KLM

Overdrive, Dilshan was unfortunately the first racing driver killed in the history of organized Sri Lankan racing. However, racing riders have died before, including Ranjith Dhanapala at last year's Nuwara Eliya Road Races. Overall I'd say that about 3 riders have died and now 1 driver. I only hope that his death was not in vain and that SLAS and the Federation use this opportunity to rethink the safety standards in local motor racing - from helmets, to suits, to roll-cages and most importantly, circuits.

I laughed as hard as the next man when I saw this earlier today, but after today's tragic incident involving Dilshan Bandaranayake and Ajith Hemachandra, I won't be surprised if there is a knee-jerk reaction by the powers that be.

Phenomenal - this was the moment of the day for me. The bottom of the paddock area, consisting almost exclusively of MotoX fans, cheered Gayan to a man when he took the lead.

No Gummybr, Rameez Mahamoor didn't make it to Fox Hill this year, his first miss in 10 years, despite his best efforts - let's just say that he was let down severely by the people he delegated technical responsibilities to. Good job by Rangana, although had the axle in Rohan Dhammapala's Honda City not slipped just after the start, I think he would have been more than a match for the Laser. Pericles, Madz, Fuzzo et al were in the paddock today, reppin' AL. It was not the most spectacular Fox Hill ever, but still a very good edition. Props to Upulwan who won his first SL 'H' 1600 double-header (he won 5 out of 6 races today and finished 2nd in the other), Aravinda Premadasa - who must have won his 10th SuperFox title in the 15 years that Fox Hill has been run, the retiring MotoCross kingpin of Fox Hill, Ananda Wedisinghe and his apparent heir, Gayan Sandaruwan.

No Gaya I'm leaving tonight. Ranga's Laser isn't the first one to run in 1400 modified, but it is probably the first truly modified 1300 Laser to run and probably the most successful yet. Kumar Samarasinghe has on occasion run his Laser/323 1300 hatch in SL 'A' modified and at Tissa in February, 1300 Lasers finished first and second in both SL 'A' 1400 races, although that had more to do with less truly modified 1400s being entered. Props to Ranga, he is a great driver, so it should be a good race tomorrow. Ranga had problems with the car revving past 6000 RPM at Radella but Nandasena seems to have sorted it out, even though the engine they built for this season seized on Monday - they were going to try and fix it or run a standard 1300 block.

That SL 'H' 1400 field is missing a few notables. Last year there were 10 starters (not including the upgraded 1050s) and at least 8 of them stood a chance of winning. A couple of this year's entries also had to pull out due to technical problems. In SL 'GT', Aravinda Premadasa is on pole from Pasindu Peiris, Reyaz Farouk, Janaka Dias and Dinesh Deheragoda in the old Evo VI. Mahinda Premaratne has had problems and has apparently pulled out of tomorrow's races. Pasindu is on pole in SL 'H' 1600 from Upulwan Serasinghe and Nishan Wasalatanthri.

I've heard this too. Should be good.

Dimantha, Mahagastotte was today, and it was phenomenal as usual. Nishan Weerasooriya equalled the course-record held by Rohan De Silva in a Modified Formula car, and shattered his own SL-GT record in the process. He only needed one run to do it and if he is to be believed, retired on the spot. Setting the identical time to a modified 2-litre, 400 kg single-seater running full slicks is a fantastic, and historic, achievement - props to him. I'll post pictures and videos tomorrow.

What a guy! http://www.dispatch.co.za/sport/article.aspx?id=185396 Schumacher tears up the track on two wheels 2008/03/24 Seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher proved he is just as fast on two-wheels as he is on four after claiming a podium finish on his motorbike racing debut in Hungary. The 39-year-old German finished third in the Skoox Cup race held at the 4.5 kilometres-long Pannonia Ring circuit in west Hungary aboard a Honda Fireblade on Friday. The 2007 German superbike championship winner Martin Bauer took first place while Andreas Meklau finished second in front of Schumacher — the best of the 27-strong amateur field despite starting at the back of the grid. The German received some tips from former 500 GP rider Randy Mamola before climbing on the saddle. The ride in Hungary came about after Schumacher impressed 2007 MotoGP world champion Australian Casey Stoner last November. But Schmacher said he prefers being on four-wheels to two, and was reported to be extremely nervous before the race. “I only did it for fun,” he said. ”I prefer driving.” – Sapa-AFP

www.grandprix.com reports...... "There followed a nice dice with his old Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso, and on lap 57 Heikki overtook Alonso with a glorious move. Luck was not on his side, however, as he had oil on his visor as a result of Sebastien Bourdais's Toro Rosso having blown up. Kovalainen tried to wipe his helmet with the back of his hand and, in doing so, knocked on the pitlane speed limiter. Alonso retook the place." Pila, I have a good feeling that Kazuki will catch Nico in terms of pace by mid-season.

Ah yes, on the start/finish straight on the final lap. Heikki definitely lost momentum there and that sucked for him, after he pulled off a textbook move on Alonso just prior to that. Pila, more power to the privateers, but unless we have wet races or half the field is wiped out by Felipe Massa, I don't think we'll see Nakajima or Rosberg on the podium again this year.

Opportunistic move by Alonso, because Heikki lost momentum while squeezing Kimi out of the way. Poor guy, if not for the 3rd safety car period he would have finished right behin LH for a McLaren 1-2.

Tough break for 'Sea Bass' Bourdais in the STR-Ferrari, on debut mind you. He was keeping Alonso at bay, in fourth place, until the second last lap before his engine let go. This guy is quite the wheelman - he won 4 consecutive ChampCar championships in the US, beating some big names. He is still is yet to get the hang of the car in qualifying trim, however. Even during preseason testing, he was right on the pace with Vettel on the long runs but on low-fuel hot laps, he still has some way to go. He was classified 8th, because of the attrition, so he got a point on debut anyway. The old karting contingent of Kubica, Hamilton and Rosberg had a good weekend, although Kubica fell off the track towards the end. I really hope that Ferrari get their shit together before Malaysia, or else it'll be a really boring season.

Was this from the episode where Foose's guys stole Charlie Sheen's buddy's Pontiac Le Mans? I saw that one, and I remember thinking how great Dynamat must be.

Hahaha, I actually have Queen's Greatest Hits in my car's CD player, permanently. The other regulars in the player are Nirvana's MTV Unplugged album (one of the greatest of all time), Natalie Merchant, and my favourite band of all-time, Sublime. It seems that none of you listen to hip-hop, and I'll bet its because you don't take it seriously enough. Believe me, it is a legitimate musical genre, and there is good stuff out there, if you give it an honest chance. I have a lot of Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Kanye in right now, along with some Snoop, Dre and yes, even 50. I keep almost all of the Black Eyed Peas stuff in at the ready, because nothing gets a day started like their a BEPs song. Again, go beyond the radio-release singles and there are some fantastic tracks on both their big albums. I even rock out a few '80s tracks from time to time - you can't go wrong with Tainted Love. What I never allow in my car is white-trash-death-metal and unnecessarily angst-driven noise.

Duncan, sad scene is a phenomenal understatement considering the fact that the Dakar is the absolute highlight of the motorsports year. As I was telling Pilawoos yesterday, this was the year that the Mitsubishis would be beaten, either by Robby Gordon, Giniel De Villers or most likely Carlos Sainz. As much as the French have a reputation for being a bunch of cheese-eating, wine-drinking surrender-monkeys, this is probably a wise decision.

It'll be a sad thing if Tonio Liuzzi is left without a drive. He is easily one of the best young drivers in F1, although he is already 27 - he got into F1 late after an extended karting career. As much as I think Fisichella is a cool cat, he should retire and concentrate on FMS International, his race team.

Who has the orange car that has been de-seamed?

As usual 'Seray' was up for a challenge and props to him, but to be fair to the GT boys it was a really bad course - the ruts/ditches were huge and the faster cars visibly had to back off in places to make sure they didn't break suspensions. At least 3 Evos broke bumpers and lips and those cars had no business being on an obstacle course that was better suited for the 4WD club event next weekend. Sad show by the oldest club in the island. If only the FIA knew what their local affiliate was subjecting participants to........

Dimantha, why is there a Prodrive sticker on that car? Who is developing it? For what series? You're right though - it's a phenomenal looking car. Too bad the STI is faster.

Super thought. The south is phenomenally beautiful, rather uncongested and is being developed at the rate of knots. The fact that the roads in the area are world-class is a bonus.

Road & Track drove both cars (in standard form) back to back in Japan and apparently the X was faster by a good second and a half.

Ferris Bueller's Day Out? My personal favourite would have to be the famous Blue Train Bentley Speed Six Coupe. Unfortunately the only one in existence is owned by the famous McCaw brothers so I'll never get to own it. Google the story, its phenomenal. This being unattainable, it would have to be Ferris' 250 GT California. In fact most of the 250 series are drop-dead gorgeous and I'd love to own any of them.

I wasn't, unfortunately because I wasn't in the country. But I certainly hope to be there for the next one.

Thanks for the info GTAm. Hopefully these cars can be restored in time for the next time they run the historics at the Mahagastotte Hill Climb, like they did for the 70th year. Rumour has it that they'll do it again for the 75th year anniversary, in 2009.