The Pannala circuit is the only permanent tarmac track in Sri Lanka, and despite a length of just 1.7km it provides excellent racing and a challenge for the best drivers. It was used as a gravel circuit for years and enjoyed continued success when turned into a tarmac circuit in 2001 – Pannala regularly sees close to 17,000 spectators for big events. It’s location in the North Central province of Sri Lanka meant that it was closed during the bloodiest years of the civil war when almost all motor racing stopped, and has recently reopened now that peace has returned to the nation.

The best way to describe Pannala is as a very mini Nurburgring Nordschleiffe. The track is rough and bumpy has wonderful elevation change as it sweeps through the undulating hillsides and is lined by vibrant, green grass. And just like the Nurburgring it demands respect – there are many off-camber corners and circuit safety is not what we’re used to in the Western world. There are places here that you simply wouldn’t want to end up. Having said that, Pannala is a circuit that I would desperately love to race on one day. The biggest difference really is the abundance of palm trees that line the track, the Nurburgring has almost none of these!

This onboard footage of Ashan De Silva in a Formula McLarens should give you a fairly good indication of what the circuit is like.

The event I attended was round 1 of the Speed Racing Championship which featured a wide spectrum of categories, the slowest of which was the Suzuki Maruti cup. Apart from a roll bar these cars are stock standard and the racing, well, happens at a leisurely pace.

Formula McLarens is an exciting new spec series that has come out of India. These open wheelers are all identical and are powered by a 1300cc Suzuki engine. They run road based radials and are all prepared on an arrive and drive basis for their young drivers.

The racing is very close, and a full arrive and drive package with your own personal mechanic is very affordable. Hmm….

The under 1000cc and under 1300cc classes are dominated by first generation Mini’s in varying states of tune. This one was one of the nicest prepared cars of the whole weekend.

The Formula Ford class was strong and consisted of a mixture of late 80′s and early 90′s chassis VanDiemans and Spectrums with a few Indian makes thrown in for good luck. There was a wide speed difference between the fastest and slowest cars, but the racing was still close across the field.

Ashan Silva had a good weekend in his VanDieman.

This guy didn’t have the same luck. Interestingly, the race was still running at this stage. This was actually my photo spot for a lot of the weekend as it gave a good view of the track, had shade and a friendly official to talk to. There was no fence or barrier, and the only thing that limited you was your own sense of self-preservation. I once asked the official if I could go and stand down a little closer to the track behind a tree. His reply was a question – ‘Do you think it’s a safe spot? If so, then go for it!’. It made shooting a lot easier, especially given that we could just walk across the track in between races to get to another location.

This driver had an altercation with another competitor on the last lap and came off second best. This photo was taken when I jumped the fence and walked down the track to have a look at the recovery. An official came up to me and I thought I was in trouble for running down the track. I needn’t have worried though, he was chilled and just wanted to ask me about my camera!

There were a few categories for motorbikes as well, split between road racing and super motard competitions. There were no big bikes competing, as one of the old hangover laws from the war days is a prohibition of any motorbike bigger than 250cc. Rumor has it that there’s a couple of Yamaha R1′s prowling the streets of the capital Colombo, but this is unconfirmed.

It wasnt quite as free and easy for spectators at Pannala as it was at Carlton, but they still get a pretty good view of the action.

Although the flaggies have a much more relaxed time than they do at Mallala!

Access to the actual pit lane is not restricted, and this is the pit entry road from the track. It’s a wild place to watch the last corner from, but everybody needs to be ready to run out of the way if any cars decide to pit. In this photo the blue Mini is in the process of mounting the black one.

A last-minute Saturday afternoon gearbox rebuild is taking place, ready for Sundays race.

The Ford Laser category is split into 1300 and 1600cc classes and provides fiercely competitive racing. A lot of these guys drive these cars to the track – we followed this green car absolutely thrashing it through the suburbs of the capital Colombo at 4am on Saturday morning heading to the race!

There’s a trophy category just for the Nissan March as well. There were only 5 or 6 cars and a lot of them exhibited epic understeer through the last corner if the driver got it wrong, which they frequently did.

The same under 2000cc category that runs on the gravel runs on the tarmac too, and was completely made up of Vtec Honda Civics. Ashan Silva did well to hold the field off over the weekend.

The SL-GT category was once again the headline act, and would be competing for round 1 of both the SLARDAR Tarmac Championship and the SL-GT championship. Dinesh Deheragoda in the Yokohama CIFL Evo X had a perfect weekend, winning both races and coming home with maximum points for the weekend.

I thought this Evo III had a really tough stance and I dug its plain blue race livery. This is the kind of look you’d want for a tough streeter back home, heading in the right direction without spinning backwards of course.

Ashan Silva was a busy man, jumping between his Formula Ford, his Honda Civic and Missaka’s Evo 9. Unfortunately his luck didn’t transfer across to SL-GT when a drive shaft broke on a test start on the warm up lap for the final race.

www.dinesh-d.com

www.darin-w.com

For 2011 the Carlton Supercross was held at the gravel circuit near the town of Tissamaharama in the Hambantota district of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan super cross racing shares many similarities with traditional rallycross, however the chief difference is that super cross racing is conducted on a full dirt circuit. The Carlton Supercross formed part of the wider Carlton Super Sports festival which included rowing, target shooting and athletic events. The Carlton Supercross was round 1 of the Sri Lankan National Gravel Championship (encompasing both super cross racing and special stage rallying) and round 1 of the SLARDAR championship.

The track itself (above) is largely clay based and provides a nice mix of fast sweepers and tighter 2nd and 3rd gear corners. We were able to pre-run the track on the Friday before race weekend, and got a good view of the circuit from the lofty heights of a Prado before a couple of quick laps in Dinesh’s full spec Group N Evo X. The track gets mighty slippery when wet, as we discovered.

Yokohama & CIFL sponsored Dinesh Deheragoda competes in the top-tier SLGT category for 4WD turbo vehicles in his Group N Evo X RS. A multiple national champion both on tarmac and gravel, Dinesh was kind enough to allow me to tag along with his team, Team CIFL, to a couple of races and gave me enormous assistance while I was in the country. We quickly became friends, and I owe Dinesh for the kind hospitality he and the other competitors showed me.

Dinesh qualified on pole for Race 1, and led from the first corner to the finish line 12 laps later to take the win. As I stood on the outside of the first corner of lap 1 as I took this shot, my idea of exciting motor racing was completely redefined.

During a break in circuit action I noticed hundreds of people walking up a little path into the rainforest. I followed them with no idea where I was heading, and was most surprised to find this 4WD competition taking place just a few hundred metres from the circuit.

Competing vehicles were mostly either Jeeps, Nissan Patrols, Land Rovers or Toyota Landcruisers. Almost all of them were very heavily modified, and some of the vehicles were little more than a tube frame chassis with a powerful turbo diesel motor bolted in. The tests were so challenging that it was actually impossible to walk some of them on foot, and as a rule the spectators were standing dangerously close to the action. It was a brilliant spectacle.

Back to the racing, and the second tier category is for normally aspirated vehicles under 2000cc and is almost entirely made up of B18C powered Vtec Civic’s. The front running cars are all so close in performance which makes for brilliant racing.

I spent some time shooting with Raehan at various locations around the track. It was a little bit nuts, there were no safety fences and the only thing between you and the action is your own sense of self-preservation. It was pretty handy sometimes though, if your spot was no good you could just cross the track in the middle of a race and try somewhere else!

Ashan Silva had a little bit of bad luck at Carlton but drove brilliantly to a 2nd place overall finish in the category championship. I spent 5 hours driving to the track with Ashan from the capital Colombo, and he’s a great guy. Two weeks later he would be out at the tarmac Pannala Circuit racing his Honda, an Evo 7 and a VanDieman Formula Ford. You just don’t get drivers with that kind of diversity in Australia!

Dinesh’s race 1 victory gave him a pole position start for the feature race 2. As we were walking the grid a soft patter of rain began to descend -my mind flashed back to the previous Friday and just how slippery this track is in the wet. The atmosphere was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, thousands of people waiting on edge with the real feeling that just anything could happen.

Aravinda Premadasa (above) got the jump on Dinesh and beat him to the first corner. Dinesh maintained second place, staying ahead of Pasindu in the Exide/Browns Evo 9. Aravinda maintained his lead for a few laps…

… but lost it when Dinesh made a brave move around the outside of the final corner.

Intense battle raged further down the field as well. Janaka Dias tried this move on Missaka Naveen in the closing laps of the race…

… but it didn’t quite pay off.

Dinesh took first place in the SL-GT class and scored maximum points for the national gravel championship and the SLARDAR championship. Aravinda (left) took second, with Pasindu (right) rounding out the podium.

Ashan finished second overall in the under 2000cc class, giving him vital points for the rest of the series.

There’s a really good sense of camaraderie and friendship in the Sri Lankan motor sport fraternity. They are just as knowledgeable and enthusiastic as we are in Australia, and every bit as competitive.

And finally, a big thank-you to Dinesh. Without his wonderful help and friendship my trip would not have been anywhere near the fantastic experience it was.

Here’s part 2 of Speed Championship 2011 – Round 3.

- Ramien Hodgson 

I am hereby pleased to give you the “Cream” of the event at the recent Speed Championship 2011 – Round 3 races.
What you see above are the Honda Civic’s that run in the SL H upto 1600cc event as they wait for the OK to head out on track.

But firstly it was the Mini’s that run in the SL – A upto 1050cc event to race.

Here they are on the grid. Up front is Kamal Yahatugoda in an Austin Mini 1000, followed by Hafiz Cader in an Austin Mini 1050 and right behind him is Michael Wijesuriya in a Nissan March 1000.

Here’s the warm up lap.  After which…

It was green and they were off!

Hafiz Cader at full throttle on the straight closely followed by Kamal Yahatugoda. Kamal Yahatugoda fell into difficulties when his steering column got locked and ended up making contact with the wall at the exit of the final corner.

Michael Wijesuriya at full throttle.

Hafiz Cader on the 1st left hander after the straight.

A Daihatsu Charade driven by Sunanda Piyal.

After the Mini’s came into the pits, it was time for the Honda Civic’s in the SL H upto 1600cc event to head out to the starting grid.
First above is Ishraq Wahab in his Honda Civic EG Hatch..

Second is Ashan Silva in the D & D Performance/Causeway Paints sponsored Honda Civic EK Hatch.  Third is Sajaad Zuhair in the EZY Racing sponsored Civic EG hatch. Fourth is Dinesh Jayawardena in the Monster Energy sponsored Civic Ek9 Type R & Fifth is Ushan de Silva in the U.S Car Sale sponsored Suzuki Swift sport.

Dinesh Jayawardena pedal to the metal.

Ushan de Silva in the Suzuki Swift sport.

Ashan Silva running in 1st position

soon followed by Sajaad Zuhair.

Ashan Silva just as he crossed the finish line in 1st position.

US Car Sale Suzuki Swift sport on the 1st left hander after the straight.

Thats it for the SL H upto 1600cc event.

A small teaser on whats next!

- Ramien Hodgson

Congratulations to Ashan Silva on the victory in The SL H upto 1600cc Event @ Speed Championship 2011 – Round 3 held at pannala circuit on Sunday 26th June 2011.

Keep an eye out on the Blog & Facebook Page for more updates!

- Ramien Hodgson