KLM

Elvis_Pil will be stoked that the two Williams cars are at the top of the timesheets after the first Friday practice. The Brawns are fast and Lewis, true to McLaren's pre-season form, is languishing down in 16th. After the highs of last year's phenomenal season and championship you'd be forgiven for thinking that it couldn't get any better but there is so much to look forward to in Melbourne this time, with the new era cars etc.

Pradfred what are the classics that can be expected to show up on the 11th? Please share more details of the event.

OD, Reyaz has had the IX for a while now, but unfortunately it hasn't run much due to various issues. It will be his designated tarmac car so the VII will be used at Fox Hill. DZ man seriously, you need to get out of Colombo once in a while. Find a way to Mahagastotte for just the day at least, it's only 3 hours away.

Can anybody help being excited for this year's April racing season? If anybody has any interesting news regarding the upcoming races please update this thread. The word on the street is that the following drivers have committed to running Mahagastotte in the SL 'GT' Class: 1. Dinesh Deheragoda - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X RS 2. Aravinda Premadasa - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII RS 3. Nishan Weerasooria - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GT 4. Charith Perera - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GT 5. Romani De Silva - Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec-C Type RA-R 6. Rohan De Silva - Subaru Impreza WRX STi 7. Rameez Mahamoor - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV RS 8. Darin Weerasinghe - Subaru Impreza WRX STi 9. Janaka Dias - Subaru Impreza WRX STi 10. Pasindu Peiris - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GT 11. Rizvi Farouk - Subaru Impreza WRX I believe Radella will see the addition of Reyaz Farouk (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) and maybe another driver to that list and then Fox Hill is also expected to feature a similar cast, minus a few. As far as I can tell, Mahagastotte has never had such a strong field in this category and what shouldn't be lost among the excitement is the debut of Romani's RA-R. Also interesting is the fact that for the first time in a very long time, almost half the field will consist of Subarus. In addition to Dinesh, Darin and Charith, Autolanka.com will also be represented by Fuzzo in his March and maybe a couple of others as well. If you're in Nuwara Eliya or Diyatalawa this April and you hear gun-fire echoing in the distant hills, fear not for it's only the sound of anti-lag systems being activated.

Such a disappointment, the content on this thread is.

Great pics. The F50 is truly an awesome car and my favourite Ferrari ever.

Who doesn't love the old Mohini story? That's a classic.

Between this and that thread about how cars help you score punani or how some guys bang their own cars, I'm wishing there was some genuine automotive-related content on AL once in a while. I kid, of course, but you have to ask if this is the appropriate forum to discuss matters regarding patriotism and such.

Congratulations man, this sounds very prestigious. I hope you can find a sponsor in time to be able to take part in this course.

The white boy was apparently James 'Robo' Robinson, a factory KTM 450 rider who the Federation got down to train the local MX guys. I don't know if he ran his works bike or if it was a Jap bike loaned to him for the weekend. I also heard that Mahinda Premaratne's car was excluded from the results of Race 1 due to some infraction, promoting Aravinda to 3rd.

An American dude was riding MX in SL? Awesome. Fuzzo came 3rd I'm told. Good effort on debut in a competitive Nissan March One Make grid.

Funnily enough, I just took this signature down after a couple of years of rocking it here on the forums. I actually referenced the Wu-Tang Clan song C.R.E.A.M., but so did Akon.

There are at least 11 cars in the GT-class and full grids in about 5 other classes. Along with the bikes there should be plenty of action.

Hi machan I have no idea what the schedule of events is, or if it has even been finalized (usually done only after all the entries are confirmed). Maybe Shakir or Drake can shed some light on this. Guys? And no, RM isn't running the Cultus in SL 'GT' but rather, an Evo IV RS (ex-DD, ex-Reyaz). The 'zuki should make a comeback in time for the April season.

Plenty of hotels and guest-houses in the area and either route is fantastic to drive.

You'll have to stay to cheer when Fuzzo, Grand Civic and mivec.turbo receive their trophies. Dinesh found it, not me.

Who's going? It's going to be big as usual, with the cars and bikes, the rowing, windsurfing, equestrian and 4x4 events. The tentative GT-class entry list is as follows: 1. Aravinda Premadasa 2. Dinesh Deheragoda 3. Reyaz Farouk 4. Mario Dias 5. Pasindu Peiris 6. Janaka Dias 7. Sanjeewa De Mel 8. Kapila Jayasundera 9. Mahinda Premaratne 10. Rameez Mahamoor

Sunday the 23rd (tomorrow) is the prize-giving for the MRA Sevanagala and Pelwatte Rallies. It'll be held at the AMRC Speedrome in Battaramulla and everyone from Autolanka is invited. It starts at 5:00 pm and the drivers, their cars etc are scheduled to be present. It'll be a good chance for the AL crowd to meet up so feel free to attend. Also, DD and the Pelwatte Rally made their way into international motorsports news. If you haven't seen it already, check it out. http://nutahara.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

50 people working at the Inland Revenue at 9:00 pm on a Friday night?

Is this the worst thread in the history of AL? However, I can't help contributing because there are some funny buggers out there......... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...1,000-cars.html

DZ it's high time you got the hell out of dodge and drove these roads. There really is no excuse. You'll realize how phenomenally beautiful Sri Lanka is once you do.

Provided they looked better. The Metro 6R4 or whatever that contraption was called was easily the ugliest race/rally car ever!

I think there is already a thread on AL dedicated to the best driving roads in Sri Lanka, but in case anybody wants to check it out, the 12 km stretch of road from Ginigathena Road to Nawalapitiya is in absolutely phenomenal shape and a truly world-class drivers road. Seriously, it's like the Nurburgring and Rallye San Remo combined. Ok I just realized that this thread is more about SCENIC roads, but I'll let my comment stand. As for scenic roads, it doesn't get better than the twisty special stage from Pattipola to World's End. Amazing views from up there.

It really was too dangerous. Attilio Bettega may have been a journeyman but Henri Toivonen was the Colin McRae of his day and for a driver of his stature to crash and burn really meant that these were death-traps on wheels. I've read several times that the WRC-class cars are much quicker than the Group B cars ever were, thanks to advances in aero, rubber, engine management etc. I'm inclined to believe this, but Henri Toivonen did a lap at Estoril that would have put him in 6th on the grid for that year's Portugese Grand Prix. This was during the turbo car era in F1 too mind you. I wonder how Seb Loeb would do at a middling track like Barcelona in his C4 in comparison to the current F1 grid. I think that since the F1 cars have made even greater gains over the last 25 years, he'll be far slower than even the Force Indias.

Good scene Agitha, was it red? Rumour had it that there was one (maybe 2) coming down.