Young 17-year-old Jacques Mizzi will be taking part in the 125cc KF2 class in the forthcoming Winter Cup being organised at the South Garda circuit in Lonato del Garda, Brescia, between 19 and 21 February.
This was announced yesterday by the Malta Karting Club, of which Mizzi forms part.
Joe Farrugia and Leonard Farrugia, together with the driver’s father Paul, explained to reporters yesterday that this will be the first time that a Maltese driver will be taking part in this event, even if Jacques has taken part in several others in Sicily and mainland Italy in the past few years.
Around 251 drivers have qualified to take part in the 15th Winter Cup which is a very prestigious and competitive race meeting which will see all the karting teams and manufacturers fielding their best drivers.
Maranello Kart, for whom Jacques will be driving, will be fielding no less than five drivers from five different countries, that is, Italy, Germany, Finland, Spain and Denmark in the KF2 class.
Jacques Mizzi will also be racing a Maranello kart which will be provided by the Italian team together with all the necessary equipment – it would have been too expensive for the Maltese to ship everything from here to Brescia.
Facing such formidable opponents will make it a difficult weekend for Jacques. In his class there will be 109 drivers from 25 different countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and the US, fighting between them to finish among the top 28 for participation in the final main race on the Sunday – over 28 laps. Qualifying takes place on Friday and Saturday.
The Malta group will be travelling to Brescia on Tuesday 16 February and that will make it possible for Jacques to have three days of practice on what will be a completely new circuit for him.
Another 109 drivers will be taking part in the KF3 class, while 33 drivers are expected to take part in the Super KF class, the top class in which Jacaques cannot take part yet as he is still under 18 .
The circuit is 1.010 kilometres long and it has a series of different bends and corners – both right hand and left hand corners. In some of the curves, there is a double apex. Drivers race in a clockwise direction and in each 10-lap heat, they have to cover a distance of 10,000kms. The distance of the semi-final is 14.140kms, while the final race is 28.280kms long.
The Malta team also announced that in April, they will be fielding a Maltese team, completely on their own, when taking part in another event at Triscina, in nearby Sicily. Then Jacques will not only be driving his own kart, but will also have a Maltese mechanic and officials accompanying him.
The team thanked the sponsors, among them Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts, Sequella Caffe, Caffe Oasis, and others, for making their participation in such events possible.
They also thanked the other club in Malta, the Island Karting Club, for accepting to change the 21 February championship date so as to enable Jacques to compete at the Brescia event.
Source:independent.com.mt/
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