- Last season’s winner Anish Shetty returns to defend his title
- RE following a new ‘Pro-Am Series’ format
- Finalists include 10 professionals and 15 amateurs
Royal Enfield’s old-school racing event, the Continental GT Cup, is back for the second season and the finalists have been announced. This season will witness 25 riders competing against each other, comprising 10 professionals and 15 amateurs as per the event’s new ‘Pro-Am Series’ format.
The previous season’s winner Anish Shetty is back to defend his title, accompanied by his last year’s arch rivals, Allwin Xavier and Anfal Akdhar. All three of them, along with seven others, will be competing in the ‘Professional’ category. Notably, Anfal, who is 25 years old, is the youngest participant in this lot.
All the participants went through rigorous rounds of tests to make it to the championship. From a list of as many as 500 aspirants, Royal Enfield shortlisted 100 riders for the selection rounds which were held in Coimbatore on 12 August. This was followed by a series of tests, concluding with the selection of the 25 most eligible finalists. Interestingly, 70 per cent of the shortlisted candidates are from Southern India.
The second season of the Continental GT Cup will be held over three rounds including 10 races as a part of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (JK-NRC). The first round is scheduled to be held on 15-18 September at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. And just like last year, the riders will be competing astride the race-spec Continental GT-R650 motorcycles and you can read all about it here.
