Nuwara Eliya

91st Mahagastota Festival of Speed delivers high-octane competition

Established in 1934, this legendary hill climb continued its tradition of challenging competitors with steep inclines and tight corners across multiple racing categories.

The event featured a comprehensive lineup of competition classes, with motorcycles taking center stage on Saturday before cars dominated Sunday's action. Motorcycle categories saw Isuru Maduranga clinch victory in the Super Motard 250cc class, while Ananda Sampath conquered the Super Motard Open category. In the Super Sport divisions, Vinula Pathirage topped the 600cc class and Harish Sivagnanam mastered the 1000cc competition.

Sunday's car races featured equally impressive performances across various displacement categories. David Siyaguna emerged victorious in the SL-H Cars up to 1600cc class, while Malinda Gunasekara won the One Make Subaru Legacy division. Sangeeth Suriyage claimed the SL-S Cars up to 3500cc title, and Viren Botejue not only won the SL-GT Cars up to 3500cc class but also recorded the fastest overall time of the weekend at 33.326 seconds.

Standout performances included Gihan "The Cowboy" Sanjeewa, who dominated with three class wins in different motorcycle categories, and newcomer Seshan Gunasekara, who set a new class record of 44.092 seconds in the SL-E Cars up to 1000cc division, improving the previous benchmark by 0.108 seconds.