On the other hand, Fox Hill has turned out to be my favourite race over the last two years, because of its location. The track obviously is great. You get a chance to see 40 to 80 thousand people together watching motor sports. That’s a great feeling. The crowd gets involved and it is beautifully organised by both the SLARDAR and Army, so all in all it’s a very good combination.
Then we come to Katukurunda. Katukurunda has again some history to it. The track is conducive for Motor Racing as it is an open track - at least the main stretch. So it’s more exciting but I wish we had more crowds over there. Again that’s a petty issue. Coming to the Kandy meet, I can safely say it’s the toughest main road race that I have seen because of the number of bends. I believe over 17 or 18 minimum and all of them are very sharp, so you are really testing the skills of the driver. Plus, it’s a beautiful location and the crowd turnout has been great. So I think both the crowd and us, the sponsors enjoy it.
Q: Going over to Grand Prix Formula One Racing I notice that you have sponsored the telecast of the races this year on ETv. Do you get the necessary advertising mileage as the races are shown one week after the actual date? And is there any possibility of getting it on the same day?
A: Regarding Formula One races, I guess we are limited to what can be shown because of the TV Channels involved.
I think the advertising mileage has been shared. That’s the least I can say about it. Although I too realise that there are a lot of Motor Sports enthusiasts who really want to see it live, unfortunately the TV stations are not able to do that, so we have a limited choice in what way we can participate.
Q: How did you get involved in Caltex?
A: I’ve been with the company nearly 10 years and I had done a project for the company even when I was not working for them.
Therefore I got an offer for this job. Since then I’ve been involved in this Lubricant business and never looked back. I’ve enjoyed my career with Caltex because in the Lubricant marketing field you meet a variety of people. Everyday is a challenging day. So I think that all my time with the company has been positive and hopefully will be so in the future.
Q: What are your future expectations and plans for the Sri Lanka market?
A: Well, we hope to be the dominant factor in the market for a long time and also to introduce a greater range of products for all types of usage - giving the best possible service to our customers. That’s our commitment to the market.
That apart, we are definitely committed to motor sports in Sri Lanka which is one way of getting some mileage for our product. By doing so, we are trying to create more interest from the spectators’ point of view.