The hills come alive again with ‘CEAT Mahagastota Festival of Speed 2016’

CEAT Sri Lanka, the largest corporate patron of motor sport in the country, has announced it will be the title sponsor of the 2016 Mahagastota Hill Climb, the oldest motor racing event in Sri Lanka, which takes place on 9 and 10 April.

Conducted by the Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC) the oldest motor sports club in Sri Lanka, this year’s climb – the 82nd edition of this heritage event – has been renamed the ‘CEAT Mahagastota Festival of Speed’ and is expected to attract more than 100 drivers and riders who will compete for the fastest timing on the picturesque 617 metre circuit.

Welcoming CEAT Sri Lanka as title sponsor of the 2016 CEAT Mahagastota Festival of Speed, CMSC President Niroshan Pereira said: “We are delighted to be partnered by CEAT and our other sponsors Mobil Lubricants, McFoil, Mahindra Motors, The Blackpool and The Spencer. The continued commitment of leading brands to the sport is encouraging. It is due to their assistance that the track upgrades have been possible. I thank each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart.”

CEAT Sri Lanka Vice President Sales and Marketing Ravi Dadlani said: “The Mahagastota Hill Climb occupies a very special place in the annals of motor sport in Sri Lanka, and has contributed a great deal to the legends and lore of the local racing fraternity. As the biggest sponsor of motor racing in Sri Lanka, CEAT is proud to support this event which tests the skills of competitors and the mettle of their machines to the maximum.”

Entries for the 2016 CEAT Mahagastota Festival of Speed are now open at the Club office. For more information competitors are requested to write to [email protected].

Participation at Mahagastota is limited to 100 entries as the fickle weather in the hills means that the event has to be concluded by early afternoon. As the oldest event in the Sri Lankan Motoring calendar, the event always attracts the cream of the local driving and riding community. The current holders of the fastest timings at Mahagastota are Nishan Weerasooriya for cars and Ananda Sampath for motorcycles.

The serious racing happens on Sunday 10 April, but as has become the practice, the CMSC partners with a number of other clubs such as the Classic Car Club of Ceylon, the Italian Car Club, the Mighty Mini Club, VW Owners Club and the Retro Car Club to conduct the Saturday “Parade” of classic and historic cars. A number of these cars have been run competitively up the hill in years gone by and are now lovingly restored and cared for by various enthusiasts around the country. The chance to bring these beauties up to Mahagastota to re-live a bit of history is rarely missed.

The timed events on 10 April will see the CMSC’s latest timekeeping equipment in action. The advent of technology has helped the event hugely from the days of stringing a copper telephone wire between the start and the finish.

The Mahagastota Hill Climb goes back to 1934 when the newly formed CMSC conducted its inaugural event there on 28 September 1934. With the exception of the war years, the event has been held annually by the CMSC at this historic venue. For the Club’s 75th anniversary the CMSC held a second event that year in September exclusively for Classic Cars, to tie in with the inaugural date.

A brand indelibly linked with motor racing in Sri Lanka, CEAT is also the title sponsor of the 2016 motor racing championship conducted by the Sri Lanka Auto-sports Drivers Association (SLADA). This is the seventh year that CEAT has played this crucial role.

Besides its sponsorship of the CEAT SLADA Championship, CEAT supports the race meets conducted by the Sri Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Air Force, as well as the sport’s governing body Sri Lanka Automobile Sports (SLAS). As part of its partnership with SLAS, CEAT Kelani Holdings is the principal sponsor of all Ford Laser/Mazda 1300cc and 1500cc and Nissan March 1000 cc ‘one-make’ racing events conducted during the year, at which all competing drivers race on CEAT radial tyres.