Ayrton Tonna won round two of the karting category of the Malta National Sim Racing Championships 2026 at South Garda, leading 15 of the 19 laps after starting the day with his qualifying time under investigation. Alessandro Vella was quickest at the circuit in every session but was spun around on the opening lap of the final and recovered to second, 6.997 seconds back.
Eli Tonna completed the podium. Kian Gauci crossed the line third on the road but two three-second penalties dropped him to fourth, six seconds deciding the final podium place.
The karting category carries a €5,000 share of the season’s combined €15,000 prize pool and runs alongside the GT3 and F4 championships. The format is a practice session, qualifying, then two heats that set the grid for the final, which is the only session scoring championship points. All sessions use a rolling start, because the Birel IAME X30’s centrifugal clutch makes standing starts impractical.
Two qualifying times go to Race Control
Qualifying produced a timing sheet that did not resemble the rest of the day. Ayrton Tonna set a 42.171s lap and Kian Gauci a 43.324s, while the remaining six drivers were covered by two seconds between 46.576s and 48.643s. Alessandro Vella led that group, improving to his 46.576s as the chequered flag came out.
A four-second advantage on a circuit that takes 47 seconds to lap is not a driving margin. Both times went under investigation and both drivers started the first heat from the back of the grid. Race Control left open the possibility of a technical cause rather than a deliberate one.
Vella wins both heats
With the two fastest drivers sent to the back, Vella won heat one from Gauci by 2.611 seconds, with Eli Xuereb third. Gauci’s climb from the rear of the grid to second was the drive of that heat. Ayrton Tonna recovered to fourth, 13.853 seconds down, and Johannes Camilleri finished a lap adrift.
Heat two was more straightforward. Vella finished 8.914 seconds clear of Xuereb, with Ayrton Tonna third and Benjamin Borg Irimia fourth. Gauci’s heat ended differently: contact at the hairpin triggered a chain reaction that spun him out of the fight and left him fifth, and that result also went to Race Control for review.
Two heat wins put Vella on pole for the final ahead of Xuereb, Ayrton Tonna, Gauci, Eman Muscat, Borg Irimia, Camilleri and Eli Tonna. He was the only driver who had not been involved in an incident all day.
The final turns on the opening corners
The final ran to 19 laps, the first of them the rolling formation lap. It took one corner to undo Vella’s morning.
Eman Muscat launched from fifth into the lead before the field had settled, quick enough that commentary questioned live whether he had gone early. No jump start penalty appears in the final classification. Behind him the pack compressed and Vella was turned around, dropping from pole to eighth.
Ayrton Tonna went after the lead immediately. Muscat defended well, holding up a queue that reached back to Gauci and Xuereb, and Tonna needed two attempts. The second stuck, and he was never headed again.
Vella climbs back to second
Vella was fifth within four laps and fourth shortly after, surviving a near miss with Gauci on the outside of the last hairpin. Third came through contact with Benjamin Borg Irimia at the hairpin that spun Borg Irimia around. The incident was noted for the stewards and no penalty appears in the classification.
Second took considerably longer. Muscat was more than a second a lap slower on outright pace but held Vella behind for lap after lap, including one exchange where the pair made contact and Muscat kept the place. Vella eventually forced the error, catching Muscat running wide out of the chicane and passing cleanly.
He then set the fastest lap of the race at 46.6s, three tenths quicker than anything the leader managed. By that point the gap to Tonna was beyond recovery.
Muscat’s race ends on two wheels
After losing second, Muscat fought a prolonged battle with Gauci that featured repeated contact and doors shut at the hairpin. It ended when Muscat rode a kerb hard enough to put the kart on two wheels and came down into a heavy accident with Eli Xuereb.
Eli Tonna passed the incident and took a podium place he held to the flag. Muscat, who had led three laps, finished seventh.
Six seconds decide the podium
Gauci finished third on the road, 13.166 seconds behind the winner, but took a three-second penalty on lap one and another on lap four. The six seconds moved him to 19.166 seconds and behind Eli Tonna, who had finished 18.724 seconds down.
Ayrton Tonna’s 98.45 percent consistency rating was the highest in the field, and it explains the win better than raw pace does: on a day when almost every driver made contact with somebody, he did not. Muscat recorded the third best consistency figure of the eight despite finishing seventh.
Fans voted Ayrton Tonna Driver of the Day with 84 percent of the ballot, a rare margin in a category this closely matched.
Tonna takes the championship lead
The 30 points for the win moved Ayrton Tonna to the top of the championship on 52, two rounds into a five-round season. Kian Gauci is second on 45 and Alessandro Vella third on 40 after his 26-point afternoon at South Garda.
Vella was the fastest driver at the circuit across qualifying, both heats and the final, and has second place to show for it, which restates the oldest lesson in karting: you do not have to be quickest to win, but you do have to survive the first lap.
Round two ran under race director Adrian Figallo, with Matthew Scerri as steward. Round three takes the field to Franciacorta Karting on Sept. 26, followed by Mika Salo Karting on Oct. 10 and a return to La Reve on Nov. 7.
