Land Rover dominates 4x4 Racing

The Nuwara Eliya 4x4 Club conducted their fourth consecutive annual 4x4 event recently, as part of the festivities in the Nuwara Eliya Season. The event was organised in a very professional manner and all competitors enjoyed their day out immensely.

The event was for ‘Standard vehicles’, while the track was designed to prove the capability of an unmodified vehicle and the drivers and navigators skill.

The track set by the club whilst being very challenging, was well within the capability of the vehicles and their crew. Hence, the event ran smoothly without long pauses whilst vehicles were being recovered.

One of special events of the day was the brilliant drive of the SML Frontier Marketing head Chandima Gooneratne the agent for Land Rover in Sri Lanka. Chandima recorded a time of 1:46 seconds clinching the championship by over eight seconds to the nearest competitor. He drove with a mix of caution and aggression showing complete mastery of the vehicle he drove and also a very accurate reading of the terrain.

The next highlight was the return of David Pieris, the Sri Lankan motor racing legend and business icon. David Pieris also driving a Land Rover Defender, showed his brilliance, giving spectators a display of his ability to read the terrain and to control his Defender over a very undulating and arduous course.  

He gave those who were present, a masterful display of his driving skills and showed that he was very much a force to be reckoned with. David Pieris took the runners up position of the event. The Land Rover Defender that Chandima and David drove was a completely standard in specification.

Many other 4x4 vehicles competed against the Land Rover, and in third place was Priyan Perera, who drove very strongly in an Isuzu Trooper. The camaraderie between competitors and the firm but efficient manner in which the race was conducted set this event apart.