Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup Media Race Experience

Unforgettable memories. This year has been full of them. And to round off the year, I got the chance to create one of my best ones. And while it wasn’t rosy and glorious, it was incredibly satisfying. Here’s how my first media race experience astride the challenging yet enjoyable Royal Enfield Continental GT-R 650 went:

Can Anybody Be A Racer?

Racing against your colleagues in the media is always fun, but at the same time it is super competitive. So naturally, I put in my best foot to prepare myself mentally and physically for this challenge that lay ahead of me. From watching onboard footage on YouTube of racers thrashing this bike around Kari Motor Speedway to taking tips from guys in the office who have ridden the bike, I did it all. “Anybody can be a racer,” is what my takeaway was from an interview I had with Adrian Sellers, Head of Royal Enfield’s Industrial Design Department and Custom Program, and it was time to put this to the test.

The reality of the actual event dawned on me when I saw the actual racers putting the GT-R 650 through its paces in the practice sessions. The racetrack does a lot of things to a lot of people. Usually I am bubbling for some track time, but checking out those racers instilled a little fear and deflated my spirits. 

Time To Hit The Track

Coincidentally, it was the Mickey Mouse section at Kari Motor Speedway and the subsequent in-field one that proved to be challenging. The bike is unlike any other that I have ridden around a race track. While its road counterpart has easygoing mannerisms, this bike needs a little tact and skill. 

Working on the skill part was short lived as the ten-minute practice session was barely enough to learn the track and bike in one go. As a result I was getting off the throttle early, coasting through corners as I desperately tried to understand and figure out the fast lines. My fastest lap during this session was 1:47.177, which put me in 12th position.

Dejection

I was dejected seeing my lap times; after all, the last time I was on track a year and half ago astride a saucy Austrian naked, I was setting some quick lap times. But I did not have any time to ponder about the past, as it was soon time for qualifying, and I found myself out on track again trying to improve on a disastrous practice session.

I did improve, barely though, finishing 11th overall with a time of 1:41.141. During the course of the qualifying session, I did manage to learn the quick lines through quite some part of the 2.7km long track. My lack of pace, and as a result confidence, began to put some doubts in my head. Thankfully, I had on-board footage of faster riders, like my colleague Jehan, to learn more on. Studying helped ease my apprehensions to an extent, and I slept a little soundly. 

Cometh The Hour, Cometh The Man?

Waking up with a positive mindset the next day, I carried an optimistic attitude to the track. This was something I picked up after observing the professional racers over the course of the past two days. Through all the ups and downs they’ve gone through their season of racing, they start every session with a positive outlook.

My head was clear while lining up on track, as I set a goal to learn the track and bike over the course of the race. The more immediate goal, though, was to have a good start and not crash. Off went the five red lights to mark the start of my most exciting 20 minutes this year, and I finished the race with a sense of satisfaction of achieving all my goals.

Yes, Anybody Can Be A Racer

Finishing ninth with my fastest lap time being 1:35.528, almost 12 seconds improved over the course of the weekend is the biggest boost that I am taking back from Coimbatore. I realised my intimidation while real can be overcomed by constantly attacking the source. So, while I might or might not get a chance quite like this again, this race ranks amongst the best experiences I have had on a motorcycle.