Fox Hill Supercross

Lanka's most gruelling motor sport event

Sri Lanka has made quite an achievement in motor racing, mainly in the form of supercross and motor cross racing. Therefore, we thought of sharing some information regarding the key motor racing events in the country, during the periods that they are being held.

As a start, in today's edition, let's get an insight into the 'Fox Hill Supercross' event, which is considered to be one of the most challenging and exciting supercross events of the country.

The Fox Hill Supercross races have been pioneered by Col W.D.G.A. Gunasekara psc in 1993, and since then it has been growing as a great motor sport event annually.

The 'Fox Hill Supercross 2007' held on April 21 was its fifteenth venture. The Sri Lanka Military Academy has been organising this event since its commencement, and it has been taking place in association with the Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers And Riders (SLARDAR) since the formation of the SLARDAR in 2002. The income of the event is primarily used for the development of the facilities of the Military Academy and armed forces.

The Fox Hill Supercross 2007 turned out to be a thrilling event thanks to the untiring efforts of the organisers who made sure that everything went on as clockwork. According to Denzil Darling, a Start Line Marshal of 'Fox Hill Supercross 2007, the track, keeping to the schedule, clearing vehicles with troubles off the track, and all the other supporting activities have been up to a high standard.

There were twenty nine events in total for cars, jeeps and bikes and a new event known as 'Super Motor Racing Open' was introduced for the bikers where the bikers had to race on the car track. The star performers in the car racing and bike racing categories were Aravinda Premadasa and Gayan Sandaruwan respectively. Motorcycle races for children under ten and sixteen were held this time too as usual.

This could be a start for you too if you are interested in becoming a famous racer one day. This massive event is a sign of great heights motor racing in Sri Lanka could get to in the future. We will keep you updated on the other motorcross events to come in the course of this year.

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The Fox Hill

'Fox Hill' may seem quite an awkward name for you. But, it has an interesting story behind it. In the early twentieth century, as a result of the Boer War between the British and Dutch, the British transferred many of their prisoners to areas in South and South East Asia and Sri Lanka was one such country.

A group of prisoners were brought to Sri Lanka on board a ship called 'HMS Fox'. This was quite an old ship and it had to be constantly docked at the Colombo harbour for repairs.

Once in 1931, on such an occasion, the Captain and the crew had visited Diyathalawa where they had a naval station. During their stay, they had been fascinated by the area and thought of leaving the emblem of their ship to signify their visit, and also displayed the sign of a fox on the hillock.

Since then, it has been called 'fox hill' and the race gets its name since it is held in the same area. The Fox Hill Supercross track which is maintained by the Sri Lanka Military Academy is located next to the Fox Hill. The sign of a fox made on the face of the hill using white stones is still visible.

Facts courtesy: Fox Hill
Supercross 2007 organising
committee.

Aravinda Dassanayake