Mora Racing: Sri Lankan Karting Team Charges onto the Global Stage!
Colombo, Sri Lanka – November 12, 2025; Mora Racing, a leading Sri Lankan Karting Team, proudly announces its significant strides in developing motorsports talent from the entry-level to international formula racing. The team, whose name “Mora” (meaning shark in Sinhalese) was chosen to give the team a distinct local identity while competing globally, was founded in 2023 following the post-COVID reintroduction of karting in Sri Lanka. The foundation of the team was built on expertise in two-stroke engine mechanics, leveraging a strong background that attracted early members that transformed a simple operation into a burgeoning race team.
The team’s structure rapidly solidified in 2024, securing key partnerships, including a collaboration with GP Karts to introduce the latest racing equipment to Sri Lanka. The 2024 season was a landmark year for the team, competing effectively in the local IAME Series Sri Lanka. Key drivers like Kaveen Rajapaksha Inuk Maddumarachchi and Rahel Abeyratne who demonstrated exceptional skill, with Kaveen securing a championship win in the Junior category.
Shafraz Junaid is the visionary Founder, Manager, and Technical Head of Mora Racing, driving the team’s mission to cultivate motorsports talent from the ground up. His leadership is rooted in a deep commitment to foundation-based racing, backed by decades of experience in rallying both locally and internationally. This experience is coupled with strong organizational skills, honed through many years as a CMSC committee member. The decision to launch Mora Racing was driven by his passion for the sport and his dedication to moulding a new generation.
Beyond the technical aspects, he is instrumental the team’s growth and the drivers’ careers, securing internationally exposure for races. “We started Mora Racing with a passion to bring a distinctly local identity to the global motorsport arena. Our main motive is simple – to continuously bring new blood into the sport and showcase Sri Lankan talent. If not for a bit of madness, wouldn’t be doing this. We believe in grassroots level motor racing, and that is where the future of the sport lies,” Shafraz enthused.
Expanding his vision in 2025, the team focused on Formula training, embodying their mantra “One team One journey.” This initiative led to a critical training session in February 2025 in India, where drivers like Aadam Junaid and Kaveen Rajapaksha trained on the Formula LGB, a popular Indian-made formula car, under the guidance of Momentum Motorsports. Their aptitude was immediately evident, with both drivers posting times within five and a half seconds of the top runners, a remarkable feat for their initial outing.
This momentum led to the purchase of ten pre-owned Formula LGB cars in Sri Lanka, enabling Mora Racing to establish a dedicated Formula racing academy locally, offering comprehensive one-day theoretical and practical training sessions at Katakurunda. The success was demonstrated at the Mahagastota and Singletree hill climbs in April, and later at the inaugural Katakurunda race in August, where six out of eight drivers were novices.
The team’s international ambition was realized in August 2025 at the JK Tyre Novice Formula (India) championship in Coimbatore. Aadam Junaid achieved a stunning third-place podium finish in one of the three races of the weekend, with Kaveen Rajapaksa finishing seventh, competing against a tight grid of 26 drivers. This phenomenal achievement underlined the team’s global potential.
The karting contingent also grew, with Sorayah Wahab joining the team. The growth and commitment to diversity was clearly showcased at the APMC Pacific Sports event in September, where Mora Racing participated with six drivers and two collaborating international drivers, notably also including three girls, all under the age of 16, in the full team.
The highly anticipated third round of the JK Tyre Novice Cup in Coimbatore took place last weekend, where Aadam Junaid completed the final round in the Formula LGB 1300cc class. After securing a strong P3 in qualifying, Race 1 brought unfortunate contact, dropping him to P12. Despite the setback in Race 1, Aadam responded with determination in Race 2, bringing his drive up to finish as 4th Runner up and P8 in Race 3. This secured him an impressive 7th place overall from the three-round 2025 championship against 16 competitive drivers.
Looking ahead to the end of 2025, the team has a packed calendar. Domestically, the team competed in local championship events and is gearing up for the Kothmale Hill Climb, with a combined total of eight drivers signed up for the local formula races.
Furthermore, three drivers from the team’s go-kart academy will be making the leap to formula racing at Katakurunda, fulfilling the core objective of promoting talent from karting to formula cars.
Mora Racing’s mission transcends trophies. It is focused on guiding its drivers through every crucial stage from the initial karting victories to challenging the best in Formula cars. Furthermore, Mora Racing offers this comprehensive driver training to anyone interested in pursuing F1 or professional racing or simply seeking the experience of driving a high-performance car.
