Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup Season'23 dates announced: Details

Royal Enfield has announced that The Continental GT Cup will be returning this year for its third season. It will be held at Kari Motor Speedway between August 25th to November 19th. Continental GT Cup will have three rounds and will continue with the 'Pro-Am Series' format allowing Amateur and Professional riders to compete together in the same grid. The registrations will begin on July 10th and selections will happen on August 1st.

The Continental GT Cup brings in racers from all over the country, providing them with the opportunity to fully engage in the sport of track racing. In the end, the racing rounds will feature the top 25 riders consisting of 10 professionals and 15 amateurs All riders are armed with identical, specially race-prepared Continental GT-R650s, all powered by the 648 cc parallel-twin engine from Royal Enfield. Learning from the past two years, this year’s Continental GT-R650 has been re-tuned with a race ECU for even better performance.

Apart from the retuned ECU, the motorcycle comes with aluminium rear-set footpegs from Harris Performance. The previous iteration of the motorcycle weighs 25 kg less than the stock Continental GT 650. The big chunk of the weight reduction comes from the new stainless steel exhaust system which is not legal and is only meant for race track use. The exhaust alone saves a massive 16.5 kg. Different clip-on handlebars are now being used that are lower and provide a more aggressive riding posture to the rider. The new clip-ons are also made by Harris Performance. Despite all the weight reductions, the GT-R 650 still weighs around 190 odd kgs.

Because the motorcycle is now faster, it needs better braking power. Royal Enfield has upgraded the front brake caliper, it now gets heat-insulated pistons and a more aggressive brake pad material. The stock motorcycle is already using sintered brake pads. Then there are the soft-compound tyres that are sourced via JK Tyres. The stock motorcycle is known for its soft suspension setup. For racing, Royal Enfield also upgraded the suspension setup to be on the firmer side.