Nuwara Eliya Road Races revived after three years

S M Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy sports corr

The Nuwara Eliya Road Races organized by the Sri Lanka Motor Cycle Club in association with the Nuwara Eliya Motor Racing Club and the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council will be revived after three years and will be worked off in the city of Nuwara Eliya on April 19, Thursday commencing at 8.30 a.m.

This road race has been conducted for nearly fifty years providing the holiday crowds which throng Nuwara Eliya during this part of the years with thrills and spills.

But three years ago an unfortunate accident in the mini 7 event which resulted in the death of a young racing driver ended up the races being called off abruptly.

This fatal accident created problems for the organizers and they had difficulty in obtaining the necessary permission to run this race. But one swallow does not make a summer as the saying goes and one death does not mean that an annual event should be called off. This year the Sri Lanka Motor Cycle Club made valiant efforts to revive this circuit race and they succeeded in obtaining the necessary permission from the authorities concerned which is no easy task considering the location of the track which goes along the Queen Elizabeth Drive, Lady Maccalums Drive and part of Lake Gregory, Nuwara Eliya. The efforts of the officials of SLCC must be appreciated. This year only six events will be conducted for motor cycles and six for motor cars. The events for motor cars has been restricted to 1050 cc modified, The motor cycles restricted to racing and modified upto 600 cc. There was a time when Formula Cars raced on the same racing track without any mishap as there is also a “No Overtalking Zone” and chicanes placed at risky zones to restrict speed.

Later the power of the participating motor cars was restricted to mini modified upto 1275 cc and now this has been further restricted to modified 1050 cc. The total number of events which was 19 in 2007 has been now sealed down to 12 perhaps to avoid the longer closure of roads.

The events which will be worked off are Motor Cycle 125 cc (2 stroke/4 stroke), 250 cc (4 stroke), Racing/Modified 125 cc and 600 cc. Super motard 250 cc and 450 cc. Motor cars group SL-N upto 1000 cc Ford Laser 1300 cc Ford Laser 1500 cc Non Turbo Subaru Event Mini 7 upto 1000 cc Group SLA Modified upto 1050 cc.