Gaffoor maintains top position at Speed Championship 2013 Round II

The Speed Championship 2013 round two concluded recently, at the Pannala circuit with Aamir Gaffoor taking major honours.

Gaffoor drove his Formula McLarens 1300cc in style to win both races, which also put him right on top of the championship points table. Even though he recorded two wins, he had to face stiff opposition from the likes of Dasun Rantunga and Eshan Siriwardene in race one. Bryan Perera had to pull out of the race one, when he crashed and was not able to continue with the race.

Gafoor, who heads the championship points table in this class, which is meant for young drivers who are eager to enter the Formula racing, showed lot of maturity. These two victories stamped his authority to be the leader until the third round that is expected to take in few weeks time. According to the present standings, he is sure to go for the title this year.   

Dinesh Jayawardene and Ashan Silva too had a good day gaining a win and a first runner up position each. Dinesh, after an immense battle with Dilan Seneviratne gained a fine victory in the SL-H Cars up to 1600cc class. He was seen chasing throughout the event as Dinesh got off to a flying start in this race. Young Irfan Fuard too posed a challenge to these top drivers, as he was right behind the leaders.    

The SL-GT Cars up to 3500cc Class race produced the best for the spectators who were looking for thrills with fastest cars on the track. The winner, Ashan Silva had to fight all the way before wining the same as a strong challenge was posed by the two runners up Kaushal Samarasinghe and Dinesh Jayawardene until the end.

The other most interesting event was the SL-H Cars up to 1500cc class, where all experienced drivers involved with one and only lady driver Shehara competing. It became a ding don battle with Sajad Zuhair and Dilan Seneviratne. The never say die lady Shehara drove in grand style to reach the podium as the second runner up. Also this race saw a veteran driver Sumanapala Mannapperuma the oldest driver at 72 years in action.

Nadeera Jansena (SL-S up to 2000cc), Janith Kumarge (Ford Laser/Mazda 1300cc), Michael Wijesuriya (SL-N Nissan March 1000cc) and Kushan Peiris were the drivers to record wins on this day.

The meet saw three accidents take place involving Mohan Perera, Brian Perera and Ameen Deen. Though serious damage was caused to all machines no major injuries wee reported. Mohan Perera was rushed to hospital but according to reports he has sustained minor injuries and was released.

On two wheelers, it was Maduranga Caldera who came with flying colours in the Motor Cycles over 250cc Open event. This was the best two wheeler races as it was hotly contested. The real threat was posed by Shiran Samuel who made the interesting at times overtaking Caldera to lead and Cadera taking control of the race. This process went on few occasions before Caldera hitting the finish line.  

Thusitha Gunesekera had a good double winning the Super Motard over 4500cc Open and the Super Motard up to 450cc. The veterans in this class Ananda Wedisinghe and his brother Udesh, failed to live up to expectations. Ananda failed to reach the podium in both events but Udesh made it to the podium becoming the second runner up in the Super Motard up to 450cc.  

Riders who excelled on Sunday are Ned Daniel (Standard Modified up to 250cc) Ruwantha Rantunga (Group ‘O’ 125cc), Y.M. Somaratne (Group ‘O’ Yamaha), Ksun Danushka (Super Motard up to 250cc), Jeff Andre Chi (Standard Mod 125cc) and Ananda S. Weerasinghe (P.A.G.T. Prdeep—Bajaj three wheelers)  

 Race 1:

Formula McLarens 1300cc

1. Aamir Gaffoor, 2. Dasun Ranatinga, 3. Ishan Siriwardene

SL-N Cars up to1000cc

1. Michael Wijesuriya, 2. Rohan de Silva, 3. Sachith Pathirana

Ford Laser/Mazda 1300cc

1. Janith Kumarage, 2. Niroshan Randika, 3. Romesh Gunewardene

SL-A Mini 7

1. Thanush Ravi Kumar, 2. Sachith Pathirana, 3. Namal Silva

Ford Laser/Mazda 1500cc

1. Kushan Peiris, 2. Irfan Fuard, 3. Shantha Priyankara

SL-H Cars up to 1600cc

1. Dinesh Jayawardene, 2. Dilan Seneviratne, 3. Irfan Fuard

Group SL-GT Cars up to 3500cc

1. Ashan Silva, 2. Kaushal Samarasinghe, 3. Dinesh Jayawardene,

SL-H Cars up to 1500cc

1. Sajaad Zuhair, 2. Dilan Seneviratne, 3. Shehara Jayawardene,

Group SL-S Cars up to 1500cc specials

1. Nadeera Jinasena, 2. Shamil Ilyas, 3. Michael Wijesuriya,

Race 2:

Formula McLarens 1300cc

1. Aamir Gaffoor, 2. Dasun Rantunga, 3. Ruchith Gunewardene,

 Motor Cycles

Group ‘O’ STD 125cc single cylinder

1. Chathura Madushanka Atampola, 2. Sanjeeva Udayakumara, 3. Chaminda Subasinghe

Forces event

1. Ruwantha Rantunga, Dilan Ratnayake, 3. T.N. S. R. Samantha

Group ‘O’Yamaha FZ 150cc

1. Y.M. Somaratne, 2. B.A.E.S. Hemachandra, 3. N.N. Balasuriya

Group ‘M’ standard modified 250cc

1. Ned Daniel, 2. Shiran Samuel, 3. Sheron Fernando

Group ‘SM’ Super Motard 250cc (4/T)

1. Kasun Danushka Sudasinghe, 2. Udika Srimal Malavige, 3. Udesh Wedisinghe

Group ‘O’ Bajaj 150cc

1. Ananda Sampath Weerasinghe, 2. R.N. Tharindu Dananjaya, 3. R.W. Shantha

Group ‘SM’ Super Motard 450cc (2/T)

1. Thusitha Gunesekera, 2. Ned Daniel, 3. Suraj Perera

Bajaj three wheelers (4/T)

1. P.A.G.I. Pradeep, 2. A. Susnatha, 3. M. Ruwan

Group ‘O’ Standard Modified 125cc (2/T)

1. Jeff Andre Chai, 2, Heshan Pasindu Weerasinghe, 3. Chatura Madusank Atampola

Group ‘SM’ Super Motard Open

1. Thsitha Gunesekera,2. Suraj Perera, 3. Ned Daniel

Motor Cycles Modified Over 250cc Open

1. Maduranga Cadera, 2. Shiran Samuel, 3, Prasanna Subasinghe