On Sunday, March 8, 2009, Team XRAY Malta woke up early in the morning to travel to Gozo to race at the Gozo track. The weather was great after a week full of rain. As we arrived on the track we noticed it was not in good condition; the texture of the track was not uniform in all areas so it was quite difficult to find an ideal set-up. The team had a few practice runs and afterwards we were able to get an ideal set-up for the race.
The race consisted of Buggy and Truggy classes. The Truggy class consisted of four rounds, then the semi-finals, then the final. On the other hand the Buggy class consisted on three rounds and the best drivers made it straight away into the final.
(click to enlarge)
Truggy
In the Truggy class, all drivers driving an XT8 and supported by Ultimate Racing Products had a great performance throughout the rounds. As a result, 3 of 4 drivers driving the XT8 made it into the final. The final was very tough and exciting but it did not start very well for Jonathan Tonna driving his XT8 because thanks to the way the Gozotians start a race he was involved in a big crash in the first few meters of the race. So he found himself in last place far away from the rest of the pack, but for Jonathan impossible is nothing. He drove extremely well for the rest of the race, pulling past one position after another and managing to get up into 2nd place. Unfortunately, a minor mistake near the end cost him the 2nd place so he finished in 3rd place.
Luck was not with us on that day and Omar Xuereb and his XT8 knew this well. Omar was in 2nd place for 75% of the race showing great driving skills, but in the final quarter of the race bad luck struck him and he had to retire.
Buggy
In the Buggy class, once again Team XRAY (who was supported by Ultimate Racing products) showed great performances and there was no doubt that the majority of the XRAY drivers would have made it to the final. Jonathan Tonna, Duncan Compagnio, and Omar Xuereb were all driving the XB808 and made it into the final. The XB808 was the best*performing buggy at the race and no one can contested this. Jonathon Tonna once again showed some great driving skills and dominated the race for a long period. Unfortunately, a backmarker caused Jonathan to make a minor mistake in the last corner of the race which so cost him the win. Luck was not with us once again but rather was with the Gozotian driver who won the race. Omar Xuereb (XB808) finished in 3rd place.
Buggy final results
1. Portelli Carmelo 2. Jonathan Tonna XRAY XB808
3. Omar Xuereb XRAY XB808
4. Noel Micallef
5. Massimo Perrone
6. Grech Mario 7. Duncan Compagnio XRAY XB808
8. Franco Azzopardi
