|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 21 September 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Sports | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Rohan sets new course record at Mahagastota S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen reporting from Nuwara Eliya Formula racing 'maestro' Rohan de Silva put up an par excellent performance to become the fastest man at Mahagastota - the birth place of motor racing in Sri Lanka when he clocked 35.57 seconds in his Mobil Ford Formula to set up new class and new course records at the 70th Anniversary Auto Finish Mahagastota Speed Hill Climb organised by Ceylon Motor Sports Club and sponsored by CIC Ltd. and worked off at the Mahagastota circuit at Blackpool before a large crowd last Saturday. Following heavy overnight rain which had made the track wet and muddy on the sides delayed the start by over two hours and the event finally got under way at 11 a.m. as a result of good track restoring operations by the organisers. The day itself was highly over cast and the weather Gods threatened to come down but they only appeared to be false signals and all the competitors were able to get their second runs. Rohan de Silva in his 26th year in Motor Racing and at the age of 52 put up a stupendous performance to give an object lesson to the younger generation on how to blend man, machine, skill and the course to become the fastest ever at Mahagastota to time 35.57 seconds to eclipse the nine year old course record of 35.84 seconds held by Suranjith Premadasa who though having entered the race failed to turn up at the start line possibly due to unforseen circumstances. His participation would have certainly added more fire to the course set ablaze by Rohan de Silva. What is most striking about de Silva's achievement was the fact that there has been progressive deterioration of the track over the past six years or more and this being an estate road, one cannot expect the same standards as the tarmac tracks found in racing tracks. But the organisers had done their best within their means and especially the Wakefield Corner needs some restoration as most drivers and riders found this to be a 'hoodoo' spot losing time. In fact de Silva in his first run found the negotiating of this corner so difficult at top speed that he accidentally slipped into neutral and lost valuable time before the engine roared again in his first run timing of 27.11 seconds. But overall it was de Silva's best ever performance in his 26 year old motor racing career and achieved the life's dream of holding the course record at Mahagastota and he could not have selected a better occasion than the 70th Anniversary Celebration of motor racing in Sri Lanka. His timing 35.37 seconds almost reduces by half the first course record of 64 seconds by rider T.G. Dickson in his 390 cc Scott motor cycle on 28th October, 1934. The fastest that day on a car was by P. Bill Fowke in this TT Austin Sports Model with a timing of 69.4 seconds, de Silva had sliced these records by nearly to half. De Silva displayed his skills not only in the Modified Formula event but also in the Standard Formula event by winning it comfortably with a timing of 37.69 seconds. Thus de Silva went home with two wins and two records on this special occasion. In fact the Standard Formula event turned on to be an event dominated by the de Silva's as the first three places were secured by Rohan, Harsha and Romani in that order. Apart from the achievement of de Silva, four other class records were lowered at this Special Mahagastota Hill Climb. First it was that man from Kahawatte Nihal Premasiri who continues to shine like the game that he handles to win the event for Unmodified cars between 10.0 Kg/HP and 12.0 Kg/Hp with a timing of 41.78 seconds which lowered the record of 42.21 second held by young Darin Weerasinghe who finished third this time with a timing of 42.74 seconds. In second place was Dhammika Peiris timing 42.43 seconds. Burly Sheran Fernando made a brilliant run in his Browns Citroen Saxo the time 40.96 seconds which lowered his own class record of 41.14 seconds set up in April, 2004 in the event for Standard motor cars between 8.0 to 10.0 Kg/HP. It has now become a habit for the soft spoken Fernando to better his timings with records everytime he runs in his Citroen Saxo made highly competitive by the technical staff at Brown & Company Limited. Zackie Ismail came second with a timing of 41.83 seconds and Devaka Amarasuriya third with 42.74 secs. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
