JK Tyre Motorsport hosted the opening round of the 28th JK Tyre Racing Championship over the weekend at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on August 9-10, featuring two categories — the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup and the JK Tyre Novice Cup. The event saw competitive racing with participants from across the country.
In the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, Anish Shetty secured victories in all three races held on Saturday and Sunday. Shetty, who began racing at age 15 and now competes at 30, leads the professional category standings with 30 points. He was followed by Kayan Zubin Patel of Mumbai with 19 points and defending champion Navaneeth Kumar with 12 points.
The GT Cup featured a mixed grid of experienced riders and new entrants selected through a nationwide trial. In the final race, Navaneeth Kumar improved his performance to finish second, while Kayan Patel finished third.
In the amateur category of the GT Cup, Bryan Nicholas from Pondicherry won all three races, securing 36 points. Johring Warisa from Umrangso followed with 27 points, and Kabir Sahoch from Vadodara stood third with 18 points.
In the JK Tyre Novice Cup, 15-year-old Bhuvan Bonu from Bengaluru, representing Team MSport, won all three races. He currently leads the standings after Round 1. Bonu trains in the United States and participated in his first domestic championship round of the season.
Other drivers in the Novice Cup included Ojas Surve, Abhijit Vadavalli, Parthik Ashok, and Lokithingeash Ravi, who took podium positions across the three races.
Provisional Results
Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup
Race 1
Professionals:
- Anish Shetty – 13:46.628
- Kayan Zubin Patel – 13:52.702
- Ashish Patel – 14:01.852
Amateurs:
- Bryan Nicholas – 14:08.432
- Johring Warisa – 14:08.629
- Saran Kumar – 14:25.828
Race 2
Professionals:
- Anish Shetty – 13:39.635
- Kayan Zubin Patel – 13:42.676
- Navaneeth Kumar – 13:49.416
Amateurs:
- Bryan Nicholas – 14:02.450
- Johring Warisa – 14:07.477
- Kabir Sahoch – 14:15.237
Race 3
Professionals:
- Anish Shetty – 13:28.442
- Navaneeth Kumar – 13:31.330
- Kayan Zubin Patel – 13:31.493
Amateurs:
- Bryan Nicholas – 13:44.805
- Johring Warisa – 13:48.084
- Saran Kumar – 14:07.926
JK Tyre Novice Cup
Race 1
- Bhuvan Bonu (Team MSport) – 13:59.719
- Abhijit Vadavalli (Team Momentum) – 14:10.391
- Ojas Surve (Team DTS Racing) – 14:26.937
Race 2
- Bhuvan Bonu (Team MSport) – 14:14.815
- Ojas Surve (Team DTS Racing) – 14:27.489
- Parthik Ashok (Team DTS Racing) – 14:28.154
Race 3
- Bhuvan Bonu (Team MSport) – 14:54.313
- Parthik Ashok (Team DTS Racing) – 15:16.183
- Lokithingeash Ravi (Team DTS Racing) – 15:16.263
About JK Tyre Motorsport:
JK Tyre has been closely associated with the world of motorsports for almost three decades. The company laid down a long-term plan to popularize and promote the sport in the country. Its first target was to change the notion that this was a sport for the elite. So, it packaged and redesigned it in a spectator-friendly way, drawing the masses to the sport.
JK Tyre’s efforts started paying dividends in just a few years, with the likes of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok going all the way to the F1 rung, the highest level of single-seat racing in the world.
Since then, a number of stars emerged, including Armaan Ebrahim, the Maini brothers (Kush and Arjun), Anindith Reddy Konda, among many others.
JK Tyre Motorsports is very proud of the role it has played in bringing women into motorsports in a big way. Apart from encouraging them to get into the sport through karting as kids, the company also gave them opportunities in various national championships.
With a vision to promote women in motorsports, the company has curated women-centric events such as JK Tyre WIAA Women’s Rally to Valley, JK Tyre Defence Wives Power Drive, JK Tyre-YFLO Women’s Power Drive, JK Tyre Times Women’s Drive apart from introducing an all-women’s team in the JK Tyre National Racing Championship to encourage women to take up to the sport.
