Malagamuwa looking for his global title
View(s):Sri Lanka’s international motor racing star, Dilantha Malagamuwa, will be aiming for his maiden title at global level at the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo World Championship Final, which will be held at Sebring International Raceway in Florida, USA.
The World Final, in which Malagamuwa competes for the second time in his career, will be held from November 19 to 22 with the participation of over 100 top drivers who will drive their Lamborghinis with one ambition.
The Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo World Final which will be its third edition and also the final round of the three European, North American and Asian series is Malagamuwa’s second after his first attempt failed in Malaysia last year.
He is highly determined to complete this year’s World Final with a podium finish after failing disastrously last year due to technical reasons.
“Last year I couldn’t complete both races due to problems that popped up in the gearbox and a tyre puncture. With the race held in Malaysia on a circuit that is familiar to me, last year would have been the ideal time to have a podium finish.
But unfortunately it was not my time. With the success of this season, I’m hopeful of a positive finish,” Malagamuwa told the Sunday Times.
After the first two World Finals held in Italy in Vallelunga in 2013 and last year in Sepang, Malaysia, the end of year finale of all three continental series, at one international venue, will be in America for the first time.
The Sebring circuit, which has 17 turns on a 3.74-mile circuit, is America’s oldest road racing track, with more than six decades of history.
At the four-day event there will be four titles up for grabs besides the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo World Final.
Other races to be held are PRO, PRO-AM, AM and Gallardo AM where on their home track, the locals are considered as serious contenders.
Over the last seven months, drivers and teams have battled for championships in each Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo series. Each series has two races left in their regular seasons before the World Final.
The champion of the Europe series already has been crowned, with 19-year-old Patrick Kujala taking the title in September at the Nürburgring in Germany.
In North America, Corey Lewis claimed the Huracán Pro-Am championship and Dylan Murcott earned the Gallardo championship in October at Road Atlanta.
Both overall driver and team championships are still up for grabs for North America and Asia heading into the final two rounds of the 2015 season at Sebring.
The exciting final weekend at Sebring will start with free practices for all series next Thursday, followed by qualifying for each series’ final two regular-season rounds.
The final two rounds will take place next Friday with North America running solo and Europe and Asia running combined rounds.
Qualifying for the World Final races will take place next Saturday morning. The World Final will be split into two fields. The Huracán Pro and Pro-Am drivers will compete together, and the Huracán Amateur and Gallardo drivers will race together.
The first two World Final races, one for each group, will take place next Saturday afternoon with the conclusion by next Sunday. The World Final Champions will be decided based on combined performance from the two races, with tiebreakers in place.
Unlike the American and European series, the Asia Series is still yet to be decided in its fourth season. This year the rapidly growing series featured drivers and teams coming from nine different countries.
All of them will be in Sebring, including the two young talents Yuan Bo and Afiq Yazid who are amongst those selected for Lamborghini’s Young Drivers Programme.
Malagamuwa’s team, Dilango Racing, has already made a name for themselves as a top contender. But according to Malagamuwa, his team runs on a low budget, compared to other teams in fray, and has the least number of members in the crew.
Malagamuwa and his team Dilango Racing could have snatched more sponsorship if not for the advertising space that is donned by his country’s Lion Flag. A patriot, as he has been forever, Malagamuwa is the only driver in the world in this series to include his country’s flag on the driver’s kit.
These slots can earn him more money, as sponsorships, but Malagamuwa said he is privileged to promote his motherland to the world, rather than look for extra bucks. At least a podium finish in next week’s Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo World Final would definitely give Malagamuwa the apex solace of 25 year’s hard work.
“We know we are small fish compared to other racing teams from around the world. But this is all about skills and determination with each and every driver in contention racing on a machine that looks and performs equally.
Getting accustomed to the track will be a matter of time and we are confident of giving others the biggest challenge and take the checked flag first,” Malagamuwa, determined as ever stated.
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