E FM concludes F1 Challenge at Speedrome, Battaramulla

The two winners of the E FM F1 Challenge, which E FM launched in line with the 2011 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, have been announced at the conclusion of the promotion held at the SpeeDrome, Battaramulla.

E FM, the premier English radio channel in Sri Lanka, ran a month-long promotion, E FM F1 Challenge, where participating listeners vied for the grand prize: a trip to Singapore to watch the 2011 F1 Night Races. This is the third year that E FM will be sending two of its loyal listeners to Singapore to watch the F1 Grand Prix.

The E FM F1 Challenge, which the station launched on 8 August 2011, is a competition held in two phases.  It started out with an on-air contest called the “Name Game” where the participants had to guess the first names of local and international celebrities.

The qualifying contestants were later rounded off to the top 20 finalists, who competed in a pro-kart racing challenge at the SpeeDrome in Battaramulla on the 10th of September 2011. This was the culminating event and the second leg of the F1 promotion, where Aneesha Iddawela (Men’s Division) and Githa Algama (Women’s Division), were declared winners.

According to Colombo Communications Ltd. Executive Director Ryan Honter, “E FM, since its inception in 1999, has always been geared towards being relevant to its listeners and being in tune with the lifestyles of Sri Lankans.“The F1 Promo upholds our commitment to be the only ‘lifestyle station’ in the county. We have been doing the E FM F1 Challenge yearly since 2009, and as in all the competition-based radio campaigns we have launched, the fundamental reason for this is to reward our listeners.”

The winners of the E FM F1 Challenge won three days VIP pit grandstand access to the F1 Singapore Grand Prix. Iddawela and Algama also won a 4-day/3-night stay at a star-class hotel in Singapore and return air tickets.

“I have always wanted to participate in competitive racing events but never got the chance to,” Algama said. “This opportunity came and I finally got to do it. Since I was excited about the race itself, it hasn’t quite sunk in when I finished first. Only after realizing it that I felt extremely overwhelmed.”

Iddawela added, “It feels great to win something as big as a free trip abroad, but what makes this prize even more incredible is the fact that I am a huge F1 fan.  I am so excited be able to go to Singapore to watch the F1 Night Races. I am rooting for Vettel to win the Singapore Grand Prix, and he might just win it.”

The 2011 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix will take place from the 23rd to the 25th of September at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Organisers of the event have also unveiled “celebrity-packed off-track music line-up”, including Linkin Park, Shaggy, Rick Astley, Boy George and Shakira.

“It’s truly rewarding to be a listener of E FM,” said Mark Kross, the Assistant Programs Director of the station. “We have been known to give away substantial prizes including trips to watch music legends in concert like Elton John, Carlos Santana, and Rod Stewart.

 “For this particular promotion, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Sri Lanka Insurance, AMW, Aitken Spence Travels, and Harcourts/Biona for Men for co-sponsoring the F1 challenge.”

E FM, which was repositioned in 2008 as an eighties channel, has stayed true to its slogan, “Your Lifestyle Station”.  Numerous lifestyle empowering promotions and radio campaigns have been launched including a sunset cruise, sports-related promotions, movie premieres, and the annual Christmas promotions among many others.

Other E FM F1 race participants include: Maryanne Johnpillai Forbes, Christopher Alexander, Fahad Farook, Mohamed Gazzali, Nirmal Gnamdunderam, Dinu Chandrathilake, Nizraan Jumat, Ricardo Senathirajah, Wasantha Kahandawela, Jehan Bastians, Manilker Jayasooriya, Sushanya Samarakkody, Pierre Samarasinghe, Dr. Rajiv Costa, Irosha Samarasinghe, and Priscilla Calyaneratne.