Endurance Karting championship ends with Raptor clinching the title
The final and fourth round of the Endurance Karting championship concluded with Raptor Racing winning not only Round 4 but also the most-awaited Championship title.
The fourth round of the Endurance Karting Championship organised by Speed Drome together with Asian Motor Racing Club (AMRC) concluded on 27 September at Speed Drome Karting Centre in Battaramulla. Teams went in to the final round of the 2014 championship with the top two teams having gained tied points as well as giving all top four teams of the points table a chance to fight for the Championship title.
At the end of qualifying ETD Racing clocked the fastest timing and gained the pole position while Gunners and Intek Racing securing P2 and P3.
Going into the race the first session saw a very close battle between Raptor Racing driver Taffy Alahakoon and ETD racing driver Dhulmith Mendis for several laps. As the tussle got intense there was an on-track race accident which put both drivers at the back of the pack. However after the first pit stop Raptor started dominating the race again with Championship hopeful Gunners following very closely while Intek and ETD Racing were fighting for the third place.
Since the first pit stop Rapto
r never looked back until the end, driving the team to victory of not only round 4 but also sweeping away the Championship title hope from the rest of the teams. Raptor ended the race with a record breaking 503 laps while the second place was won by Intek Racing with 501 laps.
Even though Gunners was placed for a second place win, thanks to their young captain Adeeb Gazzaliwho drove an exceptional race, they were unfortunately forced to come to the pits due to running out of fuel just 10 minutes before the end of the race, which helped Intek clinch the second place and Gunners to end the race at third place with 500 laps. However Gazzali recorded the fastest lap time in Endurance history, clocking an amazing first time 26.95 seconds.
Round 4 results were as follows:
- Winners: Raptor Racing, 503 laps
- 2nd Place: Intek Racing, 501 laps
- 3rd Place: Gunners, 500 laps
- 4th Place: ETD Racing, 491 laps
- 5th Place: BKMS Racing, 483 laps
- 6th Place: SLR Motor Sports, 464 laps
With this, Raptor Racing emerged as the Champions of the Endurance Karting Championship 2014. Having been the underdogs the entire team – Taffy Alahakoon (Captain), Charith Gunawardana and Aamir Gaffoor – drove very well throughout the year to ensure that they stayed consistent to win the title.
“It’s been a long day for all the teams and drivers who have been here from the early hours of the morning right until late evening. Though the teams are exhausted, Red Bull has kept us focused and given us the energy needed to keep the determination to win at an all-time high. Thanks to Red Bull we had the wings to win that Championship trophy,” Championship winning driver Charith Gunawardana commented.
Gunners despite leading the Championship throughout the year ended with the Championship Runners Up title. Special thanks were extended to Wurth Lanka, the sponsor of the Endurance Karting Championship 2014 and E FM, the radio partner which provided these talented teams and the organisers the encouragement to organise this championship.
