Land Rover dominate 4x4 Racing in the Hills

The Nuwara Eliya 4x4 Club conducted their 4th consecutive annual 4x4 event as part of the festivities in the Nuwara Eliya Season. The event was organized in a very professional manner and all competitors enjoyed their day out immensely.

Chandima Gooneratne with his award

David Pieris with his award

The event held on April 16, 2013 was for 'Standard Vehicles' and the track was designed to prove the capability of an unmodified vehicle and the drivers and navigators skill. The track set by the club whilst being very challenging, was well within the capability of the vehicles and their crew. Hence, the event ran smoothly without long pauses whilst vehicles were being recovered.

There were two highlights of the day.

They were the brilliant drive of Chandima Gooneratne the head of Marketing at SML Frontier the agent for Land Rover in Sri Lanka. Chandima recorded a time of 1:46 seconds clinching the championship by over 8 seconds to the nearest competitor. He drove with a mix of caution and aggression showing complete mastery of the vehicle he drove and also a very accurate reading of the terrain.

The next highlight was the return of David Pieris, the Sri Lankan motor racing legend and business icon. David Pieris also driving a Land Rover Defender, showed his brilliance, giving spectators a display of his ability to read the terrain and to control his Defender over a very undulating and arduous course. He gave those present a masterful display of his driving skills and showed that he was very much a force to be reckoned with. David Peris took the runners up position of the event. The Land Rover Defender that Chandima and David drove was a completely standard in specfication.

Many other 4x4 vehicles competed against the Land Rover, and in third place was Priyan Perera, who drove very strongly in a Isuzu Trooper.

The camaraderie between competitors and the firm but efficient manner in which the race was conducted set this event apart.