The second round from the 2012 Island Car Club Hillclimb Championship was held at Mtahleb hill on Sunday.

The venue is considered as the country’s most renowned motor sport hill.

In a speech before the race commenced, Rabat mayor Sandro Craus said: “This event is important for the Council since the ultimate goal is to bring this venue up to standard that it could also host international events. We invested in fixing the road surface after many years of neglect to revive the said hill and we are honoured to welcome the Island Car Club to use this phenomenal road for hill climb races. We are grateful for your participation”.  

After the race came to an end, a prize winning celebration was held and in a statement to all the participants and spectators, the ICC thanked the Rabat Local Council and Mayor Sandro Craus for their continued support.

This year, the Mtaħleb hillclimb featured prominently in the Island Car Club (ICC) calendar and the local council is glad to host more events in the near future.

Hubert Camilleri clinched overall victory and topped Group 6 in his Chevron B43, his best run on the day being a scorching 53.183 seconds, a new record breaking time for the reigning champion besides reserving his record time for Mtahleb.

In second place, Fabio Baldacchino clocked a time of 53.637, an excellent performance from the rookie driver in his OMS and a creditable third place was achieved by Matthew Zammit in his Van Diemen F1000 with a time of 53.882.

Zach Zammit suffered an unfortunate incident with his Ralt after a slight over-steer which led to a slight collision with the barrier at Farmhouse Corner, thus eliminating him as a possible contender in the top three positions; he had to settle for fourth place.

Jason Muscat led Group 5 in his Radical Prosport with a creditable 55.378 as Anthony Bernard put in a blistering 57.640 in his 4-wheel drive Mitsubishi Evo to place among the single-seater category.

Joe Cutajar followed in his Ford Escort Mk2, winning his class and posting the fastest Group 4 time.

Cutajar was followed by John Zammit, who topped the Group 3 ranking in his Lotus.

The fastest time for front wheel drive cars was clocked by Didier Bugeja in his Peugeot 106 followed by Steve Borg in his supercharged Mini and Etienne Grech in his Citroen Saxo.

Kurt Camilleri was fastest in Group 1 with his Mitsubishi Evo.

The next event from the hill climb and sprint series is scheduled for 22 April. The venue is Mizieb, limits of Mellieha.