What will this mean for Maltese Motorsport?

Tragic news spread across the Maltese islands and much of the motoring community yesterday. During the yearly Paqpaqli Ghall-Istrina charity event, one of Paul Bailey’s supercars, a Porsche 918 Spyder careened into spectators after losing traction during a demonstration. 28 of them have been hospitalised, the youngest being a six-year-old girl.

Incidents like this have happened since motorsports began, that does not make it any easier to discuss, when it happens. After a decade of Paqpaqli, what will this mean for the charitable event and motorsports in general in Malta?

When planning a motoring event as large as Paqpaq, precautions need to be taken. Generally, motoring events place spectators well away from possible danger by either elevating them or moving them further away from the track. Through elevation, the spectators are not only safer but more likely to get a better view of the demonstration.

Formula E, a relatively new race series, builds tracks in different cities across the world over two days keeping all spectators elevated and out of harms way with two sets of barriers between them and the race cars. You could argue that as this was a charitable event, people want to be around the cars and get close to the action.

Reading through guidelines set out by the Health and Safety Executive for Motorsports here in the UK, there are clear suggestions how a track should be set up to ensure the safety of the driver and the spectators. Crash barriers, straw bales, tyre walls and mesh fencing are there to protect both parties in the case of an incident. From the footage, readily available, which will not be shown here due to its graphic nature, shows that none of these were in use on Sunday.

Many people on the internet are laying blame on Paul Bailey for driving. However, he is a man who uses his cars for charitable causes instead of locking them away for nobody to see. Previous reports mention Bailey, 55, was excited to bring his collection to Malta to be used for a charitable event.

Hopefully, this incident will increase the interest for a race track with full safety protocol in place to be built on the Maltese Islands. A purpose-built area for drivers and spectators alike to be safe and enjoy their passion. Cars.

You can read the full motorsport guidelines here.

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Silex Power – Chreos

Car manufacturers have been battling with governments all over the world with regards to emissions, so much so that a few manufacturers have gone completely electric namely Tesla, Fisker, and the usual large car manufacturers from around the world.

Malta is not known in the motoring world for making fantastic cars or any cars whatsoever, so when I recently came across a company known as Silex Power who boldly claimed they are going to produce, ‘the most innovative and revolutionary electric vehicle designed to date,’ i was surprised to find out they are based on Malta’s sister island Gozo.

The Chreos as it is to be called, is a luxury electric car. Now this won’t be any electric car, it will be one that can cruise at 125km/h over a distance of 1000km on a single charge. The body being built solely out of carbon fibre with some of the industry’s top materials and technologies. Design wise, the car reminds me of the Bugatti Galibier with its swooping lines and long rear windscreen.  Rear suicide doors allow easy entry for the rear passengers into the cabin where they will be surrounded by conventional materials such as wood and leather.

The Chreos will be powered by four independent motors sitting at each wheel producing a combined power outage of 640bhp and torque rating of 4400NM. To put these numbers into perspective, a Bugatti Veyron has 1250NM of torque and a Pagani Zonda has 710NM of torque.

These figures are rather impressive but the party trick is yet to come.

The batteries on the Chreos are somewhat special. They will allow full charge within ten minutes of being plugged in due to the power density used in the battery. (double that of a conventional electric car battery)

As this car is still a concept, most of the features won’t make the grade for the finished product and in all honesty I am quite skeptical to whether the car will ever be produced to match the published figures. However, I do hope they prove me wrong and show the rest of the world that a tiny island like Malta can battle with the top car manufacturers.

Review: ‘Clarkson: Powered Up!’

Every year Jeremy Clarkson of the hit show Top Gear releases a DVD for the Christmas period. this year it’s called ‘Powered Up!’

He starts off by reading a letter from a disgruntled viewer or maybe even someone who just wants to have his name repeated aloud on the show.

There is the usual mix of loud engines, fast cars, burning rubber, sweet drifts through corners and a number of challenges on the Paul Ricard HTT in the south of France.

Clarkson makes it a point to leave the dreary weather of the UK for the sunnier isles of the Mediterranean. My only wonder is when he will be bringing his show to Malta. Instead of high-powered super cars maybe he can test strength of suspension on our abysmal roads.

enough of my little rant… back to the DVD. his main mission is to find his favorite car of the year, and not to spoil it for the rest of you… it is not what you may expect.

The DVD is available on DVD and Blu Ray from all good stores.

here is the trailer to whet your appetite

missing the sun?

After a couple of days of torrential downpour and gale force winds, one starts to miss the heat and the sunshine that blesses the Maltese Islands. For those who only get to the see the sun and feel the heat when they take those much-needed breaks this is definitely something for you guys.

This mix I have been listening to recently by a local DJ going by the name of MATO reminds me of sitting on a deck chair chilling in the sun with an ice cold beer enjoying the sun and sea. If you are at work, turn this on and feel the stress melt away. If you are at home and want to chill after a hard days work, maybe spark up a cigar (head over to cutthecap for some ideas) this will definitely  hit the unwind button.

MATO aka Mathieu Fabre is a Maltese born DJ with a French twist. He started off his Maltese career with two other DJs creating parties going by the name of  ‘P e r p e n d i c u l a r’ which have been a success since 2008. He seems to be currently bouncing from Malta and London so if you want to book him for any of your parties you can send him an email on : Bookings.mato@gmail.com