Dilan thrills Pannala for EZY Racing

EZY Racing’s newest driving sensation Dilan Seneviratene, proved his worth by thrilling a massive crowd in Pannala, Sri Lanka’s only purpose built race track, at the Speed 2013 round one, as he went on to win the SLH, upto 1600cc category, after being third on the grid, then provided Ashan Silva driving a Mitsubishi Evolution 9, a stiff challenge in EZY Racing’s Mitsubishi Evolution 5, a car that hit a race track for the first time.

Speed 2013, the very first motor car racing event of the year, was a much anticipated race weekend as Seneviratne, who missed out on the SLH upto 1600cc championship by a couple of points in 2012, after leading the entire season, was driving for his new team with refreshed hope.

The black and red team went into the weekend with a strongly knit ‘Tarmac Team’ comprising of seasoned campaigner Sajaad Zuhair, Dilan Senevirate and the Wonder Kids Aaron and Jaden Gunawardane who rode totally new motor bike classes.

The crocodile dressed team showed no signs of rust in the first race for 2013, when Colombo Night Race pole sitter Sajaad Zuhair, went onto set yet another dominant time to lock the front position of the grid in his EZY Honda ER6, pushing 2012 Speed Champion and National Tarmac Champion Ashan Silva to second place on the grid.

Seneviratne did an impeccable run in his EZY Honda ER11 to position himself third on the grid as the trio finished, qualifying one minute three seconds, with just a 100 of a second apart from each other.

In the much looked forward SLGT event, Seneviratne qualified second in the grid driving his EZY Mitsubishi Evolution 9, also referred to as the ER 10,  over a second behind a flying Silva who was driving a Mitubishi Evolution 9.  

The SLH 1600cc event started with Zuhair controlling the race pace from the front as he pulled a comfortable gap from Ashan Silva, who was under heavy pressure by Seneviratne well positioned in his ER 11 to attack Silva’s second place.

Unfortunately in Lap three, coming out of turn three, Zuhair experienced a broken Axle and had to pull over.

Seneviratne decided to up his speed and fill the shoes of his team mate by making the race winning move on Silva.

Seneviratne then went to control race pace and win the race with Silva having fought hard to gain the race lead. In the SLGT upto 3500cc event, many expected Silva to run away from the rest of the group.

However, Seneviratne had other plans as he got off the line in a stiff hunt of Silva’s race lead. In Lap three, coming out of turn two, Seneviratne managed an impeccable exit to take the lead from Silva by keeping the inside line into Turn three, stunning the entire crowd who didn’t expect such a move from the ER10.

Silva immediately fought back hard and in trying to overtake Seneviratne in the same place in lap five, but this time from the outside ran wide.

However, in Lap seven a charged Silva this time managed to regain the lead. Seneviratne from there onwards decided to secure his second place as the ER 10 was racing for the first time since it was manufactured.

A jubilant, Seneviratne went on to say: “What a weekend it was. Although I was a little disappointed with the qualifying run yesterday in SLH 1600, I was extremely pleased with the time I set in SL-GT, considering it was my first run at Pannala in this event.

“I came in for the with a lot of confidence and wanted to pull off something special in SLH, which I did by starting third on the grid and going on to win.

“It was very unfortunate that Sajaad (Zuhair) had to retire. We could have had a much stronger finish for the race if not.

“However, I was more thrilled with the SLGT event and the great fight I gave Ashan Silva, after taking the lead in lap three and having led the race for four laps, ending up finishing second eventually in my first proper outing in this event.

“Considering the unfortunate incident that occurred at the Colombo Night Race where right off the start I ran into a stalled front running car, I take great courage out of today’s performance as my confidence level with the car will definitely improve.”

EZY Racing was given yet another podium by 11-year-old Jaden, as he fought back having fallen into last place following an incident on track to finish third in the Motor Cycles 125cc racing class.

Retiring out leaves a hollowed feeling

“Today’s performance was the result of a lot of hard work that was put in the by the drivers, riders and the crew for the last two months. It was unfortunate that Sajaad (Zuhair) couldn’t complete the race.

“After having held a dominant lead for the second consecutive race, retiring out of it always provides a hollow feeling. Knowing Sajaad, I know his hunger to win and prove himself will only get higher and am sure he will come with great hunger for the next race.

“As for Dilan, we always knew his capabilities. That’s why we signed him on and provided him the opportunity to run in SLGT where he has never run before. The commitment of his is such that it was evident in his very first race where he went on to take the race lead before finishing in second place.

“This provided an enormous level of satisfaction for us, especially because we all know that he will only get better with races to come. In the SLH, I was confident that he was going to gain a place or two today.

“His mental approach was great, and the fact that Sajaad retired clearly would have inspired him to win the race for the team. All in all, I believe it was the perfect start we could have for the season” EZY Racing CEO/ Team Principal Shafraz Hamzadeen.

EZY Racing, in their fourth year of racing are growing to become a household name in motor racing with a strong fan base closing in on 30,000 fans. The race team intends to add more fans in celebration of this milestone.