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Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Wednesday, 2 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The black and red team, which recently signed up its very first international partnership with the Dubai-based Interactive Group, kicked off its new partnership in a dominant fashion as its ace circuit racing team yet again completed a dominating qualifying day on Friday night.
EZY Racing, which has had a very successful stint on road races ever since its inception in Kandy in 2011, was given a very satisfying qualifying session when Zuhair [who is yet to be beaten in the previous six races in the SLS 1500cc event, since entering the class back in October 2013], yet again proved his dominance when he qualified on pole position, well over a second from his closest competitor. 
Zuhair, who was representing EZY Racing in the second of the three most followed racing events in the country, proved his fondness of the hill capital streets when he secured his third consecutive pole position in Kandy in the SLH 1600 cc event as well.
His team mate Seneviratne who was competing in his EZY Mitsubishi ER10 in the SLGT 3500cc class, pulled a stunning lap to qualify second and overcame a minor technical glitch in his car to provide the iconic motor racing team a 100% front row presence in all the events in which they were competing.
The Carlton Motor Sports Club, which organised the successful Colombo Night Race 2013, was yet again behind the successful planning and execution of this race.
Zuhair, who had won his pet event, the SLH 1600cc, in his two previous visits to this part of the country, was the first to represent EZY Racing on race day. Occupying the inside line of the track, Zuhair got off to a perfect start in his EZY Honda ER6 and led the race to the first corner with Janaka Dias, Sugath Priyashantha and Irfan Fuard.
Priyashantha, who was competing in this racing category for the first time, surprised the entire grid by qualifying third on the previous night. Out in front Zuhair, who has led every race that he has qualified pole in 2014, was able to pull a comfortable lead and move ahead of his competition in the eight-lap event, eventually going on to win his third consecutive victory in this particular racing category in the streets of Kandy, after having won the same event in 2011 and 2012 consecutively (there was no event in Kandy during 2013).
Janaka Dias finished second while newcomer Priyashantha who was holding on to the last place on the podium was very unfortunate to clip a barrier in the penultimate corner and had to hand over the position to Irfan Fuard, who was in close pursuit.
Having completed a dominant victory in his first event of the night, Zuhair yet again got off to a perfect start on his EZY Honda ER 2, this time around competing in the SLS 1500 cc event where he has been the only competitor to be unbeaten to date. Once again, the 150,000 spectators, who had previously been entertained by the black and red team, went around the Kandy circuit for eight laps without being challenged.
“It gives me great satisfaction to have been able to win in Kandy every time I have been here. The track this time was much shorter than the previous instances but was very tricky and tight. The slightest lapse in concentration could have spoilt the whole race. My focus today was to give the team a very good race by converting the pole positions to victories,” said Zuhair during the victory ceremony. EZY Racer Dilan Seneviratne, who competed in the last race of the night in the SLGT 3500 cc class, was seen providing Ashan Silva a stiff challenge for the first six laps before deciding to ease off due to the impossible nature of overtaking in the tight circuit, to finish second and provide his team a 100% podium ratio at the Kandy Races. Commenting on the event, Shafraz Hamzadeen, Inceptor and CEO of EZY Racing, went on to say that his team’s success in road races which requires precision proved that his driver line-up was the best in Sri Lanka.
“I believe the organisers did a tremendous job to complete 18 racing events in record time. Kudos to them. From our standpoint we were able to complete our eighth victory for 2014, which is very encouraging. With this we have been able to take home a victory in every race we have participated in 2014 – a tremendous feat from our race drivers. Sajaad (Zuhair) as usual was absolutely impeccable in the two races he took part in.
“We are very conscious that we do not take our position in the 1500 and 1600 classes for granted and Sajaad being over a second ahead of his closest rivals proved how hard we work on that side of the garage. Dilan (Seneviratne) was quite unfortunate to have narrowly missed out on a pole position after having completed qualifying with a few technical mishaps. Given the nature of the track it is very difficult to overtake unless you getter a better start than the pole sitter and beat him to the first corner. Our competitors today did a very good job in this area and we are thoroughly pleased by Dilan’s second place finish.” EZY Racing, which will soon be announcing its international racing team, has become the very first motor racing team in Sri Lanka to have a following of 50,000 racing fans on its fan page www.fb.com/ezyracing.
