Weerasooriya to quit racing

S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Corr

Hill stormer Nishan Weerasooriya who thrilled the motor racing fans with his expert and neat driving breaking records will say 'good bye' to the sport which was closer to his hearts when he runs this Sunday at the Mahagastota Speed Hill Climb at Mahagastota.

Nishan Weerasooriya has been always regarded as a connoisseur of motor racing as it is not dare devil bat a superb handling of the vehicle with expertise and a delight to watch. He has speed but controls the vehicle beautifully when negotiating corners which not always seen in this highly competitive sports.

Two years ago at the Mahagastota Speed Hill Climb, coming out of the Cemetery corner and before reaching the first hair pin bend, his Alpha Mitsubishi Evolution 9 Flipped and was in almost two wheels and he knew what to do next and in a split second not only all four wheels were on the road but also negotiated the corner to end up with the fastest timing for the day. In his next run, he did even better to equal the Course Record with a timing of 35.573 seconds. This was the fastest ever timing recorded by a stock car in the 75 year old history of the Mahagastota Hill Climb.

Weerasooriya started his motor racing career in 1995 and was a member of the prestigious Caltex Racing team and has set up several class and course records.

He will officially announce his retirement from motor racing at the conclusion of the Mahagastota Hill Climb on Sunday. He disclosed this to this writer in a telephone interview. Motor racing fans are certainly going to miss grace, style and excellence with which Nishan Werasooriya has been dominating for the last 15 years. His Evolution 9 is well tuned for the run at Mahagastota and he will endeavour his best to break the course record in his farewell run.