Son of songstress beats iron men to win rally title
by Geesha Munasinghe
Samin Attanayake, the youngest son of veteran songstress Sujatha
Attanayake, and his co-driver Rahal Uluwita outsmarted the rest of the
competitors in the fray to win the SLARDAR 1000 Rally last week.
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The winners of the SLARDAR 1000 Rally Samin Attanayake
(left) and his co-driver Rahal Uluwita stand on the podium
flanked by second placed Sharfaz Junaid and Akhry Ameer
(co-driver) and third placed Sabri Salam and Ahamad Ashard
(co-driver) Pix: Geesha Munasinghe |
Attanayake and Uluwita finished with the least number of debit points
numbering 112 while the runner-up Shafraz Junaid and his co-driver Akhry
Ameer had 142 debit points.
The last vehicle to finish had a horrible 6000 debit points. It was
manned by Kasun Kodippily and Ananda Dias, the driver and co-driver.
Some competitors calling themselves names they could not live up to,
pulled out of the rally after their vehicles crashed or gave trouble.
One of them Kasun Perera and his co-driver Ramesh Ubhhayaratne, who
called themselves the Iron Man Team, plunged into a precipice at
Talawakelle at the fourth stage and quit.
Another driver Richard de Zoysa pulled out unable to withstand the
gruelling nature of the rally while steering his Mitsubishi Pajero. His
co-driver was Rohan Speldewinde.
Also taking cover and quitting the rally was driver Ajith Fernando
from Team Jeep Two after he busted his gear box at the fifth and final
stage.
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A vehicle driven by Yakub Ariff and supported by co-driver
Arshad Kabir is pulled out from a ditch at a location near
Kurunegala. The two drivers later joined the rally but
finished 20th from among 27 who hit the fiish line |
At least two competing vehicles lost their way during the second
stage from Matale to Kandy and returned to Kurunegala to restart the
journey.
Over 60 percent of the course plotted by Pubudu Wickrema, covered
gravel terrain while the rest was run on tarred roads.
Some 30 vehicles set off from Colombo on the first stage to reach
Kurunegala via Negombo, Kuliyapitiya, Pannala and Narammala.
The second stage commenced after a thirty minute break and ran
through Matale to Kandy covering Rattota and Naula.
From Kandy the drivers passed through Peradeniya and on to Pussellawa,
Ramboda, Hewaheta, Rikillagaskada, Tennekumbura and back to Kandy.
After a two hour break the vehicles set off from Kandy and proceeded
to Gampola and on to Kotmale, Nawalapitiya, Ruwanwella before reaching
Avissawella for the final stage back to Colombo where the finish took
place.
Attanayake was no stranger to rally triumphs and already had the
Matara Monsoon Rally under his belt along with a previous SLARDAR 1000
title. |
