Indika and Navin win two titles

Malaysian Rain Forest Challenge 2009:

Sri Lanka’s best and most experienced off-roading team Indika Mahesh Sanjaya (Driver) and Navin Marapana (Co-Driver) took the off roading world by storm to become the champions in the 2000-3000 cc Diesel Category and Champions in the Electric Winch Category in the Malaysian Rainforest Challenge 2009. They also proved that they were a truly world beating team when they overcame over 20 petrol vehicles and also became as the second runner up in the Open Category.

The RFC is considered to be the toughest off road challenge in the world. It is the Formula One in the off roading fraternity. It is held annually in the Rain Forests of Malaysia over a period of ten grueling days where man and machine are put to test in the most harshest and challenging conditions that Mother Nature could offer. The best off roaders in the world make it an annual pilgrimage to find out who is the best of the best.

This year’s RFC had over forty vehicles taking part with the best competitors from the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, USA, Thailand, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Austria, Denmark and Singapore vying for supremacy along with participants from France, UK, Hungary, India, Vietnam Czechoslovakia and Germany.

Sri Lanka had two other teams taking part comprising Suresh Chathuranga (Driver) and his Co-Driver Ravindra Sanjeewa and Ravindra Rathnasiri along with his co- driver Harsha Kumara.

Luis Wee the organizer of the RFC had this to say about Indika and Navin: “ Indika and Navin were taking part in a 2500 cc 3000 TDI powered Land Rover which was modified at Indika’s workshop LR Motors, with electric winches and competing against participants using 3000cc Petrol Engines running mechanical winches which are much faster. The secret of their success is down to good teamwork and co-ordination. Indika is a fantastic driver, one of the bests I have ever seen. His skill and control over the vehicle at high speed is fascinating to watch. The fact that a diesel land rover could dominate an event that has hitherto been dominated by petrol engined hybrids shows that Land Rover is in fact the best 4x4xfar.

But the RFC is not only about driving. The co-driver must be supremely fit and able to recover the vehicle and winch it out during competitive special stages. This involves a lot of physical effort and mental toughness. In this regard Navin is one of the best co-drivers I have ever seen. Even though they were using a slower electric winch, Navin’s speed and agility in setting up the winch made up for any loss of speed in the actual winching. I would rank Navin as one of the top co-drivers in the world and he has had several offers from other top drivers from around the world to become their co-driver. Last year’s RFC Champion Wong Phin from Borneo has asked Navin to be his co-driver in next year’s Australian Outback Challenge.”

Both Indika and Navin were extremely happy with their victories and thanked their sponsors for making this a success. They had this to say “Our improvement over a short period of time is because the level of competition and the quality of the events in Sri Lanka are actually world class now.

Our travel to Malaysia and the shipping costs of the vehicle were sponsored by the Four Wheel Drive Club of Sri Lanka. The Land Rover Agents in Sri Lanka, Frontier Automotive Pvt Ltd helped us out immensely by providing sponsorship in the form of travel costs and other logistical support. We are very thankful to Frontier Automotive for being a tower of strength to the team for many years. Our success is due to our loyal sponsors.

We would also wish to thank His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa for all the support he has given us, Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge for sponsoring the team and for his unstinted support, the Deputy Minister of Fisheries Neomal Perera. Our Principal sponsor, the Four Wheel Drive Club of Sri Lanka and its event director Sean Hameed who travelled to Malaysia to support our team, the Land Rover Agent in Sri Lanka Frontier Automotive Pvt Ltd, Queens Workwear Ltd, Sam Chandrasoma and Viraj Ratnatilake, our Team Manager Arshad Dole for all his hard work and all our Team Mechanics K Manjula, K Susantha and R Sanjeewa.”