Royal Enfield has announced its entry into motorsports with the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup — an attempt by Royal Enfield to promote the motorsport culture in India, and also to allow easy access for riders to receive training and improve their riding skills. The Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup will be organized under the umbrella of the FMSCI, and will make its debut at the JK National Racing Championship 2021.
The registration process for the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup begins today, with a deadline of 5:00pm on September 30. After the registration process is complete, 100 eligible riders will be selected for the Rider Selection Programme which will take place at the Kari Motor Speedway Circuit in Coimbatore. The Rider Selection Programme will take place from October 18 to 19, from which 18 riders will be shortlisted for the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup at the JK NRC. The championship will take place in a phased manner, with the first three rounds taking place from October to December at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, while the grand finale will take place in January 2022 at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida.
Now let’s talk about the bike. The race-spec bike is based on the standard Continental GT 650 but with specific modifications. The bike has been developed by RE’s division Harris Performance, and is called the Continental GT-R650. Royal Enfield says that the GT-R650 gets a stiffer suspension setup and shaves off weight by 24kgs. A bespoke, stainless steel full system exhaust replaces the stock exhaust, and has been tuned to deliver 12% more power. For reference, the road-going Continental GT 650 produces 47bhp at 7150rpm and 52Nm of torque at 5250rpm. The road-going GT 650 also has a dry weight of 202kg.
The GT-R650 also looks a little different thanks to the new semi-fairing that takes pride of place at the front, and additionally receives a belly pan. All GT-R650s will run on soft-compound race-spec JK Tyres.
This comes as welcome news for people looking to enter the world of motorsports, as Royal Enfield also plans to launch track schools after the finale of the 2021 Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup for riders who wish to further fine-tune their riding skills. With this, Royal Enfield now joins TVS and Honda among the list of big players who are doing their part of promoting the motorsport culture in India.