extreme Championship before his move to world Super Sport this season.