Sanjaya and Marapana win Extreme Class Championship

By Yasarathne GAMAGE

Indika Sanjaya, and his co driver Naveen Marapana grabbed the Extreme Class Championship for the second consecutive year at the Sappers 4 X 4 ‘ Gympo’ off road Challenge yesterday at Sri Lanka School of Military Engineering off road track in Thunkama, Embilipitiya. Suresh Chathuranga and Raveendra Chathurange emerged runners up while J.A.N. Wajira Kumara and A.B. Charith Madushanka emerged third in the same category.

In the Standard Category a father and son combination, Saman Appuhamy and his co driver Dinesh Appuhamy won the championship when they finished their run earlier than the other competitors. Sam Chandrasoma and his co-driver Mahesh Liyanage emerged runners up and Buddi Gunasekara with his partner Kumudika Gunasekara steered to win the third place in the standard class challenge which was held on a parallel track at the same venue.

The Sri Lankan duo, Indika and Sanjaya thrilled the spectators with an excellent performance which enabled them to beat the 2011 Malyasian overall Champions Mervin Lim and Hamizan Hamid.

‘We did not want to get ourselves into trouble, so we kept calm and thought clearly before we drove over the obstacles. That made us easier to finish the event in earlier than the others, said the Extreme Class Champion Indika Sanjaya after driving the their Land Rover 90, with a 300 TDI standard engine.

In the first round Sanjaya and Naveen got on to a quick start and overcame the water obstacle without danger while Mervin and Hamizan who drove in parallel track got stuck. This allowed Sanjaya to take advantage and overcome the other obstacles with confidence.

The competition was a tough experience for all the drivers and their co drivers as mud pits, water crossing, rocks and the V grooved trail were not easy to drive past in the rainy conditions throughout the day. In the standard class, the track had to be diverted due to slippery conditions on the humps which gave the competitors much easier ride. The awards and certificates were given away by the top ranked officials of the Engineering Regiment.

Five Malaysian teams and eight Sri Lankan teams took part in the Extreme class while the standard class was competed by 11 teams. The Sri Lanka Army Engineering Regiment in collaboration with the Four Wheel Drive Club of Sri Lanka organized the event for the second successive year . The Taprobana Rain Forest 4 X 4 off road Challenge which commenced with the same event will continue in Embilipitiya today.