For the speed freaks who were hibernating it’s time to wake up. The Motor Racing Association (MRA) and Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC) will jointly conduct the year’s first special-stage rally with the much-anticipated MRA-CMSC Pelwatte Rally 2010 on the 20th and 21st of February. Following a ceremonial start in Katharagama Town on the morning of the 20th the competitors will proceed via a transport stage to the picturesque sugarcane fields of the Pelwatte Sugar Corporation in the Monaragala district where the competitive stages will commence.

After a successful partnership at the 2009 Sevanagala Rally, the MRA and CMSC have jointly announced a 4-round National Rally Championship for 2010, of which the Pelwatte Rally will be the first. A minimum of 10 special stages, including 2 night stages, will be conducted on the fast gravel stages of the plantation.
Over the last few seasons, the Pelwatte Rally has come to prominence as the fastest rally held in Sri Lanka, and is one of the most anticipated events on the Sri Lankan motorsport calendar. In the past, SL ‘GT’ class drivers such as Dinesh Deheragoda and Nishan Weerasooriya have averaged over 100 km/h per stage in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, putting this event on par with Production World Rally Championship events in terms of outright speed.

This year, Lancer Evolution X driver Deheragoda will attempt to defend his Pelwatte Rally 2009 win over Javidh Wahab and also avenge his narrow 2009 championship loss to Subaru Impreza driver Rizvi Farouk. The 2 drivers will also face stern challenges from a full field of SL ‘GT’ entries with Aravinda Premadasa (Lancer Evolution VII), Ashan Silva (Lancer Evolution III), Shafraz Junaid (Impreza WRX), Janaka Dias (Impreza WRX), Pasindu Peiris (Lancer Evolution IX), Reyaz Farook (Lancer Evolution VII) and category newcomer Shirendra Lawrence (Impreza WRX) all confirmed for the event. In the SL ‘H’ 1600 category, Javidh Wahab (Honda Civic Type-R) will have to contend with Sanjaya Sedara Senarath (Civic Type-R) and Missaka Naween Gamage (Civic SiR) among others. The popular Trucks & Jeeps class will see a resumption of the battle between Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution drivers Deepthi Perera and Cassim Wahab.

With a substantial 4-round championship already announced and a full field committed to the year’s program, a fantastic event beckons. The winner of the last 2 rallies and the 2009 season champion Rizvi Farouk will be the first car on the road on Special Stage 1 but as with previous Pelwatte rallies, dramatic changes to the leaderboard can be expected.

Entry forms are available at the MRA Secretariat at No. 5 Havelock Place, Colombo 5 as well as the CMSC Club Office at No. 4 Hunupitiya Road, Colombo 2. With several holiday resorts in the area and multiple viewing locations along the rally stages, spectators are encouraged to attend this world-class event for a chance to witness high-speed rallying at its finest. For further information, contact Dilshan Dodanwela on 0777602618.