Nishan, Dilan excel at Mahagastota

S.M. Jifrey ABDEEN - Kandy Sports Corr.

Hill stormer Nishan Weerasooriya came up with a fine performance in his Alpha Mitsubishi Evolution 9 to clock the fastest timing of the day at the 75th Anniversary Mahagastota Hill Climb organised by the Ceylon Motor Sports Club worked off at the Mahagastota track in Blackpool, Nanuoya.

Weerasooriya with a smooth run, timed 36.065 seconds in his first run, but he was given a good fight by young Daring Weerasinghe who timed 36.626 seconds in a Subaru STI followed by Romani de Silva in the latest model of Subaru Imprezza GH - GDB with a timing of 36.630 seconds. Romani de Silva's machine with all the original fittings still intact is one vehicle to watch in the future.

But, the driver who really took the hill climb by storm was young Dilan Seneviratne driving a formula for only the third time at Mahagastota with a stunning performance in his Mobil Standard Formula to time 38.491 seconds to beat the class record holder and maestro Rohan de Silva.

But, Seneviratne was humble in his win and paid a glowing tribute to Rohan and that he had borrowed this vehicle from Rohan.

The only mishap of the day was by Mini expert Kandan Parameswaran who hit the mound, but escaped injuries.The fastest timing for motorcycles was by Indika Gurusinghe who timed 39.357 seconds in his Honda CRF of 450 cc capacity in the open event.

Shafraz Junaid was just behind him with a time of 39.590 seconds. But Shafraz Junaid had the last say and reversed the results in the event for Racing Motor Cycles upto 450 cc.

Dinesh Senanayake came roaring back to form when he won the two events in the event for Standard Cars. Mahen Madugalle did not entertain any fears of previous hill climb, and won his event for Modified Cars upto 1050 cc despite some strong challenge by Ajith Keerthi.