Waruna and Emdad steal the show at karting

The Speed Drome Karting Centre in Battaramulla hosted its first ever last weekend as Waruna Ranatunga and Emdad Hussain stole the show with their manoeuvering brilliance. The event which was held as a night race brought down the curtains of the inaugural national level karting meet a major success.

Though the event had only two races for different weight categories it attracted the participation of some domestic senior and junior formula drives as well. The events were Formula Lightweight for drivers below 75kgs and Formula Heavyweight for competitors above 75kg.

The Formula Lightweight category was won by Waruna Ranathunga who started the final race on Grid 3 but outsmarted his rivals after a great battle. Ayesh Bandara secured the second place with the young Formula McLarens 1300 driver Kevin Perera placing third, despite starting off from pole position. The battle between Ranathunga and Perera was so in- tense that the eventual winner was given a good run by the youngster until the last lap. Ranathunga was spotted as a potential Formula driver when he won the first ever Speed Drome All-Island Karting Championship in 2010.

Emdad Hussain powered his way to rein supremacy in the Formula Heavyweight category against close contenders Chandima Goonarathna and Sam Smith. The battle between Hussain and Goonarathna was so close that the winner could not be determined until the final lap. However Hussain took the checkered flag forcing Goonarathna to finish at second while newcomer Smith took the third in the podium.

The event was conducted by Asian Motor Racing Club and Carlton Motor Racing Club under the endorse- ment of newly formed Single Seater Formula Motor Racing Association, which is the main governing body of Karting and Formula motor sports in Sri Lanka.