A prominent motorsport union has hurled barbs at another motorsports body, while the latter has called for the outcome of an independent inquiry, as the saga to expose the perpetrator of the horrific crash at Fox Hill Supercross 2024 rumbles on.

The tragic incident, which arose after a car veered off the track and rammed into spectators, resulted in the deaths of seven, while injuring 23 others.

It was also ironic that it happened on the very day the country marked the fifth anniversary of the Easter Sunday attacks and on the day of Fox Hill’s revival after several years, which had to be abruptly cancelled due to the carnage. 

When contacted by The Sunday Morning Sports, Federation of Motorcycle Sports in Sri Lanka (FMSSL) President Shane Gunawardena said that the extreme laxity and negligence on the part of the organisers had resulted in the tragedy.

The event had been jointly organised by the Military Academy, Diyatalawa affiliated to the Sri Lanka Army and by Sri Lanka Automobile Sports (SLAS).

He alleged that the annual event, which had run smoothly under the supervision of the Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers and Riders (SLARDAR) for over 20 years, had been hijacked by SLAS and the previous office bearers of FMSSL.

He then placed the blame for the calamity squarely at the feet of SLAS and said its non-adherence to adequate spectator safety was the root cause. 

He charged that SLAS had staged the event as an ego boost, while overlooking the stringent safety measures and professionalism upheld by its original organisers.

Gunawardena charged that the tragic incident had occurred due to the failure of organisers to ensure strict safety protocols for spectators and their inability to take the aspect of event organisation seriously.

“Racing is not a leisure activity,” he opined. “In racing, lives are always at stake and accountability must be upheld at all levels whenever these events are conducted.”  

The FMSSL President further revealed that the country’s sporting laws had been flagrantly infringed due to the presence of current drivers and even parents of drivers in controlling bodies for cars.

He therefore questioned whether such situations did not constitute a conflict of interest and thereby seriously undermine the integrity of the sport. 

He further urged the Sports Minister to heed the wake-up call in the form of this tragedy and back efforts to reform and improve the governance of racing events.  

Gunawardena also called for upholding the highest standards of governance and commitment to established protocols and to guarantee the safety and fairness of racing events in this country, henceforth.

Meanwhile, when contacted by The Sunday Morning Sports, SLAS Secretary Shehan de Tissera  said that a three-member independent committee headed by a senior President’s Counsel (PC) had been formed to carry out a probe into the tragedy.

He said that, hence, people should not be in an undue haste to point fingers at anyone till the outcome of the inquiry was known and rejected allegations directed at SLAS that the crash had occurred due to its negligence.

De Tissera acknowledged the fact that, due to extreme curiosity, some spectators had positioned themselves in unsafe locations near the track and noted that it may have had a part in the loss of lives and injuries sustained by them.

He stressed that SLAS was wholeheartedly committed to ensure safety guidelines at all times and hence it did not seek to apportion blame to any individual or group at this time.

De Tissera added that they would be unwavering in their bid to conduct a thorough investigation to understand the causes of the crash and to implement further safety measures to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.