Sigiriya Rallycross, the Island’s one of a kind competition, which features both gravel and tarmac surfaces in one venue concluded it’s 2018 edition today (27th) at the Kimbissa Air Force base in Sigiriya.
The race meet was conducted under gloomy skies with occasional drizzles going across the track. It worked in the favour of the organizers as they only had to water the track once with the rain doing the work for them. Sigiriya is normally known as a very dusty track but due to the periodic showers that swept throughout the day, the car track was in good condition.
Ishan Dassanayake, the reigning national champion in the Racing Mx250cc category, defended his “Best Rider” successfully and has now won the accolade in Sigiriya three years in a row. Ishan who was debuting his new TVS 2018 RTR at the competition managed to win the Mx250cc race after a fiercely fought first few rounds against Buddika Silva who was forced to retire after an unfortunate accident. In the second race young Evon Gurusinghe came out with a masterclass to outshine Ishan as he managed to get an early lead and keep Ishan at bay during the 8 laps in the second race. Evon who did not finish the first race made the most of the second dominating from the front. The competition in the said event has now increased with some young blood coming in to the open category from the under 16 age group. Vinushka Silva who entered the open competition managed to win a place on the podium placing fifth and fourth respectively and shows signs of the the ample talent on offer in the county.
Ashan Silva who is currently the most dominant driver in the island was adjudged the best driver of the competition managing to win both races in the SLGT event with ease having qualified for the pole position after the timing races. Kushan Peiris who has played second fiddle to Ashan, was placed second in the first race but was pushed to third by a rapidly improving Missaka Naveen who won the second place in the second race of the SLGT category. Kushan however was the clear winner in the SL H upto 1618cc race and also in the Ford Laser/Mazda 1500cc category finishing in the podium in all four races he participated.
Imal ‘Incredible’ Manchanayaka who has been dominating the Supermotard category was not hassled as he was eased to victory in both races. There were many accidents in the Supermotard competition around the point where the riders entered the gravel track from the tarmac surfaces. Deshan Solanki was placed second in both races with Buddika Dananjaya finishing in third.
The competitor turn out was fairly low at this year’s Sigiriya Rallycross with many drivers opting to forgo the competition. It was also troubling to see some of the riders who met with accidents not attended to swiftly. In an instance the rider had to drag himself and his bike all alone in order to get out of the way of the oncoming traffic. We hope the organizers will pay more attention to competitor safety attributes in the upcoming competitions and will make sure that rider and driver safety are held in the highest regard to avoid any unfortunate incidents.
