Suresh wins Land Rover owners club auto cross

MOTOR RACING: Land Rover supremacy in Sri Lankan off-road racing was once again underlined when Suresh Chathuranga won the Land Rover Owners Club Auto Cross. Suresh drove a Range Rover Classic, comprehensively prepared by his brother-in-law Indika Sanjaya. This vehicle stamped its class, and overcame competition from all other major brands of four wheel drive vehicles.

This was the second four wheel drive competition organized at the picturesque Waters Edge circuit. Against the backdrop of the beautiful new golf course, and lakebed, the course comprised six major obstacles.

These obstacles tested the vehicles ability in hill ascent and descent, its cross axel ability, its ability to traverse side slopes, its abilities in the mud, and water, and the most challenging obstacle of all, the pit. This obstacle comprised a steep descent into a tunnel of mud, and a steep climb out of this slippery pit.

The course was designed in the same vein as the international ARB challenge held in Australia, by the Land Rover owners club and the help of Indika Sanjaya, a previous winner of the Land Rover Challenge. Co-drivers had their work cut out too, as well as guiding the vehicles around the course they had to move logs and ladders into place to overcome the obstacles.

The event drew a large crowd of spectators who witnessed an unforgettable display of four wheel driving, not to mention some of the amazing four wheel drive vehicles on display. The Range Rover Sport, Discovery 3 and a six wheeled Defender to name a few.

A total of 30 competitors took part covered in a uniform of thick slushy mud, courtesy of the overnight rains. Vehicles ranged from small BJ40 Toyota's, Nissan Patrol's, Jeep Wrangler's and of course a host of beautifully prepared Land Rover's.

The final results were announced at sunset on a stage surrounded by the Land Rover product range.

The event winner was Suresh Chathuranga in his 1971 Land Rover Ranger Rover with a very impressive time of 4 minutes 11 seconds.

His skilled driving was amplified by the vast capabilities of his Range Rover Classic. In second place, veteran 4x4 driver Sean Hameed driving a kitted BJ40 Land Cruiser completed the course in 4 minutes 56 seconds.

Sean's drive demonstrated his outstanding experience in this form of motor sport, showing impeccable understanding of the course and its challenges. Third place went to Roshan Ratnayake in a modified Nissan Patrol with a timing of 4 minutes 58 seconds. Thus top honours in terms of vehicle makes went to Land Rover, Toyota and Nissan.

The event was organized by the Land Rover Owners Club, a group of vibrant Land Rover fans, who devoted their time into putting together an event of international Standard. The main organizers of the event for the Land Rover club were Sathi Watson, and Manjula Seelanathakuruppu.

SLROC President, Manjula Seelanathakuruppu said "this was a hugely successful event and shows that there is potential for proper four wheel driving events in Sri Lanka".

The main sponsor of the event was Frontier Automotive (Pvt.) Ltd., Sheran Fernando, CEO of the company was elated at the success of the event, primarily due to the vast crowd that gathered to witness it, and the highly professional organization of the Land Rover Owners Club.

Given below are the top 10 results in the SLROC Autocross 2006

1st Suresh Chathuranga

2nd Sean Hameed

3rd Roshan Ratnayake

4th Osanda Maligaspe

5th Deepthi Perera

6th Ajith Fernando

7th Themiya Abeywickrama

8th Warner Oornef

9th Ajith Narampanawa

10th Ushanth Hathurusinge