Continental waltz: 2023 Continental GT Cup

The Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup is one of the most exciting categories of racing in the country today. Where else would you see classic old-style cafe racers do battle at full pace with complete confidence? In fact, Royal Enfield has so completely established itself as the world leader in classic motorcycles that the world looks at the series with awe. Just as good then, because the first round of the 2023 Continental GT Cup at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore saw plenty of action, especially at the front.

In the first race on Day 1, Chennai’s R Anand had his hands full with an incident- filled race which even saw a restart due to the severity of crashes and stoppages affecting the race. However, even after the restart, amid late-race pressure from Md Samrul Zubair, Anand held his nerve to deliver the victory. Abhishek Vasudev grabbed the final place on the podium, a testament to his pace in the 2023 season.

In the final race, it was an all-Bengaluru podium as Abhishek Vasudev went two better than he did on opening day and clinched victory with a clinical ride to the finish, dominating proceedings ahead of Ullass Nanda and Md Samrul Zubair, both from the Bengaluru, who finished second and third respectively.