Dilantha s Aston Martin Dream

Aston Martin Asia Cup Round 3 & 4
Sepang F1 Circuit June 21st and 22nd 2008

This was the support race for Japan GT race. We had 2 test on Friday and we were doing well and my main rival was Sasaki the GT300 champion from Japan. I was able to go faster than him in the 2nd test but then he went out with new tires and went faster than me. But it was good in Shanghai he was almost 1 second faster.

Qualifying.
We had qualifying and race round 3 on Saturday. I had to bed the brakes during qualifying so it took a while for me still I did a good lap but was 2nd and Sasaki was pole. But I was only 0.3 seconds behind and Mark was 3rd 1 second behind me.

Round 3.
I got a good start and was just behind Sasaki on lap 3 in turn 6 I went off but controlled and got back to the circuit and it took me 3 seconds away from Sasaki but our gap remained same and by the end of the race I was just 2.3 seconds behind him. Mark Eddy finished 3rd. Sasaki’s and my best lap time was within 0.1 seconds. I was happy to get very close to him and if I didn’t have the spin I think we would have had a better fight. I was waiting Sasaki to make a mistake but him being a top professional driver he never made a mistake.

Round 4.
I had a very good start and was just bumper to bumper with Sasaki in turn 1 and in turn 2 he braked very early and I hit him in his rear bumper I didn’t know whether there was a big damage any way I knew he will do every thing to block me. In turn 4 I went faster and got to the inside but then he braked and I had no where to go as I was committed by then only thing was to brake and the surface was little bit wet due to drizzling I hit his side and had a big spin and the car stopped facing the opposite direction I couldn’t do any thing because all the cars were just behind us so I had to wait till every one go as this was the first lap every one was so close. It took almost 35 seconds of my time. By the time I got back all were gone and had only 9 laps left any way I did my best and over took 6 cars and finished 6th. It was very hard to over take many within the 9 laps because we all have the same speed and they were far ahead of me. When I finished I was only 20 seconds behind Sasaki. Sasaki won, Grant 2nd and Eddy 3rd. I was really disappointed but was a good lesson for me. Because I know how Sasaki will react in the next races and I know how do deal with it. Sasaki took pole in GT300 and won the race so it was good for him. Still I am leading in the championship and will win the next races.

Once again I must thank Speed Sri Lanka for sponsoring me and giving me courage to win these prestigious races, The Sri Lanka media, Steve Waudby my engineer and all my fans and supporters. The next 2 rounds will be in Malaysia Sepang on the 12th and 13th of July and I will be competing in the MSS also on the same day so I will be really busy with 4 races for the day.