16-year old Nicky Gauci wins first round of the Sicilian Regional championship

16-year old Nicky Gauci, photo, won the first round of the 2018 Sicilian Regional Karting Championship at the Kartodromo Pista del Sole, at the Circuito di Villasmundo, near Syracuse in the 125 Rotax Max category on Sunday.

The category was made up of 8 competitors, 4 Maltese and 4 Sicilians.

The three phases of the event were very competitive. This is not the first time that the Maltese drivers have raced together on this track battling our neighbours. The Sicilians have the added advantage of racing on home ground in addition to having multiple karting circuits on which to practice.

In the qualifying session, Maltese driver Jake Agius claimed pole position (45.884 secs) with Nicky Gauci close behind him in 2nd place with a time of 46.042 secs - a gap of just 0.158 secs from pole. The other Maltese driver Neville Zammit came in 6th place, while Luke Muscat had engine malfunction and finished 8th.

In the 8-lap pre-final race, starting from 2nd place on the grid, Nicky Gauci moved up to 1st position at the start after Jake Agius was penalised for a false start, a penalty that cost him a drop to 6th place.

During the race Gauci defended his position well all the way to the finish, and completed this first race in 1st place with a lead of 5.35 sec over the 2nd placed Angelo Massimino. Luke Muscat gained positions from the last place on the grid to finish in 4th place, while Neville Zammit finished in 8th place.

In the 13-lap final race, Nicky Gauci now started on pole, as the starting grid is determined by the position gained in the prefinal race. Nicky made an excellent start gaining a precious five metre gap that allowed him a certain peace of mind when approaching the first hairpin. He maintained this position from start to finish.

Despite being chased by Michele Puglisi who finished in 2nd place, he still managed to increase the gap and finished 1.526 seconds ahead. 3rd placed Angelo Massimino was 15.309 sec behind the leader Nicky Gauci. The other Maltese drivers also performed well.

Luke Muscat crossed the finish line in third place, but was dropped to 4th after incurring a penalty, and Jake Agius finished in 5th place.

Unfortunately, it was not a lucky weekend for Neville Zammit who had a brake failure after the second lap, which resulted in him spinning off the track and being unable to complete the race.

Gauci now leads the Sicilian Regional championship in the Rotax Max 125 Category having scored maximum points in the first race of this championship.