P R E S S R E L E A S E

Mdina Grand Prix organisers announce 2012 date for the popular classic car street race, now established as a staple of Malta’s national events calendar.
Published on Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Wednesday 7 December 2011, Malta – Mdina Grand Prix conjures up images of stunning classic cars, international celebrity drivers, glamorous stars, global brand owners and visiting journalists, so it is no surprise that there has been a vote of confidence in classic car racing at Mdina with the announcement of the staging of the 2012 Mdina Grand Prix, which was a new racetrack in 2011, with the organisers absolutely delighted with the throngs of people lining the streets to watch the sixty participants battle it out just over a month ago. The Valletta Grand Prix Foundation had no hesitation whatsoever in voting to continue racing at Mdina in 2012, and have set the 11th to the 14th of October 2012 as the dates for the 2012 Mdina Grand Prix. The 2 days of racing will now be extended to 4 days of activities given the quality of the Mdina venue and racetrack, culminating on Sunday October 14, 2012.

The 2012 Mdina Grand Prix and Classic Car Event organised by the Valletta Grand Prix Foundation will feature races and exhibitions of historic and classic cars and incorporates a racetrack stretching from Mdina through Mtarfa and into Rabat, over a distance of 2.2 kilometres. This race circuit gives the public many good spots in Mdina, Mtarfa and Rabat from which to follow the race. This street race is the only one of its kind in this part of the Mediterranean and attracted huge crowds of local and international visitors in 2011 to the racing heart of Malta. The 2011 Mdina Grand Prix, was a classic car event like no other with action, drama and full speed to thrill the large crowds.

The main event is a street race, with Malta increasingly seen as the Monaco of the Southern Mediterranean. Past entries have included sports cars, two-seater racers and other classic cars built between 1910 and 1975 as well as single-seater racing cars dating between 1930 and 1960. Several celebrities are expected to attend after the success of the 2011 event. Some of the 2011 celebrities were Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons’ grandson, Michael Quinn, along with fellow racers John Burton in a beautiful E-Type and Guy Broad in his world-beating “bubble” XK, the fastest XK in history. They were joined by Gemma Hunt from the BBC who hosted the race and performed the duties of master of ceremonies for the official prize-giving, actress Nathalie Pownall who breezed in for race weekend to add an extra touch of glamour and objectivity as a judge for the Concours D’Elegance. There was also swashbuckling global luxury brand owner of Bremont, Giles English, as well as Mark Dixon, from cult UK motoring magazine Octane, and Kari Hautala and Mikkonen Ilpo from Moottori, the oldest automobile magazine in Finland, indeed a heady mix.

The 2012 event will again include the Concours d’Elegance where all qualifying cars will be on display for the enjoyment of the public. The main timed sprint runs and demonstration runs will be held throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Visiting journalists for the 2011 race commented that this is what building Malta’s “brand” is all about, leaving the Valletta Grand Prix Foundation in no doubt about where the 2012 race should be held. Screen actress Nathalie Pownall summed up the 2011 race weekend succinctly, saying, “Mdina was made for such an event, it is a beautiful historical backdrop in which the cars all took pole position. There was speed, there was elegance, there was camaraderie and there was a gung ho spirit - in my book these 4 ingredients make for a PERFECT time.”

Photographs kindly provided by David Caruana Dingli and Gilbert Caruana.