The Malta Auto Racing Awards of the Year 2011 have attracted an interesting mix of motor racing personalities from the youngest to the most experienced and senior administrators of the sport.
The process has now moved from the nomination stage to the voting stage, after the nomination period was extended by 48 hours. Racing fans and the public may now visit the voting section of the “Malta & Auto Racing” Facebook page and “like” the personality of their choice in the appropriate category.
These awards have brought out a distinguishing feature of some of the best elements of the auto racing community in Malta, which may or may not always be displayed in other similar contests. These awards have revealed the sportsmanship of some of the auto racing personalities in the various categories, including those for the Driver of the Year and the Official of the Year.
Some of the drivers and officials participating in these awards have, in fact ,supported each other’s nomination for the award in their own category. This reflects the true friendship that exists among some of the main drivers and officials of the sport. This does not mean that there is no healthy rivalry between the supporters of some of these drivers and officials in their respective clubs or associations.
As announced at the introduction of these awards, this process is meant to provide a platform for race fans and the public to celebrate with those who achieved further motor racing successes during 2011, or worked behind the scenes and offered their services to the sport, including those who have done so for several years.
This process is not a championship, so there are no complicated formulae or collating or calculations of points. For some of the nominees the collection of points was done during 2011 to earn them the championship position concerned. But that is over now, and the race fans are aware of the achievements of these drivers. This process is simply meant to recognise some of these drivers, from the very young to their senior and experienced colleagues. There are other categories in addition to drivers and officials.
As the title of the awards implies, there is a bias towards circuit racing. There is a very simple explanation for this. All motor sport disciplines are appreciated, but for the majority of racing fans circuit racing has more appeal, possibly because they have been waiting for their own racing circuit in Malta for the past 50 years, and because in circuit racing there are more than just one car and driver at a time.
The Motor Towing Co-operative (MTC) and the Radisson Blu Resort in St. Julian’s are supporting these awards. MTC is offering the winners a complimentary membership for a 24-hour towing and breakdown service for a private car for a year.
The Radisson Blu Resort at St. Julian’s is offering the winners a buffet dinner for two persons at the Kontiki Restaurant. This means that the six winners will get approximately €100 worth of services from these two sponsors, and this assistance is highly appreciated.
The list of participants in each category, in alphabetical order, is as follows.
Malta Auto Racing Car of the Year 2011
Mini Doda/David Anastasi
JBR-4 Kawasaki/Joshua Anastasi
Malta Auto Racing Driver of the Year 2011
David Anastasi
Joshua Anastasi
Patrick Cassar
Alan Curmi
Malta Auto Racing Official of the Year 2011
Francis Joseph Azzopardi
Charles Cilia
Frans Deguara
Johann Pace
Malta Auto Racing Kart Driver of the Year 2011
Adrian Cauchi
Malta Auto Racing Technical Award of the Year 2011
Martin Spiteri
Aldo Vella
Malta Auto Racing Junior Driver of the Year 2011
Jamie Mangion
Jean Sammut