Dilantha does Sri Lanka proud again
 Dilantha Malagamuwa competed in the Asian GT3 round 5 and 6 and
Malaysian Super Car series Round 2 which was held recently at the Sepang
F1 Circuit. His brand new Lamborghini LP560 made it just in time before
the race. “I must thank Yoshiyuki Hayashi for lending me the money to
buy the car and George Cassian, owner of Kevin builder in Sri Lanka, for
paying the airfare and spare parts. If not for these gentlemen, I
wouldn’t have made it.”
Asian GT3 Round Five
Dilantha was the fastest in the first testing and was second in
qualifying for GT3 Asia. Having no time to do any set up on the car, he
decided to race in as it is a condition for this race but was very happy
to run out of the box and be fast. In round five of the Asian GT3,
Dilantha got a good start but in turn one, Alain Siu knocked him twice
from behind sending him out of the track. The car stopped and was facing
in the opposite direction.
Dilantha said, “It took me about 30 seconds to start and get the car
back on track but within the next eight laps I overtook eight cars and
was just behind Tunku Hammam who was running fourth.
The second, third and fourth were all within a second of a distance
and I tried to overtake Hammam in turn 14 but he braked earlier so I
almost spun again and went off the track”. He added, “I took about four
seconds to recover but caught him up again in the next lap and just
finished fifth behind him.
 But I did the fastest lap and was three seconds, a lap faster than
the second, third and fourth. Mok Weng won the race I think he was very
lucky that I spun on turn one. I didn’t want to complain to the stewards
about Alain for hitting me from behind but talked to him and he
apologised.”
Asian GT3 Round Six
Dilantha started fifth on the grid and this was a wet race as it was
raining very hard. The race started behind the safety car as the weather
conditions were not good.
“Weng was on pole and he got away at the start but I got blocked to
second, third and fourth but couldn’t see much in front due to heavy
rain but by third lap I was second and then the safety car was on track
due to a few accidents. I got a drive-through penalty because I overtook
Hammam without seeing the yellow flag. I was able to catch Weng who was
running first and almost over took him many times in the corners but as
he had the straight speed I got blocked in the corners and knocked him
once and broke my front bumper and spun again”.
Dilantha had to go through the drive-through penalty in the last lap
but still finished fifth 0.09 seconds behind fourth. “Once again I did
the fastest lap for this race and Weng was 1 second behind and Hammam
and Kevin Tse who finished second and third was nine seconds slower than
I in each lap.
 At this point, I was getting used to the car and now I have a car
that is similar to other champions. I am confident I can win the rest of
the races this year and hope to win the championship for Sri Lanka. At
present, I am fourth in the championship but I will somehow win the
championship for Sri Lanka,” said Dilantha.
Malaysian Super car series Round Two
“I won both races in the Malaysian Super car series there was no
challenge for me at all. After the Asian GT3 races, I got used to the
car and no one could get close to me,” he said. The first race was a dry
race and Dilantha finished a minute in front of second place Joe Sevak
and lapped Adrian De Silva, who was third. During the second race,
Dilantha lapped everyone. Now he was leading the Championship. Weng was
second while Hammam was third.
Acknowledgements
“Minister of Sports C.B. Ratnayake called me the other day to wish
me. This was the first time ever a sports minister has called to wish me
and he said he will support my activities in the future and I am very
happy about it,” said Dilantha. He said, “I must thank my sponsors for
financially supporting me to buy the car and all the Sri Lanka media who
have always supported me”.
“I also thank chairman of Rupavahini, Sarath Kongahage for sending
the crew to cover the races. A very special word of thanks to Major
General Udaya Perera, Deputy High Commissioner of the Sri Lankan Embassy
in Malaysia and the staff as they supported me a lot and helped me to
find sponsors,” he said. “To all my fans and for everyone else who has
sent me wishes and messages, this makes me so happy and give me more
courage to win races for Sri Lanka. My next big race will be the Merdeka
12-hour race which will be held at Sepang F1 circuit in Malaysia where I
will be competing against most of the world champions and works teams.”
(Courtesy Ceylon Motor Sports Club)
|
