Inaugural four-round CMSC - UE Sports Karting at Bandaragama today

by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr.

Motor Sports: The oldest motor racing club in the country with the oldest hill club to its credit - Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC) in conjunction with the UE Sports Management will hold its inaugural four round "CMSC - UE Sports Karting Championship 2013" at the David Pieris SLEC track at Bandaragama on September 15.

This Karting track has been built upto international standards and the four round championship itself will be worked off to internationally accepted procedures.

This championship will be worked off to three classes with the most Junior being KI for participants between the ages of 12 and 16. The second class will be X2 between the ages 16 and 30 and the third one being K3 for those above the age of 30.

Karting had its beginnings in the eighties but there was no proper track till maestro Rohan de Silva built the Speed Drome at Battaramulla which gave a new dimension to this sport. It is known as the Kindergarten of motor sports with most of the world motor racing champions including the legendary Michael Schumacher cutting his teeth in Karting before graduating to the Formulas. Therefore the credit of staging karting as an organised event in a purpose built track should go to Rohan de Silva whose exploits in the formula cars in hill climbs is legendary.

Karting popular

Karting is so popular that many father and son and even father and daughter have participated in karting. A few names which come to mind are father Rohan de Silva and his daughter Shahara, Suren Cooke and his two sons Rajitha and Sheran, Suranjith Premadasa and son Arvinda, Mana Jayawardena and his sons Dinesh and Romesh, S.A. Amarasiri and his sons Harsha, Duminda and daughter Lakshitha. The others who have excelled are Yoga Perera, Mahesh Gammanpila, Victor Wijeratne, Chanduth Deraniyagala, Pradeep Jayawardena, Randy Batche, Dejan de Silva, Romani de Silva, Harsha de Silva, Rikaaz Khalid, Savesh Mendis, Shashika Dias, Dilshan Dodanwala and many others.

Premadasa and his son Arvinda, S.A. Amarasiri and his two sons Harsha and Daminda and last and not the least the illustrious and the most colourful racing driver and a legendary of our times formula export Rohan de Silva and his daughter Shehara (first lady winner at Foxhill Supercross) have burned the Karting tracks.

The other famous drivers who took to Karting from the early stages are Rodney Mason, Michael Mason, Yoga Perera, Mahesh Gammanpila, Victor Wijeratne, Chandith Deraniyagala, Pradeep Jayawardena, Randy Batobo, Dejan de Silva, Rosani de Silva, Harsha de Silva, Rikaaz Khalid, Savesh Mendis, Shashika Dias, Dilshan Dodanwela, to name a few.

It must be placed on record that Karting was not in existence from the early 2002 due to the lack of a location and was revived by master Rohan de Silva whose love for motor sports knows no bounds and Dinesh Jayawardena a few years back with the construction of the Speed Drome which became the location where every racing aspirant took to the wheel of a Go-Kart and many a driver did progress to the single seater championship series today known as the Formula Mclaron 1300.

Karting has begun to rise as a competitive sport over the past couple of years with competitive events being held at Speed Drove. Battaramulla which has produced over thirty talented young drivers bringing about a change in perspective towards the sport.

With the addition of Sri Lanka's first International Standard Karting Track at Bandaragama, SLEC built by the David Pieris Motor Company, the foundation to the development of young motor racing talent has been laid.

Udith Erash a great 'find'

The US Sports Management founded by Udith Eresh formerly part of Speed Drows, battaramulla with plenty of experience in handling karting events and also part of large scale motor sport events in the country especially the successful Colombo Night Races in 2011 and 2012 launched a project to provide Sri Lanka's young talent with a competitive series of karting events with the vision to give the youngsters the recognition they deserved both in Sri Lanka and beyond it.

With the strength and support of Sri Lanka's most prominent motor sport club - Ceylon Motor Sports Club, now karting enthusiasts can feel as hopeful as the millions who listened to Neil Armstrongs words of hope, the Ceylon Motor Sports Club together with UE Sports Management will embark on this journey with the first round of the four round "CMSC - UE Sports Karting Championship 2013" has been structured to international karting procedures. It will be the first time that Sri Lankan kartera get to experience now an international karting, event takes place. CMSC will be looking at international participation as in the coming months thereby increasing the levels of experience gained by our young talents.The CMSC - UE Sports Karting Championship 2013" will be held on 15th September at Bandaragama and will comprise four rounds of races for the rest of the year with the ultimate winner selected through a specialised tailor made points system. For the first time the participants will race under international race regulations and will compete in three classes.

The KI class which is the Junior Level for ages between 12 and 16. the K2 class which is the Senior Class which is for ages between 16 and 30. K3 is the Masters Class which is for ages 30 and over. In keeping with international standards, the participants will experience rolling starts as opposed to grid starts which has been the more in Sri Lanka.

There will be a ranking system and at the completion of the four rounds, the participants stand to be crowned Karting Champions 2013 in the three different classes.The entries for the first leg is now open at the CMSC Secretariat at 2 A, Hunupiitya Road, Colombo 2. Tel. 072-7645081 and SLEC Bandaragama. The second leg will be held on October 13th. The third leg on November 17th and the final leg on December 8th.