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Our Man Grant Ford has been jetting out to the Mdina Historic Grand Prix for the last couple of years. He made sure of his annual trip to the island of Malta once again this year. Here’s his report from the beautiful and historic island:
Boarding an Air Malta flight from Gatwick with a three hour journey ahead is one of the high lights of the year for me. The Historic GP of Mdina has become an annual pilgrimage, seeing old friends and making new ones. Competitors, historic racing cars and enthusiasts from all over Europe enjoy October on the Mediterranean island. This year the heat of competition would only be exceeded by the 95C degrees in the shade which caused even the locals to wilt but provided a bumper weekend of sales for the local mineral water suppliers. When we arrived, the 48 cars in the Concours d’Elegance plus the 64 race entries were already on site. Many UK vehicles are collected from points around the M25 several weeks ago to make the long journey on secure car transporters to be delivered to their owners staying at the luxury Palace Hotel in Sliema.
For the unfamiliar, the event is held over three days with a Concours d’Elegance on Friday. Known as The Silent City, Mdina has a magnificent cathedral and in the square the setting is perfect for a motorsport event considered by the resident Maltese to be the most important of the year. Impressive is an understatement for the quality of entry that would not be out of place at Beaulieu or other mainland European historic events. When considering the availability of parts here, the engineering excellence and resourceful nature of the locals can only be admired.
The square was awash with Aston Martins, Jaguars and MGs, plus rare machines from Alfa, Citroen and Corvette keeping the large crowd enthralled all day. Six Judges including Edd China from Discoverie Channel’s ‘Wheeler Dealers’ had to mark the contestants on categories from paint and interior to the period dress expected of the entrants. The years of effort put in by the owners to achieve these standards could only be commended, finding a winner would not be an easy task. Paul Ciappara with his early Ford pick-up must have been a contender as was the very rare Marmon V8 of Joseph Camilleri. The decision went to the perfect Ford Escort Mk1 of Josef Casha with his 1970s attire and a shirt that couldn’t be missed. Pre War award went to Mark Mills from Somerset with his very rare 1927 Bean and Best GP car was awarded to the 1950 Allard J2 of H&H Auctions from Warrington.
Saturday morning and the roads around the ‘Silent City’ were closed to traffic. Sections of the dual carriageway were moved to enable chicanes to interrupt the fast straight section of the 2.2 km track. After a narrow steep start there’s a short burst to the first corner, the principal opportunity of much overtaking. From there comes the long straight and then a technical section with sharp right bends and a sweeping left. The long climb back to the start line gets tighter towards the top as the old sandstone walls close in. Some competitors ran too close and body damage was the inevitable result. The day would be about setting an individual time similar in format to a sprint competition with the winner collecting a superb Swiss Chopard watch. The prize went to Zak Matten in his Datsun 240Z whose final run of 93.62 seconds was incredibly half a second quicker than his rival Nikolai Degorgio in his Alfa Spider but also well over a second faster than he had been before. UK competitors celebrated a class win with Mark Mills blasting his V8 Ford Falcon around in some style and Claire Beswick was the fastest lady of the day in her TR6.
Times taken from Saturday would dictate the grids and starting positions for Sunday’s races. Groups of 6-8 cars in races of 5 laps would see risky overtaking on the narrow circuit, some panel damage and a lot of smiling drivers. Temperatures soared towards three figures and the track got quicker as more rubber was put down. Claire Beswick continued where she finished on Saturday but only after a race long battle with local lady Olivia Said in her XK120. Mark Mills, in his Ford Falcon, enjoyed success as did Simon Hope in the Delahaye, both taking the lead in their respective races and never relinquishing it. By 5.00pm the racing was done and the roads were handed back to the local population, the paddock area under the steep city walls was full of tired, sweaty and smiling faces. Time for a very cold beer and a chance to get the verdict from those involved. Edd China confirmed he would like to return next year, the UK competitors such as Mark Mills and Simon Hope were already considering their machines for 2014 and the organisers are hoping to increase the racing from 1 to 2 days. As for me I will have booked by Christmas, come next October it is the only place to be.
Words and picture Grant Ford
