2023 KTM RC Cup selection round underway in 8 cities

The inaugural KTM RC Cup in India kick-started, with selection rounds taking place in 8 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 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 the Raymond’s ground in Thane, with 130 riders taking part. Out of those 130, the top 10 riders were selected on 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 was then concluded with a race on January 15, which was won by Kayan Zubin Patel.

Also present at the Mumbai event were Mr. Sumit Narang, president (Probiking) at Bajaj Auto Ltd., who gave us a lowdown of how the selection and training process would work and seven-time Indian National Motorcycle Racing Champion Emmanuel Jebaraj, who explained the track layout.

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 says it’s anticipating over 1,000 riders to take part across the 8 cities, in nearly 250 races. The top 10 riders from each city (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 winners of the KTM RC Cup will then get to 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 Austrain MotoGP race.

Participants are racing on stock KTM RC 390 GP Edition bikes. The GP Edition is mechanically identical to updated RC 390, with a 373.2cc liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine making 43.5hp and 37Nm, mated to 6-speed gearbox with a slipper clutch.