Ananda rides to glory at Mahagastota

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Correspondent

Little known rider Ananda Sampath Weerasinghe stunned the motor racing fans when he broke the existing course record for motorcycles with a timing of 36.364 at the 79th Mahagastota Speed Hill Climb organised by the Ceylon Motor Sports Club and sponsored by Mobil Lubricants, McFoil, Avon tyres and Wurth Sports and worked off at the Mahagastota Division of Pedro Group at Blackpool, Nanu Oya.

The delay in publishing the results is due to the procedure adopted by the organisers that they do not release the results immediately after the conclusion of the meet. This is released to the media only after the Committee returns to Colombo and ratifies the results at a committee meeting according to the President of the Ceylon Motor Sports Club. But strangely trophies were awarded to the winners after the conclusion of the meet except in cases where there is a protest.

Not much had been heard of Ananda Sampath in the recent past and he rode into stardom overnight and thrilled the large holiday makers with a dazzling display.

Ananda Sampath Weerasinghe competing in the event for Super Motard motorcycles upto 250cc (2 strokes) or 450cc (4 stroke) rode a 250cc Akash Special to time 36.718 seconds in his first run which eclipsed the overall course record for motorcycles 37.66 seconds set up by Saffraz Junaid in 2004. Saffraz Junaid who was also participating in this event on a Honda CR 250cc timed 38.273 seconds. This set the stage for an interesting second run which was conducted later in the day.

This time too Ananda Sampath proved his mettle and displayed in no uncertain terms that his earlier record breaking run was no 'flash in the pan' when he bettered that timing with a screeching run in which he clocked 36.364 seconds to become the fastest rider on two wheels in the history of Mahagastota Hill Climb.

Saffraz Junaid was once again compelled to play second fiddle to Ananda Sampath when he timed 37.430 seconds in his second run which bettered his own record of 2004 but not good enough to overhaul the new timing of Ananda Sampath.

Ananda Sampath's earlier best timing at Mahagastota was 41.45 seconds in the standard/modified event upto 125cc in 2007.

The rising of records at this year's hill climb came in as no surprise as the racing track was in the best ever condition with the road being upgraded and fully carpeted.

It was one time an Estate card road develop over the years since the first hill climb in 1934. For the first time safety railings and paddings were installed at high risk places by courtesy of McFoil - another company coming under McLarens Holdings which had done so much for the development of motor racing in Sri Lanka under the leadership and guidance given by maestro Rohan de Silva.

Another rider to shine was Chinthaka Nishantha in the event for Racing motorcycles upto 125cc (Group MX) when he stormed with an excellent timing of 37.489 seconds which broke the existing class record of 41.407 seconds held by Tuan Ossen since 2009. Clipping of nearly 4 seconds from an earlier timing is a big achievement and this timing of 37.489 seconds even improved on the course record for motorcycles but by that time Ananda Sampath Weerasinghe had grabbed the honours. In this event veteran rider M.G. Kumarasinghe now nearing his 25th year in competitions also did well to time 38.311 seconds.

Hill stormer Saffraz Junaid being stripped of his course record drove with vengeance in the motorcycles open event to win it with a timing of 37.760 seconds which once again broke his earlier record by 10 micro seconds.

His timing in this event is a new class record bettering his own existing record of 39.061 seconds. Sixteen-year-old Haritha Pilapitiya - a schoolboy from Trinity College better known in the sport of rifle shooting put up an excellent display in this event to time 39.499 seconds riding a 400cc machine to finish second.

Following in the footsteps of his illustrious father Senani Pilapitiya, Haritha is the youngest to time under 40 seconds in the history of Mahagastota.