Tragedy that should never have happened
Last Sunday, the 28th Fox Hill Super Cross event was supposed to create that much anticipated hype, since this year’s edition marked the comeback of the virtual national motorsport event of the country after a lapse of five years. Creating the hype…it indeed did, but unfortunately for the wrong reasons.The 28th Fox Hill Super Cross unfolded with high expectations last Sunday morning at the Diyatalawa Military Academy track, but was folded up at around 3.30p.m., with six more events to go. The reason – a massive calamity that claimed seven lives and left 19 individuals injured in an incident that took place during the Ford Lazer/Mazda 323 event.
The reason behind the accident could be clearly blamed on the thick dust created by the cars leading the front pack, which evidently found the competitors following at higher risk of losing visibility of the track and objects in front of them. Not even the differently coloured flags used by the track marshals, which indicates the nature of the race according to the arising situations.
Pix by Nayanananda Buwaneka
That was what exactly took place during the 18th event of the day out of the 24-event Fox Hill Super Cross last Sunday. A car had already hit a barricade during the Ford Lazer/Mazda 323 event that had nearly a dozen competitors.
The flag marshals were waving the yellow flag, cautioning the drivers to reduce speed, not to overtake and be prepared to change direction, due to a hazard beside or partly on the track. Yet, the rest of the competitors were seen fully involved in the race, clearly perhaps the amount of dust generated, resulting in poor visibility.
In the end, the race was forced a complete stop after two competitors hit a section of the track, directly colliding on to flag marshals and a section of the spectators. The remainder of the race events were called off soon after, following the death of seven individuals and more than 20 being injured.
Among the injured were the drivers of the two cars that were involved with the incident, and they too were admitted to the Diyatalawa Base Hospital. A day later, both drivers, aged 36 and 47, were arrested by the police and were ordered to be remanded until April 30 for causing mayhem through their ‘reckless driving’.
But so far, any news of the officials involved in organising and conducting the event being approached by police, is yet to be heard. Instead, Sri Lanka Army, under whose patronage the event was hosted at Diyatalawa, on Tuesday stated that it appointed a seven-member committee, chaired by a Major General, to probe the accident. Two days later, Sri Lanka Automobile Sport (SLAS), stated that it has appointed a three-member independent committee, headed by a Senior President’s Council, to probe the same incident.
But is that all and enough?…is the biggest question that haunts inside a head of someone with sanity. Was the incident preventable, could it have been evaded, and why were the race officials lame to act when the dust on the track was causing constant concerns?
But motorsports experts, who had previously involved in organising the event since its inception in 1993, believed that the whole episode was clearly preventable had the race officials acted promptly. The Fox Hill Super Cross, now in its 28th edition, was organised and conducted by SLAS since 2017. Prior to that Sri Lankan Association of Racing Driver and Riders (SLARDAR) was responsible up until 2011 and from 2012 to 2016 the event was under the flagship of Sri Lanka Autosports Drivers Association (SLADA).
Both these entities had veterans of local motorsport, who were one time competitors turned racing officials. Despite a few minor incidents under their watch, there were never controversies that escalated to the point of claiming lives. When the Fox Hill Super Cross was last held in 2019, the event was stopped midway soon after the terrorist attack that occurred on the same day in other parts of the country.
According to experts, the area the accident occurred have been kept empty during all previous editions, and they questioned the rational need of filling up that slot of the facility.
“It is a zone we identified as not suitable to have spectators placed, because of the condition of surrounding. The way it is, spectators would come too close to the track and there would be very little room to react at an emergency. That’s what exactly happened on that unfortunate day,” stated an expert.
Customarily, beginning from Race Director down to recovery staff, a total of 75 individuals were involved at different capacities including race marshals, scrutinising officials, recorders, starters etc. But the last race has accommodated over 100 officials, but with very little or no experience of handling a gravel race of the magnitude of Fox Hill Super Cross.
Sources said that these officials were not equipped with proper or sufficient communication kits, but former experts say such equipment are secondary to those with ample experience.
“The races can be done only with flag signals. When we conducted the races, the flag marshal at that very particular point where the accident occurred, would only wave the green flag when he had the full clearance. There are checklists, such as clearance of spectators from the track to its proper distance, track condition, such as dust and other factors, are cleared by each and every flag marshal before the starter gives the final go. Proud to say, each time we conducted the event we have managed to conduct it smoothly and on time,” the former official explained.
But as he and his former colleagues lament, the 28th edition of the virtual national motorsport event of Sri Lanka would have had a different and happy ending, had they deployed the most suitable ones as race officials.
“It’s all about experience. Had there been officials with proper experience, none of the events happened on that day would have taken place,” another expert said, who explained that issues, if any, only come out during car events.
By the time the 18th race took off, few other incidents had already occurred, including a few cars hitting barricades and ending up being toppled. At each of these incidents the remaining drivers were either unalarmed or unclear of what was happening on the track. In one event the pack leader was shown the checked flag, but he still went on to race another lap, perhaps assuming the race has still not completed.
“Dust was a clear issue. We used to observe the condition on the previous day and take appropriate measures to prevent or minimise the dust from dictating the races. If out of nowhere, such a situation like last Sunday arises, appropriate measures should be taken. That’s when experience counts,” the expert reminded, while fearing an early and unexpected demise of the Fox Hill Super Cross.
Prior to last Sunday’s incident, few other incidents have taken place, interestingly also in the vicinity of Diyatalawa. Renowned Mini driver Dilshan Bandaranayake lost his life in 2008 after succumbing to injuries sustained during the Nuwara Eliya Road Race, which was banned for many years. Later, in 2017, after the Nuwara Eliya Road Race was restored, renowned rider Ananda Wedisinghe became the second victim under similar circumstances. The event has never been held ever since.
“What we fear is the risk of losing such a wonderful and well-conducted event of nearly three decades old, because of mishaps. No one is coming forward to give a clear explanation, and two competitors who are nowhere near responsible, have been wrongly accused instead,” castigated another expert.
With a chain of errors taking place from the very beginning, causing delays to the event that usually folds up by 2.00p.m., was dragged further. By 3.30p.m., the raceday still had six more events to complete. An one of the key areas that should have been the paramount, the ‘safety of competitors and spectators’, was clearly breached with the accident that took place in the 18th event of the day.
As seen in one of the video footages taken by a spectator, two flag marshals were seen waving the yellow flag amidst the thickly heavy dust when two speeding cars collided on to them, before contacting the spectator area. It was evident that the flag marshals had no time and space to evade the calamity, with the spectators invading the space to get a closer and clear look at the races.
“They (race officials) could have cleared those spectators to their designated places and cleared the zone before the start of the race. It is the nearest point to the start, and that is the point where the starter looks as the final clearance point,” the expert added, indicating a clear violation of norms prior to flagging off a race.
“We acknowledge that there were spectators, who due to the curiosity, positioned themselves in unsafe locations near the track. While we must stress the importance of adhering to safety guidelines at all times, we do not seek to assign blame to any individual or group. Our focus now remains on supporting the families affected in this incident and further standby our SLAS licensed competitors,” the official media release issued by SLAS explains, virtually admitting to what the former official said.
Eventually, even after seven days from what occurred, and after losing seven lives and having almost 20 injured, race officials are yet to provide a valid clarification as to what was the root cause of the accident. “SLAS extends its sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to all those injured or affected by this tragic incident. Urgent steps have been taken to support all the families of victims financially at the moment although life cannot be measured in rupees or cents. We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to understand the causes of the incident and to implement additional safety measures to prevent such events from occurring in the future,” stated further the SLAS media release, while the whole nation anticipates a clear and acceptable explanation.