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| Wednesday, 21 April 2004 |
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Suzuki storms the hills Suzuki Motor Vehicles stormed the hills of Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela this holiday season. The Suzuki vehicles entered by Suzuki veterans Romani de Silva and Rameez Mamoor performed exceptionally well as they always do. Newcomers to Suzuki machinery Amita Deerasekera and Sarath Pathirage also secured podium finishes, underlining the performance and durability of their machinery. The Suzuki Mahagastota hill climb 2004 was sponsored by Motor Marvels Ltd. the local agent for Suzuki in Sri Lanka. The event was a huge success with a mammoth crowd witnessing 5 records being broken. Suzuki motor vehicles dominated the class for modified cars below 1400 cc. Romani de Silva in his Suzuki Swift, won the event with a timing of 42.77 seconds. Sarath Pathirage came second in this event in a brand new Suzuki Alto Works R. The Alto works R, is a new car in the local racing circuit. The Alto Works R is a Suzuki Alto that is tweaked for high performance and handling at the point of manufacture. This car has been fully race prepared by the Suzuki motor racing arm Suzuki Sports. The Radella Hill Climb again saw 5 records tumbling. Here too the class for modified cars up to 1400 cc was dominated by Suzuki. At Radella Rameez Mamoor won an event in a Suzuki Swift Gti (4wd). This car has been meticulously prepared and engineered by Rameez, is the only car in the local racing circuit running on Nitrous Oxide. Rameez has been developing and driving his swift with numerous racing successes for the last 7 years. Amitha Deerasekera behind the wheel of Sarath Pathirage's Alto Works R came in second. Amitha Deerasekera, better known for his performances in a Honda Vtec was very pleased with the performance of the Alto Works R, and he together with Sarath have already ordered the next stage conversion for the car from Suzuki Sports, through the local agent who will be supporting this car. Romani de Silva came third.Rameez Mamoor in his Swift Gti won his class at the prestigious Foxhill Suppercross 2004.The local agents for Suzuki in Sri Lanka, Motor Marvels Ltd., are very keen on promoting the Suzuki brand in the Motor Sporting arena. They are looking at importing a Suzuki Ignis Sport, a 1500 cc car based on the rally bread Suzuki Ignis that is presently winning the World Rally Championship. Motor Marvels have already invited 'Monster' Tajima, the head of Suzuki Sports, and a very famous race car driver himself, to bring one his cars and compete at next years Mahagastota Hill Climb. Motor Marvels are also on the look out for keen young racing drivers, interested in participating in motor sporting events using Suzuki Machinery. Records for Citroen in the Hills The Citroen Saxo of Motor Marvels Ltd. broke class records at the Mahagastota and Radella Hill Climbs held this April in Nuwara Eliya. The car, driven by the CEO of Motor Marvels Ltd., the local agent for Citroen in Sri Lanka won the class for Standard cars from 8-10 Kg/hp and also broke the class records established by the same car and driver last year. At Mahagastota, the Saxo recorded a timing of 41.14 seconds, over half a second faster than the next competitor in a Honda Civic. The key feature of the timing returned by the Saxo was the cars cornering and handling. Veteran racing driver Bri Ponnambalam commented that the Saxo was visually much more stable than its competition and even compared to faster cars in other events. "The Saxo didn't have to slow down for any of the corners," said Bri and added "the car also made up time around the Cemetery Corner, and around Wakefield". Another vastly experienced racing driver Bandula Weerasingha reiterated the sentiments of Ponnambalam. He said "it was a treat to watch the Saxo. Its cornering ability and its acceleration gave it a clear lead over its competition".The Saxo also broke its own class record and won its class at the Radella Hill Climb, achieving a timing of 39.49 seconds, compared to a timing of 40.06 seconds last year, and again, significantly faster than its competition. The Saxo has been prepared to International Group N racing regulations as specified by FIA. The vehicle preparation has been effected by Citroen Sports, the racing arm of Citroen. Citroen are very involved in international motor sport, after winning the world rally championship last year. Citroen is extremely supportive of the initiatives taken by their local agent Motor Marvels Ltd. in the field of motor sport. Infact, the representative of Citroen covering Sri Lanka, Francois Dabadie when spoken to, confirmed that Citroen are looking at the possibility of sending a Junior World Rally Championship spec car to Sri Lanka for display, and also for participation in selected regional motor sporting events. |
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