Jacques riding high after strong 2013
Reflecting on his performance in 2013, Sri Lanka’s premier junior m o t o rcyc l e r a c e r, J a c qu e s Gunawardena, says that the past season of competition has been extremely fruitful, with him making deep inroads that eventually led to a coveted berth as the second- best rider on the Asian circuit in the Under 15 age category Ja c q u e s booked his prized posit i o n by means of a dominant run at the Asian Junior Motocross Championships Series, where he maneuvered his bike past some of the region’s top riding talent.
“It has been a really good year for me. I won two championships. I now hold the second rank in Asia ( Under 15), which took a lot of hard work, “the fourteen- year- old explained.
The seizure of second place is particularly sweet, Jacques reveals, because he came so close to clinching it the previous year. However, he drew from the lessons he learnt during that run through the series and used them to fuel his strong finish.
“After that year I knew what I had to do and work towards. So this year I came out knowing that I had to work hard and that is exactly what I did and fortunately things worked out for me, “Jacques explains.
The hard work the youngster speaks of includes hours of manipulating his bike over circuitous sections of track that force him to diligently hone his technique and develop his fitness.
Jacques asserts that the international exposure of the Championships, and the high standard of racing he encounters there, has motivated him to keep raising the bar of his riding so that he is not just on par with but yards ahead of his opponents.
It also does not hurt that the young rider is fervently in love with the sport and has a firm backbone of support hoisting his ambitions.
“The track is like my second home. Next year I want to win the ( Asian Junior Motocro s s ) Championships and in the future look to compete in America. I would like to thank all the people who helped me, especially my dad and Rohan de Silva from the Mclarens Group”