Foxhill Supercross 2007

Wrote this article some time ago for autoLanka, but it was never used. Thought I'd put it here now. I've already got this on my multiply site at http://preveen.multiply.com/journal/item/6


21^st April was the day the hills at Diyatalawa echoed with the thunder of engines as the annual Foxhill Supercross was run. This is the 15^th time this event has been run, organized by the Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers and Riders (SLARDAR) in association with the Military Academy in Diyatalawa. Qualifying the day before had been a fast and furious affair, according to those present trackside, and the day started with much promise for some top class racing.

Team autoLanka set off to Diyatalawa on 20^th Morning (Friday) Meeting up with fellow AL forum members Fuzzo and Madmax at Ambalama in Hanwella, we proceeded rather briskly up to Belihul-Oya Rest house for lunch. Yours truly transferred onto Madmax’s luxury wheels (BMW 320D) and leisurely sauntered along to Bandarawela, taking in the breathtaking scenery and pausing to take photos along the way. In the mean time Fuzzo and his better half, followed by our fearless leader of AL Madz and his better half, had hot-footed it to Diyatalawa like a cat on a hot tin roof. Yours truly puttered in somewhat later and spend the evening enjoying the flora and fauna (including migratory birds) at the picturesque Bandarawela Hotel. As darkness fell, quite a few familiar faces from the local racing scene showed up to enjoy the buffet including Dinesh D, Aravinda P, Dinesh J and from the AL forums KLM and Pilawoos! (note to self- maintain a lower profile. Ppl are recognizing me and asking why I don’t take a lot of pictures of them) Top marks for the buffet by the way. Personally speaking I enjoyed it immensely. Only problem was their idea of a BBQ was to BBQ chicken sausages. It isn’t possible have a BBQ with just chicken sausages, no matter how good they are!

Next morning, determined on an “early” start, Team AL got ready, stepped out …. and were greeted by a large breakfast buffet. The “early” start promptly disappeared, tho we made our way out with plenty of time for the action. Unfortunately, the traffic on the roads leading to Diyatalawa were terrible, aggravated by wanna-be Americans who decided that driving on the wrong side of the road was the way to go. In the mean time, we managed to catch the commentaries on radio, and by the sound of things, we missed at least two races, one of which was a hotly contested Ford Laser event. Advise to future visitors, make sure u leave for the track well in advance of the start time, and behave on the road. After finally getting in to the paddocks (with Madz inexplicably telling an army chap that I was a competitor) we made our way out in front where a bike race was under way.

The weather was gorgeous, bright blue skies and high clouds that bought relief from the sun. The weather gods cooperated until the last race was run and then the rain absolutely poured during the awards ceremony. The spectator areas were jam packed (after that traffic jam, they had to be), The Sunday Observer reported that the crowd was in excess of 30,000. They were treated to some keenly contested races. Dinesh Jayawardena and Aravinda Premadasa provided a closely fought contest in the SL-GT class for 1^st place, Gayan Sandaruwan recovered from a bad first lap to come within a couple of lengths of leading rider Pasindu Peris in the Group MX - Racing Motorcross Bikes class and Dinesh Senenayake took the flag in Jeep event after hounding Osanda who crashed out right through the race and picking up some damage himself. Dinesh Jayawardena provided some entertainment by doing some do-nuts to celebrate his win in the first, and Sajitha Wedisinghe decided to do some of his own. The highlight of the day though, was Gayan Sandaruwan leaping for the sky and performing aerial tricks on his bike in mid race while the crowd loudly cheered each successive jump in front of the grand stand.

There were also plenty of spills including Gayan Sandaruwan taking the last jump in the last lap on the last race of the day, only to land on the bike of another rider who had fallen just ahead of him. He was thrown across the finish line with the marshal waving the flag, but there was a report that the race was canceled. He did walk off into the ambulance, but the Sunday Observer mentioned that “there were serious injuries” and reported that his father had said he was bought to Colombo for further examination. There were also several severely damaged cars, and Janaka Dias had a close shave after Rizvi Farouk drifted into his car. Soon after the last race, the heavens opened up, and even though the prize giving had been held in the rain, Team AL could not cover it. However, we had a good days racing, and kudos to SLARDAR and the Military Academy for excellent organization. Pictures for the races from Team autoLanka can be seen at http://www.autolanka.com/gallery/ Confirmation of the results and the points table can be found at the SLARDAR racing website, www.slardarracing.com.