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| Thursday, 14 August 2003 |
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Action filled day at Saliyapura Teenager Gayan, Aravinda champions at Gajaba Super Cross 2003 by Bernard Perera
Teenage rider Gayan Sandaruwan, was at his best winning four events on a Honda CR 125 at the Gajaba Super Cross 2003 at Saliyapura Circuit last Sunday. In the Open Cars event it was Aravinda Premadasa who carried away the MC' Foil Trophy and the SLARDAR champions trophy. Sandaruwan, a 19-year-old advanced level student from Gateway International School rode magnificently to overide all top local contenders and three Indian riders who were competing. He won the two events for 125 cc in style on his Honda CR 125 cc. He was a clear winner from the word go, never giving an opportunity to the other riders to get past him. In the 250 cc class, it was the same story with Sandaruwan getting off to a slow start but moving very swiftly and controlling his machine in brilliant style to get past the leaders in the first lap and holding on till victory was finally achieved. Though young and experienced on the track, he never showed that he is a novice on the circuit. He rode like a master at supercross racing. In this race the tough competition came from the three Indians who were trying to gain lost ground, but were never able to get closer to the youngster. The Indian rider Seyed Rehman who was runner up to C. Vijayakumar, the Indian champion was the only competitor to give Sandaruwan a run in a bid to outclass the local hero. The open event 250/400 cc (4 stroke) event was the most exciting out of all the two wheeler events. Here Sandaruwan riding in his Honda 125 cc was behind Rehman who started off well, but the never say die youngster kept on speeding and went past the leader quickly. From here onwards Sandaruwan kept cool to hold onto his lead until the chequered flag making it a historic day in his life. Indika Gurusinghe was the other rider to excel on his Kawasaki KDX in the Group P. motor cycles event. Aravinda Premadasa who switched to Mitsubishi Evolution for the first time leaving his Subaru Impressa won the Open Event for Cars 3600 cc. It was a tough battle in this event where four evolutions were in competition. The biggest challenge came from Dinesh Deheragoda who won the event No. 1 for this category earlier. Premadasa who got off to a flying start was chased by Deheragoda until the third lap. This close up chase saw the latter knocking Premadasa twice on the first bend but survived to proceed further during the third lap. Deheragoda knocked against Premadasa from behind and was pushed out of the track. This incident kept the earlier winner completely out of the race. It also helped the winner Premadasa to move ahead without much competition. He was followed by Nalin D. Perera and Pradip Jayawardene. The Premadasa - Deheragoda incident led the drivers engaging in a heated exchange of words. The incident is under investigation by the organisers. Upulwan Serasinghe, the 34-year-old who runs for joy without any outside support and reached the top this year at Fox Hill Super Cross won two events, repeating the achievement in his Mazda 323. He won the race No. 1 for Cars 12-14 kgs comfortably overcoming stiff opposition from Dilshad Hamdoon and Aruna Shantha Priyankara who were placed second and third respectively. In the race No. 2 for the same category, Upulwan pushed back all opposition through brilliant driving skills and experience to win the top honours in the 12-14 kg class.
Japan based driver cum rider Dilantha Malagamuwa drove his Suzuki McPride 660 cc against power-packed cars but managed to get past all of them to emerge winner in the M & T cars up to 1350 cc. He got off to an early lead and sped away leaving the others behind. None of these drivers were able to close the gap gained by Dilantha. Zakie Ismail and Prasanna Ranasinghe were placed as runners up to Dilantha. Though Dilantha won the first event he could not repeat the same in the next event, when he was placed third. All in all it was a day of glorious racing witnessed by a big crowd that thronged the Saliyapura circuit. Indian champion rider C. Vijaya Kumar speaking to the 'Daily News' said young Sandaruwan is a youngster with a great future. Though he is young he has all the necessary elements that is required for a rider. "On this day we, found things very difficult to over ride this young guy. I wish him good luck," he said. The youngest competitor on a Yamaha PV 50 was six year old schoolboy from Wycherly International School Navindu Fernando. He was awarded a special prize for participating. |
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