Two motorcyclists were seriously injured on Sunday during a motorcycle race held between Blackpool and Magasthota in Nuwara Eliya.
Ada Derana reported that the two riders were hurt in separate accidents on the course. Both were admitted to the Nuwara Eliya District General Hospital, and Hiru News reported that their condition is somewhat serious.
Timing race through the tea estates
The event is a two-day meeting running Sunday and Monday with several competitors taking part, organised jointly by the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council and a private association based in Colombo.
The race is run as a timing event, starting near the Blackpool Bridge at Nanu Oya and climbing through steep, winding roads across the tea estates towards Magasthota. Hiru News reported that the competition is for 400cc machines.
Wet conditions on the course
According to initial reports, the accidents happened in adverse weather. Two motorcycles veered off the road and overturned into a tea plantation. Hiru News, citing its correspondent, attributed the crashes to riders skidding on the racing line in the wet.
The stretch between Nanu Oya and Magasthota is a narrow hill-country route with sharp bends and steep gradients, bordered on both sides by tea plantations, and it is used for road racing because of that terrain.
The injuries come during a spell of unsettled weather in the hill country. Nuwara Eliya sits at about 1,900 metres, and afternoon cloud and rain are common on the estate roads even while much of the rest of the island remains under a severe dry spell.
Neither outlet named the injured riders, and no decision on whether the second day of the meeting will go ahead had been reported at the time of writing.
