Grand celebrations planned for 75th anniversary of CMSC

MOTOR RACING: The Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC) is 75-years-old and to celebrate the big occasion, the office-bearers of the club has planned a series of memorable events. The Mahagastota Hill Climb gets the club members into action 11th and 12th April, 2009.

A parade of cars that took part over the past 75 years will be seen driving up Mahagastota on April 11.

The 75th anniversary celebrations proper will be held on September 19 and 20 and it holds out the premise of being a memorable event.

The Ceylon Motor Sports Club is the oldest Motor Sports Club in Sri Lanka.

The club was inaugurated on 4th September, 1934 at the Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya. Young European tea planters, mainly British, who used to spend their Sundays driving their cars along the estate roads in friendly competition just for the thrill of driving fast decided to regulate this sport, which resulted in the birth of the “Ceylon Motor Sports Club”. D.J. Maitland was the first President elect and Gordon Graham was the Secretary and Treasurer.

The club wasted no time in organising their first meet on 28th September, 1934 - a Hill Climb at the Mahagastota Estate in Nuwara Eliya. Since then the Mahagastota Hill Climb became a regular feature in the Motor Sports calendar.

In the colonial days, clubs inaugurated by the Europeans were exclusively for Europeans. The Ceylon Motor Sports Club was the only club that welcomed Ceylonese members and allowed them to participate with the Europeans on equal terms.

The enthusiastic members of the club ensured a most memorable and a successful event of the first Mahagastota Hill Climb although there were only ten cars and two motorcycles. The fastest time for the cars recorded at the first meet was by Phil Fowke in a Tourist Trophy Austin returning a time of 69.8 secs and the fastest time for motorcycles was by T.G. Dickson riding a Scott, at 64.0 secs.

The second meet of the club was on 23rd December, 1934, another Hill Climb at Leangawella.

The first lady competitor was Mrs. Gordon Graham, who took part in the Mahagastota Hill Climb in 1935 beating several male competitors.

Mahagastota Hill Climb was held in October or December until the year 1938. Since then it was traditionally held in April.

Motor racing activities came to a standstill during the World War II. The last Mahagastota Hill Climb before the world War was held on 25th March, 1940. The course records were: Motor cars T.S. Jinasena - 55.79 secs and Motorcycles Alan Clerk - 55.89 secs.

Over the years, the club introduced new events to add variety to the meets and to encourage more member participation. Gymkhana Events, Concours d’elegances, Mud Trials, Economy Trials, Treasure Hunts and Mid-night Rallies were some of them. A significant addition to the Calendar of Events in 1958 was the Lotus Rally which was modelled on the Tulip Rally and had two spacial stages. However, serious racing continued with regular fare of Hill Climbs and Circuit Meets. In 1958, the Ceylon Motor Sports Club became an affiliate member of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA), the world controlling body for Motor Sports. The club also set out its General Competition Rules and Standing Regulations by which Motor sports events would be governed. These rules were based on those of the RAC in England.

Up to 1958, the cars were classified by the cubic capacity of the engine. In 1958, the CMSC initiated a new system of classifying cars based on the weight and power of the car. This new method was called the weight/power ratio and was used for the first time for production cars at the Mahagastota Hill Climb in 1958. At this event the fastest time for production cars was recorded by E.J. (Sandy) De Soyza with a time of 52.9 secs in an Auto Union A.V. Since the weight/power ratio was a fairer method of classifying cars it was extended to cover all cars in 1959.

In the, 1960s import restrictions imposed by the Government led to innovations and the re-appearance of home-build “Specials”. In 1973, Rodney Mason driving the Jeff Special (a modified MGA with the bodywork removed) equalled the record of 45.0 secs held by A.E. Filby. The following year Nihal Jinasena driving a Lotus Elan also equalled the course record for cars, but in 1975 in the same car but without the bodywork returned a time of 44.1 secs.

The year 1976 was the year of “Specials”. The Arafat special driven by Cassim and Agmal Wahab, a TR3 special driven by Chandana and Ananda de Alwis, the JPO Sprint driven by Mana Jayawardena, the Rauff Special by Mike Rauff, the Bosco Special by Rodney Mason were entered this year but the record of Nihal Jinasena stood firm.

In 1978, Nihal Jinasena, driving a Sinha RT11 special lowered his own record to 43.1 seconds.

in 1981, the records held for both cars and motorcycles were broken. Bri Ponnambalam in his Renault Special with a time of 41.1 secs broke Nihal Jinasena’s record and Kingsley Smith’s 20 year old record fell to Ajith Chanmugan’s 41.2 secs on a Yamaha DT 400. The club celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1984. T.S. Jinasena, a founder member of the club, was elected the President for the anniversary year.