Round one of the karting category at the Malta National Sim Racing Championships 2026 went to Zack Scicluna, who put a first-lap incident behind him to win both Heat 2 and the Final at La Reve on Saturday. Kian Gauci was his closest challenger all day and finished second overall, with Ayrton Tonna rounding out the podium before a fan vote named him Driver of the Day that evening.
The category carries a €5,000 share of the season’s combined €15,000 prize pool, run alongside the GT3 and F4 championships at World Pro Racing facility in Montekristo Estate. All three sessions use a rolling start, so the opening lap of each is a formation lap before the racing begins. Round 1 took place on the virtual La Reve Karting’s 1.3km circuit in Hal Far, the only CIK-FIA homologated track in Malta.
Qualifying Comes Down to Three Tenths
Zack Scicluna topped the qualifying session with a 37.481s lap, but the margin at the front was tiny: the top six drivers were separated by just 0.3 seconds heading into Heat 1.
Heat One: Contact at Turn One Hands Gauci the Win
Scicluna ran wide at the exit of Turn 1 early in the 10-lap heat, and the contact that followed collected Alessandro Vella and Ayrton Tonna as the field bunched up behind him. Kian Gauci came through unaffected to take the win. Scicluna clawed his way back to third and Tonna to second, though both had places to make up later in the day.
Heat Two: Scicluna Leads Every Lap
Scicluna answered immediately, leading the 10-lap heat from start to finish and crossing the line 1.5 seconds ahead of Gauci. Further back, Eli Tonna kept Benjamin Borg Irimia behind him for the whole race to take third, defending hard into the slower corners to protect the position.
The Final: Matching Pole Pace on Lap 16
The 18-lap Final turned into a straight fight between Scicluna and Gauci, with Gauci sitting right on Scicluna’s tail for most of the race. Sixteen laps in, on tyres that had been circulating all day, the pair both lapped in 37.481s: identical to Scicluna’s pole time that morning. Scicluna took the chequered flag first for his second win of the day. Ayrton Tonna brought his kart home third after a quieter run through the field, while Eli Xuereb dropped a place to Benjamin Borg Irimia in the closing laps as his tyres gave up.
Round 1 Result
Benjamin Borg Irimia’s day ended with a 10-second penalty for an on-track incident that dropped him to eighth in the final classification. Alessandro Vella and Johannes Camilleri both picked up 5-second penalties for unsafe rejoins.
- Zack Scicluna: 30
- Kian Gauci: 26
- Ayrton Tonna: 22
- Eli Xuereb: 19
- Eli Tonna: 16
- Alessandro Vella: 14
- Johannes Camilleri: 12
- Benjamin Borg Irimia: 10
- Eman Muscat: 0
Fans gave Ayrton Tonna every single vote cast for Driver of the Day: all 22 of them. Round one was run under race director Adrian Figallo and Matthew Scerri, steward. The championship heads to South Garda next on 12 September, a faster and more open circuit where long straights should bring the slipstream into play in a way La Reve never allowed.
Watch the Full Broadcast
You can rewatch the full karting round one broadcast from La Reve below.
