Shetty is Slide School Cup Champion

Four regional rounds, 12 finalists, one winner. Anish Shetty is the country's first-ever Royal Enfield Slide School Cup Champion

-  Joshua Varghese

FOLLOWING THEIR association with the acclaimed flat-track racer, Johnny Lewis, Royal Enfield's Slide School initiative has been gaining popularity worldwide. They introduced the Slide School Cup in Europe in the past year and it was received well. Thankfully, they elected to give Indian motorcycle enthusiasts a go by bringing it to our country. The format was simple. There were four regional rounds, the first of which took place at Motoverse in Goa. The other three were held in Bengaluru, Pune, and Jaipur. We were in attendance at the Pune regionals to witness the action live.

Participants faced off in a 1v1 race over five laps where the loser was eliminated. This continued until only the top four remained. Those gentlemen then fought it out on track simultaneously in a longer race wherein only the top three were selected to head to the finals. A total of three riders from each zone assembled at the Royal Enfield Kukas facility in Jaipur for the final round on a Saturday but before the racing began, Royal Enfield had a surprise waiting for them. They had flown in British flat-track champions Gary Birtwistle and Leah Tokelove for some last-minute coaching and guidance.