The Nippon Paint Katukurunda 2023 Speed third racing meeting is to be held on December 3 on the Katukurunda Air Base track organized by Sri Lanka Automobile Sports (SLAS) which also happens to be the only meet to be conducted this year.
Due to several restrictions drivers were unable to get their spare parts and the past two years had only a few racers coming forward to take part.
“At present things have changed a little bit and over a hundred competitors from all affiliated racing clubs have sent in their entries”, said the president of SLAS Ashhar Mameem addressing a media briefing held at the National Olympic Committee Auditorium on Tuesday.
He further said that altogether 13 events are scheduled to be run on this day made possible by the Air Force giving its consent to use the track.
Hameem thanked the main sponsors Nippon Paints and SLT for coming forward to sponsor the event for the third time while 14 other sponsors too have stepped in supporting in different ways.
He said that all ten clubs affiliated to SLAS have decided to conduct their annual programs for the year 2024 by conducting all their events in the right manner in association with the governing body SLAS and other sporting authorities including the Ministry of Sports. Nemantha Abeysinghe General Manager Nippon Paints thanked the organizers SLAS for giving the opportunity to be the main sponsor and hopes to continue its support for motor sport in the future too. According to officials SLGT Cars up to 3500cc out of 13 events will have to run twice, while the junior drivers who have received their racing licences will be awarded three events with the hope of providing them the opportunity to enhance their prospects in the racing arena.
Last year SLAS donated Rs. 10 million to the Indira Cancer Trust headed by Dr. Mrs. Lanka Jaysooriya Dissanayke.
This year the organisers have made arrangements to broadcast the races on ITN’s Tamil language and summaries of every race soon after the completion on Vasanthan TV too for the benefit of the Tamil speaking community with hopes of encouraging a new following of racing enthusiasts.
