The second season of Royal Enfield's one-make racing series, the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, has been confirmed following a successful inaugural campaign. This time, Royal Enfield has chosen a Pro-AM format where both professional and amateur riders will compete against one another. Depending on their prior racing experience, riders can enter in either the Amateur or Professional category.
25 professional and 75 amateur riders will be chosen from among all registered participants for the Rider Selection Program, which is set to happen at the Kari Motor Speedway. The season's races will then be advanced to the top 25 riders, which comprises 15 amateur and 10 professional riders. The final competition amongst these 25 riders will take place over the course of three rounds, each of which consists of eight races.
At the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, the first round will take place from September 16 to 18, and the second from October 28 to 30. From December 16 to 18, the championship race will be held at the Buddh International Circuit. The race-spec Royal Enfield Continental GT-R650, which we've talked about in great detail previously, will once again be the center of attention. To make things even better, Royal Enfield has worked closely with Harris Performance for an improved track setup for the bikes, including low-slung clip-on handlebars, and even more rearward-set footpegs.
The race-spec bike's other components are unchanged. It boasts 12 percent more power than the standard, off-the-shelf Continental GT. It's also a staggering 24 kilograms lighter, thanks to the disposal of heavy, road-focused accessories such as ABS and lighting. In order to adapt to the harsh conditions of the racetrack, further upgrades include revised suspension settings, an uprated braking system, and a race fairing and belly pan meant to capture any fluids that leak out during the race. All these accessories were developed by Royal Enfield in its technology center in the U.K.
