Sri Lanka breaks into global Motor racing circuit
The newly re-constructed karting circuit in Bandaragama, which meets all international specifications
Precisely one month from now, Sri Lanka will witness its first ever international motor sport event at the newly re-laid Sri Lanka Karting Circuit in Bandaragama. On January 13 and 14, the site, situated approximately an hour’s drive away from the country’s capital of Colombo, will come alive with the curtain raiser event of the X30 Asia Cup Challenge 2018. The two days of the second weekend of the first month of 2018 will become an active location in Bandaragama as David Pieris Racing and Leisure (DPRL) Company, the organisers of the event, gear up for the one-of-a-kind event for all Sri Lankans.
“There’s a huge workload on our shoulders in organising and conducting this event. We have to look at a 360 degree dimension to cater to all the needs of the competitors, visitors from around the globe, locals and other aspects. It’s a massive task,” Randika de Silva, the Manager Corporate Communications of David Pieris Motor Company (DPMC), another subsidiary as DPRL of David Pieris Group (DPG), stated.
The total investment in renovating and transforming the existing karting circuit at Bandaragama to an international level track cost around Rs. 600 million, and apart from that, DPG will spend probably over Rs. 100 million to hold the two-day event. Besides their monetary commitment, DPG has undertaken the whole responsibility of conducting the event smoothly by shouldering the logistic, hospitality, safety and other aspects that are involved.
The event is expected draw in over 2000 foreigners as competitors, support staff and spectators and an equal number of locals covering all those three groups, making the X30 Asia Cup Challenge season opener a world event for the Sri Lankans. Over 60 drivers are expected to fly down to Sri Lanka for the event and Sri Lanka, as hosts, will make maximum usage of it by the opening doors to many competitors, as much as possible.
“X30 has been going on for over two years now and this level of karting is the biggest in Asia. A lot have never been to Sri Lanka, as we expect all the top drivers from Asia, and most of them have already moved to Formula Cars. We have two other drivers representing Sri Lanka at international events, but most of the time it’s just me. We are expecting seven or more drivers in the Masters and Veterans categories, a couple of sub-categories held alongside the main event. This will be a good opportunity for local drivers, as well as karting generally, for many reasons,” Eshan Pieris, Sri Lanka’s current ace in international karting, told the Sunday Times.
The event has received the strong backing and endorsement from Niroshan Pereira, the President of the Ceylon Motor Sports Club and the Asian Zone Coordinator to FIA, which is the world governing body for motorsports. DPRL could put themselves on a high position for making a timely and appropriate investment, according to Randika de Silva, who revealed a few insights.
“Even before hosting our maiden international event, we have got a couple of inquiries to host such events. We have reached out to the Tourist Board and the Ministry of Sports to look into these avenues, with intentions of promoting Sports Tourism here. For an event, there could be easily over 3000 foreigners — participants, team members, support staff and followers — who travel at a time. If the track is getting popular, there is a possibility of hosting more international events in Sri Lanka. But for now, we are fully focused on the X30 Asia Cup Challenge, which is just four weeks away,” de Silva added.
To make the two-day event viable, DPRL will seek the assistance of over 350 volunteers, who are employees of DPG. This becomes a double-edged knife as DPRL hopes to promote Sri Lanka as an ideal destination for karting and also popularise the sport among locals, preferably the younger generation. Young Pieris, who has already stepped into Formula Cars after making strides in international karting in just less than three years, outlined the true intention behind the whole project.
“What we expect in return by holding this event, is not the rupees and cents, our ambition is to popularise this sports in the country and also promote the track for international events. It’s a long term investment, to be precise. This is the ideal opportunity for Sri Lanka to show our capability in holding a massive international event. At the same time, we are hoping to see more local drivers coming in, so we may be able to host a X30 National or a Rotax National. That way we will be able to send more drivers to the world stage and world championship events,” Pieris stated.
At present, the Sri Lanka Karting Circuit in Bandaragama hosts six events annually, a local karting series, besides the gradually improving endurance races, which has become quite a popular event among locals. These were held on a track that measured 775 metres, but on an internationally sanctioned track of 1215 metres, the possibilities are higher. With that working on their minds, DPRL intends to make the first impression, an everlasting one.
“The biggest challenge will be the logistics. We are bringing down over 60 cars to the country, as drivers bring their own cars. The teams will travel with their own equipment. DPG is handling the logistic part, then there is accommodation, inbound travel, and other areas, where we, as the organisers will have to look at the entire 360 degree aspect of it. Safety is another aspect that we will have to critically look into. There is sound and air pollution involved and we have taken steps to minimise the decibel amount that reaches beyond the circuit with proper sound barriers. As it will be the first international event, we have invited all visitors from abroad to stay an extra day, to promote the country. It’s all about bringing in more income to the country and encouraging them to visit again,” de Silva elaborated.
The two-day X30 Asia Cup Challenge to be held in Sri Lanka will have five race categories. They are Cadets class (8 to 12 years), Junior class (12 to 14 years), Senior class (14 to 30 years), Masters or Veterans class (30 years and above) and the Super Shifter class. The winners of the X30 Asia Cup will be awarded free entry to the IAME International Final to be held in Le Mans, an invitation-only event and one of the world’s largest and most prestigious professional karting races. The objective of the local organisers, DPRL, is far beyond from what the race event has on offer — to open the doors for newcomers, who are currently in the twilight zone of doubt.