Nishan - fastest timing at Mahagastota

S.M. Jiffrey ABDEEN-Kandy Sports Correspondent

Hill Stormer Nishan Weerasooriya in his farewell appearance clocked the fastest timing of the day at the annual Mahagastota Speed Hill Climb organized by Ceylon Motor Sports Club and worked off at Mahagastota Estate of Pedro Group in Nanu Oya on Sunday.

Nishan Weerasooriya making his final appearance driving Mitsubishi Evolution 9 in the Group SL-GT Cars upto 3500 cc (Super Cars) timed 35.81 seconds which was slower by 0.24 seconds than the existing course record of 35.57 seconds held jointly by him and Rohan de Silva.

It was just a fraction of a second which deprived this great racing driver of making his farewell appearance more memorable.

Nishan Weerasooriya handled his machine beautifully and his handling of his machine was superb and was fast on the corners with the slightest loss of time and not taking any risks and all this was gulped by the large number of Motor Racing fans who thronged this Hill Climb.

Nishan Weerasooriya belongs to a rare breed who believes in style and grace and how gracefully he turned the Hill Climb tracks which were relished by the fans.

Nishan Weerasooriya in his farewell appearance timed 36.66 seconds in his first run and followed up with 35.81 seconds in a screeching second run.

Though Nishan Weerasooriya had to be satisfied as the joint course record holder at Mahagastota Hill Climb he will go down as the fastest driver in a Stock Car so far in the 76-year-old history of this Hill Climb which dates back to 1934.

The second fastest for the day was Arvinda Premadasa who timed 36.19 seconds in his Mitsubishi Evolution 6 in the Super Cars Event.

Finishing third in this event timing 36.50 seconds on a Mitsubishi Evolution 9 was Pasindu Peiris.

Course record holder for Motor Cycles Shafraz Jumaid clocked the fastest timing for Motor Cycles during the day by timing 38.92 seconds in the Group MX-Racing Motor Cycles upto 450 cc.

Shafraz Junaid put up a sparkling display and his timing was slower by just 0.26 seconds from the course record held by him.

Dinesh Senanayake proved what a great driver he is in the Standard Cars when he won two events in the 8.0 to 10.0 kg/hg category in his Suzuki Swift and later in the 10.0 to 12.0 kg/hp category in his Mazda Axela which brought him the trophy for the fastest Mazda in the meet. He timed 42.43 seconds and 43.23 seconds respectively in the two events.

Hill Climb ace Dhammika Peiris too won two events in the over 12.0 kg/hp category in his Ford Laser with a timing of 44.29 seconds and later the One Make Series of Nissan March K 11 with a time of 46.91 seconds.

He may have won a third had he not crashed at the first hair pin bend his Honda Civic in the 10.0 to 12.0 kg/hp event.

Maestro Rohan de Silva showed that he has still a lot of racing left in him when he won the new event introduced this year Formula McLaren 1300 cc with a timing of 40.87 seconds which will go down as a class record.

He was also placed second in the Formula Ford 1600cc event with a timing of 38.75 seconds and this event was won by Dilan Seneviratne who timed 38.12. This was the second year in running that Seneviratne had won this event by getting the better of his Mentor Rohan de Silva.

There were many spills and controversies. Rohitha Amarasinghe's Toyota Corolla went off the track while Ushan de Silva, Dhammika Peiris and Sachith Pathirana hit the sand bags in an attempt to improve their timings in the second run.

The other winners in the Motor Car events were Group SL-N One Make Series Mini 7 Series - Lasantha Gunasekera 46.28 seconds (Austin Mini).

Group SL-N Ford Laser/Mazda 323 Series - Chaminda Weerasuriya 45.41 seconds.

Group SL-A Cars upto 1050cc - A.D.S. Ajith Keerthi (Austin Mini) 40.97 seconds.

Group SL-H Cars upto 1600cc Ashan Silva (Honda V Tee) 38.79 seconds.