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| Tuesday, 30 November 2004 |
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ANCL Media Sponsor : Gayan, Indu, Aravinda superstars at Talduwa Rally Cross Bernard Perera reporting from Avissawella Young Gayan Sandaruwan became a super star at the Talduwa Rally Cross 2004 on Sunday at the redeveloped circuit at Talduwa, Avissawella. Gayan appearing for this first race the 125 cc Racing failed to get off to a good start and it was Rohana Jayaratne who was out first. He was in front only for one lap. Gayan who made a dash and went ahead pushing back few riders who were occupying the lead. It was plain sailing for Gayan from that stage onwards until he received the chequered flag. He was later followed by Rohana Jayaratne and Haren Yatawaka. The 250cc Racing event too was dominated by Gayan again riding his Honda CR 125. Competing with a smaller machine he never allowed any other rider to come closer to him. The conditions caused danger as the track was slippery and soggy in addition the rains too came down causing great inconvenience to riders. This situation really needed the skills of the riders than the power of the machine. Gayan proved his skills are the best available on this day and went onto win the event classy ride which thrilled estimated crowd over 10,000. He rode his low powered machine in superb style to outclass all other powerpacked machines ridden by top cross riders. Gayan once again came up with another brilliant performance in the open event this too on his favourite Honda CR 125. In this event high powered machines ridden by riders failed to cope with Gayan's skills and had to bow down tamely. Gayan proved that it was day at Talduwa with his third win which also sealed the championship title for bikes. Major Indu Samarakoon was the driver who performed well in the tracks and Jeeps events winning a double. He completely in control of both events. The track was not suitable for speeding according to their will. The most wanted from these drivers was the skill to manoeuvre their vehicles according to conditions available on the track. This event saw many of the vehicles spin and going off the track, but Indu was never troubled by these as he had a superb control of his vehicle right from the start. In the second event too he used the same tactics and completed a fine double. Here too none of the drivers were able to get closer to Indu as he mastered track to suit his ambitions. Indu was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero 2500 cc. Ravi Mayadunne atop Truck & Jeep driver could not finish the event as his vehicle which was too powerful was not helpful for his class of driving under these conditions. Gamini Nelson also in a Mitsubishi Pajero was the runner-up to Indu Samarakoon. The second double was achieved by the present SLARDAR champion Aravinda Premadasa in the super cars event. The day's first event for this class saw Shantha Suraweera more in front for one lap with Aravinda and Nalin D. Perera following. Aravinda in the third lap got past Shantha and took control of the race and gave no room for other drivers to get past him at any stage of the race. Though Shantha fell back he was almost behind the winner. The second race was a complete dominance by Aravinda. The win in the second leg also gave Aravinda the championship title. He was also declared as the fastest driver for the day. The organisers were a highly disappointed lot yesterday when Dinesh Deheragoda failed to arrive at the start line, though he qualified to race in this class. Some officials said if Deheragoda participated the spectators would have witnessed a thrilling competition between Aravinda and Dinesh. The only woman driver S. A. Lakshika was placed second driving along with male counterparts. Dilshad Hamdoon drove his Ford Laser in superb style to win the Laser/Mazda series ahead of Upulwan Serasinghe and R. Asiri Rodrigo. Kanthan Parameshwaram was the winner of the one make Mini 1000 cc Salon Car event. He well ahead of Samantha Gunewardene. In the motor cycle events other riders to excel were Pieris brothers Pasindu and Sasindu. The special race organised kids under 9 years took the attention of spectators. The youngest rider being four year old Vidush Peiris. Supun Lakshitha was the winner in this category. He was followed Shanuka Jayana Sandaruwan and Thilina Maduwantha. A good day of racing was witnessed by the large crowd that thronged the circuit. With redevelopment made to the track there was no inconvenience caused to the general public, but it was previous day heavy rains that delayed the start of the races. The organisers Sri Lanka Army deserves a bouquet for a great job executed to thrill the motor racing fans. |
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