Southern Vibes excel at SLARDAR 1000 Rally

Conclusion of the SLARDAR 1000 motor rally, which was won by the veteran driver Samin Attanayake and the upcoming navigator from the South, Rahal Uluwita, saw the remarkable driving and navigating skills of a group of men and women, who call themselves the 'Southern Vibes'. This team of drivers and navigators, numbering 16 members, is to be remembered well for the great motor sports skills they displayed in bagging more than 50 percent of the trophies awarded at the awards ceremony, which was held at the BMICH on the of October 28.

The SLADAR 1000 motor rally, which consisted of four stages, started on the October 26 and concluded on the 28, traversing through tough terrains of central highlands. The rally is considered as the toughest and most challenging TSD type of rally conducted in Sri Lanka.

Southern Vibes consisted of members of the Southern Motor Sports Club (SMSC) and its junior club, the Young Southern Motor Sports Club (YSMSC).

Among the team members, are the veteran driver Ashhar Hameem and his well known navigator, Rizmin Razik who had won this challenging motor sports event in 2007.

This year too, they became the winners of stage 1 and stage 2 (Zero debits) and fifth in the stage 4. They had only total of 10 debits for three stages. Third stage saw an unfortunate incident of speedometer wheel malfunctioning and still they decided to compete without a Rally Meter, ODO Meter or no assistance from any device and managed to finish the stage with 107 debits and secured the 13th slot using extremely competent navigational skills of Rizmin. This was even more difficult as they were running as the car number 1.

Although, they were unfortunate to finish the rally with overall 9th position due to a defective rally meter, Ashhar and Rizmin proved that they are a crew to be watched and admired by winning first two stages and 4th stage with 4th place.

Two of the other crews, Dishan Goonesekera and Harith Salvathura, along with Sanjaya Sedera Senarath and Dakshina Amarasinghe, also proved their capabilities and skills, by bagging a number of trophies. Goonesekera and Salwathura became second in stage one and finished eighth in the overall positions, while Sanjaya and Dakshina finished second in stage two and first in stage four but finished 12th in overall positions due to a defective fuse in the first stage, trying to assist another crew member in the second stage and a mechanical defect in the third stage.

All four of them roared through the steep terrains of the central highlands with great skills - a great treat to watch indeed. Another known driver from the south, Jagath Munasinghe along with his navigator Suranga Buddhika, ran the whole rally in a very steady manner without leaving any noticeable blemish along the way and finally finished at overall fifth position.

It was great to watch a family- father, mother, son and daughter taking part in this highly competitive rally, which is a new national (or probably a world) record.

Driver S. K. Ranjith was navigated by his son S. K. Methushanka, while Ranjith's wife, Janaki Alahapperuma was navigated by her daughter S. K. Amanda.

The mother and daughter combination form the first ever female crew taking part in a SLARDAR 1000 rally.

The latter ran skillfully to finish at the 18th overall position. The story with Ranjith and Methushanka is more interesting because of the tremendous skills they displayed to finish at the seventh overall position. Prasanna Ranasinghe and Rally Guru Andrew Silva who took part in this Rally as Competitor no two, unfortunately have to face to an engine failure at the stage one.

Rahal Uluwita of the Southern Vibes proved that his skills were indomitable. Navigating the speedy Samin Attanayake to take the crown, Rahal proved that he is the navigator of the present day, without forgetting the fact that he won both the Southern Rally 2012 and 2011.