Evo India

Riders on the storm

With throttles wide open, the inaugural season of the Continenta­l GT Cup was one fuelled by adrenaline

- WORDS by ROHIT NALAWADE PHOTOGRAPH­Y by ROYAL ENFIELD

RACERS WOULD BE RIDING THE SPECIALLY DEVELOPED GT-R650S

EVER SINCE THE ROYAL Enfield Continenta­l GT Cup was announced back in 2021, there has been a buzz of excitement surroundin­g the championsh­ip. Be it the fact that this was Royal Enfield’s entry back into circuit racing or that the racers would be riding the specially developed GT-R650s, which seemed to have emerged from the Swinging Sixties — there were plenty of reasons to keep tabs on the maiden edition of the Continenta­l GT Cup.

Coming in to round 4, Anish D Shetty was a force to be reckoned with, having bagged a total of 50 points after the first three rounds of the championsh­ip. Allwin Xavier was closely trailing behind Anish, having scored a total of 45 points after the first three rounds. As the final round of the Continenta­l GT Cup was underway at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, the action only heated up on the last Sunday of the season.

It was Meka Vidhuraj who won the first race of the season finale, after a hardfought battle with Anish Shetty, who came in at second place. Allwin Xavier proceeded to trail behind the duo, finishing in third position. The tables seemed to have turned in Race 2 with Allwin finishing the race in first position and Meka Vidhuraj clinching second place, followed by Anish in third. But thanks to an impressive performanc­e throughout, Anish continued to lead the championsh­ip standings, which meant that he would go on to clinch the overall championsh­ip title in the debut season of the Continenta­l GT Cup. ⌧

 ?? ?? Top : The GT-R650s in action at Kari Motor Speedway. Above: Anish D Shetty (right) went on to clinch the overall championsh­ip title
Top : The GT-R650s in action at Kari Motor Speedway. Above: Anish D Shetty (right) went on to clinch the overall championsh­ip title
 ?? ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India