The Old Boys Association (OBA) of Maris Stella College Negombo organised a Motor Rally for the past Maristonians on the College Day as an event to gather up the motor rally enthusiasts and to mark the launch of their New Activity centre which will be built within a few months time.
TSD Motor Rally
A key feature of TSD rallies is tracking distance. In the rally instructions, the location of all questions is given by way of the distance (in miles and kilometres) from the start point. So you need to know how far you have travelled in order to know when to look for the answer to a question.
This can be done simply with the car's trip odometer. However, sometimes the odometer is not totally accurate, so you will have to manually calculate the gain/loss over distance. More importantly, if you make a mistake, or take a wrong turn (and you will!) you will have to allow for the extra distance travelled, and so recalculate the location of every question.
Two SUV's from Micro On Display at the Entrance.
I had the opportunity to take part in this event along with my friend Amith and his family in their Toyota Hilux Double Cab. Amith's Elder Brother Collin Perera drove the vehicle, while Reshantha Conrad assisted him with the Navigations.
Preparing the Hilux for the event.
Mr. Ranjith Fernando was the President of the organising committee for the event.
The 80Km track for the Motor Rally was plotted by Mr. Thusith De Silva, with the help of Mr. Neil Daniels who was also the Chief Marshal during the event. As this was a TSD Class (Time - Speed - Distance) Motor Rally, a lot of skill and patience is required to plot a complex track with a questionnaire to make the event more enjoyable and Adventurous for the participants.
The answers for the 20+ questions in the questionnaire was hidden in locations such as Temples, Churches, Cemetery's, and on various sign boards along the track.
The route finished inside Maris Stella College premises, the ground being the final checkpoint where Mr. Neil Daniels himself marked the final time of arriving drivers.
Some tips from Mr. Thusith De Silva, after we arrived at College premises.
The winners were announced in the eve after the launch of the OBA Activity center at the College Main Hall. The winner who had the best time along with the Correct answers was Mr. Praneeth Peiris assisted by Mr.Anton who arrived in the country a few hours before the event. We, missing a route along with a checkpoint lost more than 100+ points at the end, and were placed as the 8th runners up. All Pictures were captured using My Nokia N73.
