Royal Enfield doubles down on racing involvement for 2021

[advrider]

Royal Enfield makes retro-style motorcycles, but that’s not stopping the company from playing on the fringes of the US’s racing scene. In 2021, it’s investing into the worlds of roadracing and flat track racing.

Flat track

Remember Royal Enfield’s Build. Train. Race. program from 2020? Last season, Royal Enfield gave motorcycles to four female riders to customize for flat track racing, and then sent them to Johnny Lewis’s Moto Anatomy program for training in going slideways. Royal Enfield also started a training program that went to select AMA flat track rounds. Or at least, that was the plan. COVID-19 interrupted the plan, although eventually Royal Enfield managed to sync its ideas with the mixed-up AMA program.

Along with all that, Royal Enfield also sponsored Johnny Lewis’s Moto Anatomy team in the AMA’s Production Twins class. Lewis is back for 2021, once again racing a machine based on the Interceptor 650.

Roadracing

It kinda-sorta makes sense for Royal Enfield to go flat track racing. Flat track often has a strong vintage vibe, and old-school brands like Royal Enfield would be right at home there. But roadracing? That’s all about fairings and slicks and high-revving engines. Nevertheless, Royal Enfield has taken its Build. Train. Race. program to the world of roadracing for 2021.

The idea is similar to last year’s flat track program. Royal Enfield signed up four female riders to take Continental GT650 motorcycles and modify them into race bikes. Then, well-known racer Melissa Paris will teach these newbs the ins and outs of track riding. The program will end with a series of exhibition races at MotoAmerica events this summer (at the Brainerd, Pittsburgh, and Birmingham rounds).

Except for the exhibition racing, there will be no other Royal Enfield racing effort in this series, as Royal Enfield’s machines wouldn’t fit into any of the classes.

Find out more about the Build. Train. Race. program at RoyalEnfieldNA.com.

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