The Federazzjoni Maltija Vetturi Antiki successfully organised the 6th edition of the Rabat to Rabat Vintage Motors Festival 2014. The event endeavours to promote both the use and display of the finest examples of what Maltese and Gozitan enthusiasts have to offer by way of historic vehicles. This is achieved by dividing the event into two distinct but complementary activities: a Regularity Run, held over two days in Malta and Gozo, and no less than three rotating static displays held in Gozo for the viewing public to enjoy.
Numbering 34 vehicles in total, the oldest being a 1923 original and unrestored Triumph SD with Gloria sidecar, left Rabat on the first leg of the 65 mile Regularity Run taking in Dingli, Lunzjata Santa Katerina and Chadwick Lakes, before finally proceeding to a well deserved half hour break and refreshment, outside the Mdina Glass factory in Ta’ Qali.
From here they proceeded to finish at Mellieha, via Zebbug, Attard, Mosta, Bidnija, San Martin, Mizieb, and Manikata, with most then proceeding to Gozo directly, for a well deserved rest.
On Sunday it was Gozo’s turn to host the event. The Regularity participants all mustered in Ghajnsielem centre for the ten o’clock start of the second leg, whilst their static show counterparts, close to 100 in number, were making their way to the three pre-established locations, namely Victoria, Nadur and Xaghra to set up the three shows.
In Gozo, the Regularity Run followed a counter clockwise scenic route, taking in most of the island’s north east coast as well as Qala, Nadur and Ramla, then proceeding to Marsalforn for a half hour break. Concurrently the three static shows where doing their planned location rotation, giving the viewing public a fresh display every two hours.
The glorious sunshine on the day made the restart of the regularity run from Marsalforn that much harder, but participants in convertibles soon had their soft tops down to enjoy the added bonus of such glorious weather. There was still 15 miles of route to follow before getting to the finish in Rabat, so crews had to keep their wits about them not to get caught out at the various controls awaiting them on the route.
Still following a counter clockwise route the vehicles proceeded to the south west coast to finish in Rabat at 1pm, passing through Qbajjar, Zebbug, Ghasri, Kercem, Xlendi and Munxar. The subsequent one and a half hours was a frantic time for the organizers, having to calculate all the participants’ timings and translate them into penalties, thus enabling them to select the various class and overall winners.
The prize giving ceremony was held in Nadur and was presided over by the Hon. Minister for Gozo Dr. Anton Refalo who amongst other things thanked the FMVA for bringing the event over to Gozo thus aiding in the Island’s tourism. He then went on to present the various participation, class and overall awards.
In the Motorcycle Class, first second and third awards went to Julian Xuereb, Paul Bonello and Joe Anastasi, the latter also managed to scoop up the Oldest Vehicle to Finish award with his 1928 Triumph NSD which never missed a beat on the whole event. The four wheeled counterpart winners were Tony Vassallo, Ivan Sammut and Mario Scicluna and the overall award went to Julian Xuereb, who riding his 1941 BSA M20 with sidecar only managed to drop 33 penalty points during the whole event.
The Federazzjoni Maltija Vetturi Antiki would like to sincerely thank all participants and heartfelt thanks are due to all who contributed to make this event such a resounding success. Special thanks go out to the organisers and the marshals’ team, without whom the regularity run would not have taken place.
The FMVA is also indebited to the Ministry for Gozo and all the team at that end for their cooperation and support throughout as well as the Local Councils of Xaghra, Nadur, Ghajnsielem and Rabat (Malta and Gozo), together with the sponsors Ocean & Sky and Mdina Glass.
Albert Pisani
Secretary - Federazzjoni Maltija Vetturi Antiki