The inaugural KTM RC Cup in India has kick-started, with selection rounds taking place in eight cities. We were present at the first selection round in Mumbai on January 14, where the first 10 riders were selected for the qualifier round, which will be held in Chennai later this year. Read on to know more.
KTM RC Cup Mumbai selection round
The Mumbai selection round for the KTM RC Cup was held at Raymond’s ground in Thane, with 130 riders taking part. Out of those 130, the top 10 riders were selected on the basis of lap time for the qualifier round at MMRT in Chennai. The 10 riders selected from Mumbai were Kayan Zubin Patel, Rajesh Swami, Mihir Sakpal, Roshan Gawad, Rushabh Gala, Jatin Porabia, Neeraj Ballurgi, Devilal Punjaram Lunja, Divy Parmar and Dhiraj Baikar. The selection round concluded with a race on January 15, which was won by Kayan Zubin Patel.
Also present at the Mumbai event were Sumit Narang, president (Probiking) at Bajaj Auto Ltd., who gave us a lowdown on how the selection and training process would work, and seven-time Indian National Motorcycle Racing Champion Emmanuel Jebaraj, who trained the participants and explained the track layout to us.
After Mumbai, the next selection round will be held at Vadodara, followed by Delhi, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Chennai.
KTM RC Cup: more details
KTM is anticipating over 1,000 riders to participate across the eight cities in nearly 250 races. The top 10 riders from each city (a total of 80 riders) will then head to Chennai for the qualifiers. The top 20 from the qualifiers will compete in the finale, which will be race directed by ex-MotoGP racer Jeremy McWilliams. The top three KTM RC Cup winners will then visit the brand’s global headquarters in Austria where they’ll receive race training from KTM experts. They’ll also get to interact with KTM Racing factory athletes, visit the KTM Motohall and attend the Austrian MotoGP race.
Participants are racing on stock KTM RC 390 GP Edition bikes. The GP Edition is mechanically identical to the updated RC 390, with a 373.2cc, single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine making 43.5hp and 37Nm of torque, and mated to a 6-speed gearbox with a slipper clutch.