Coimbatore, India, Feb 6: Motor sport racers from Sri Lanka are now getting trained in India to upgrade their skills on the racing track.

Around 30 Sri Lankan sports drivers are participating in a three- day training programme in Coimbatore.

The drivers feel that though motor sport is much popular in Sri Lanka the island nation lacks infrastructure.

"I think that's a big step forward because none of our drivers have come to India for training before. Lots of our drivers have come here and participated in races, but have never been here for training," said Mohammed Rikaaz Khalid, a motor racer from Sri Lanka.

Akbar Ibrahim, Manager and Instructor for Sri Lankan Motor Sport training programme in India said, that the training session aimed to impart basic skills to the aspiring drivers.

"We deal in these programmes as the basic programme where we deal with basic techniques such as throttle inputs, the correct racing technique, how to use clutch in the racing car, how to shift gears in a racing car which is very different from what we do in a normal road car and try to make them technically a much better drivers so that they are able to get more value for what they are doing in a race track," Ibrahim said.

The Indian motor sport authorities plan to host an Indo-Sri Lankan racing championship by end of 2006, thereby allowing Indian racers to participate in Sri Lanka and vice versa.

- (ANI)