Ashan Silva the fastest driver proved why he is the best when he won back to back wins in the SL-GT up to 3500cc class events at the Colombo Supercross last Sunday at Welisara assuring him of the Hutch Super Series championship and his third consecutive National title.
Ashan, who was in the lead from the beginning of the season and was followed closely by his rival Ushan Perera with only a slender margin of two points, made no mistakes to take charge of the 2019 Championship for the third year in a row.
The first race in this Class saw Ashan get off to a good start though the track was not very conducive for fast driving.
This start helped him immensely and moved ahead very comfortably to lead by nearly 400 meters by the third lap of the race.
It was then a battle between Pasindu Peiris and Ishraq Wahab for the second and third positions. Peiris who entered the track after a lapse of two years showed that he is still capable of facing the challenges that come his way.
The young rider Jacques Gunawardena, who was well ahead of rival riders by 13 points before the Colombo Supercross, sealed his Championship title by becoming the best rider while competing in the Group MX over 175 up to 250 4/T & 100 up to 125cc in Race One to be placed second behind Vinusha de Silva.
But he came back strongly in Race Two to beat all leading riders including Evon Gurusinghe, Sameera Premaratne and Shanuka Sandaruwan.
Jacques was off to a great start under heavy ground conditions and kept on moving steadily to increase his lead while leaving no room for other riders to get closer to him at any stage of the race. This race was a thrilling one for all spectators as the tussle for the second slot saw a ding-dong battle between Vinusha de Silva and DMD Kalhara.
In Group T & J Class another youngster Chamod Samarakoon, the son of former driver in the same category and present Secretary of the Army Motor Sports Committee Indu Samarakoon, came up with a brilliant performance to win this Class. He was able to out-drive senior hands in the caliber of Manjula Wijesinghe and Duminda Silva.
The two events of the Group SM Super Motard category too was expected to be evenly contested by the two leading riders in this category, Imal Manchanayake and Deshan Solanki.
It went against these two two riders as Vinusha de Silva took the first race victory to show that he can challenge seniors in the future.
Upulwan Serasinghe one of the leading drivers who was dominating in the 1300, 1500 and 1600cc classes failed to live up to expectations as many young drivers contested these categories including his son Devin.
However on this day it was Shenal Gunawardena who was the star at Welisara winning the Ford Laser/Mazda 1300cc Class in a comfortable manner.
He had a fine start and was in full control of the event until he received the flag.
Results
Group SL E Ford Laser/Mazda 1300cc- 1. Kolitha Edirisinghe, 2. Shamal Wagodapola, 3.Thenuka Liyanaarachchi
Group SL E Mini 1275cc- 1. Sandaru Weerasinghe, 2. Kushan Perera, 3. Nishanth de Alwis
Group M STD Mod Motorcycles up to 125cc- 1. KAD Raveesha Jayashan, 2. Nihal Wjeratne, 3. Madura Peiris
Group J- MX Motorcycles 65cc 2/T (under 12)- 1. Dineth Mihiranga, 2. Rivinu Ratnayake, 3. Minuka Ratnayake
Group M STD/Mod Motorcycles over 175 up to 250cc (4/T) & over 100 up to 125cc- 1. Lahiru Jeevantha, 2. Evon Gurusinghe, 3. Jayampathi Dissanayake
Group SL E Nissan March 1000cc- 1. Akila Batepola, 2. Adeesha Kithwith, 3. Kesara Godage
Group SM - Super Motard 250 up to 500cc (race 1)- 1. Deshan Solanki, 2. Imal Manchanayake, 3.Yuhan Rajith Silva
Group J MX racing 65 up to 85cc (2/T) (12 years)- 1. Dineth Mihiranga, 2. Hirusha Padukka, 3. Rivinu Ratnayake
Group MX - Racing Motorcycles over 100 up to 126cc (2/T) 1. Sameera Premaratne, 2. Lahiru Jeewantha, 3. Madhura Pieris
Group J MX Over 65 up to 85cc (2/T) under 15 years- 1. Tharuka Romesh de Silva, 2. Gagana Fernando, 3, Nisala M. Jayasundera
Group SL-GT Cars up to 3500cc (Race 1)- 1. Ashan Silva, 2. Pasindu Peiris, 3. Ishraq Wahab
Group JMX Racing Motorcycles 50cc 5 to 10 years- 1. Shaqeeb Ahamed, 2. N.K. Imasha, 3. Himasha Padukka
Group SL N Ford Lazer/Mazda 1300cc- 1. Shenal Gunawardena, 2. Upulwan Serasinghe, 3. Sudeera Nilaweera
Group MX Racing Bikes 175cc up to 250cc & 100 to 125cc- Vinusha de Silva, 2. Jacques Gunawardene, 3. Evon Gurusinghe
Group SM Super Motard 250 up to 750cc (4/T) & 125 up to 500cc- 1. Imal Manchanayake, 2. Deshan Solanki, 3. Pathum Dananjaya
Group SL H Subaru Legacy 2000cc- 1. Malika Dilshad, 2. Prabaji Bandara, 3. Menaka Sandaruwan
Group STD/Mod Motorcycles over 175 up to 250cc 4/T & over 100 to 125cc- Shanaka Sandruwan, 2. Evon Gurusinghe, 3. Lahiru Jeewantha
Group T & J Diesel Turbo up to 5500cc- 1. Chamod Samarakoon, 2. Manjula Wijesinghe, 3. Duminda Jayasinghe
Group SL N Ford Laser/Mazda 1500cc- 1. Tharindu Dharmaratne, 2. Upulwan Serasinghe, 3. Shenal Gunawardena
SL- GT Cars up to 3500cc (Race 2)- 1. Ashan Silva, 2. Pasindu Peiris, 3. Ishraq Wahab
Group MX over 175 up to 250 4/T & 100 up to 125cc (Race 2)- Jacques Gunawardena, 2.Vinusha de Silva, 3. DMD Kalhara