In this #chequeredflag episode, Gordon May speaks to Royal Enfield champion flat track racers, Gary Birwistle and Paul Young.
Not since the heady days of the 1950s and 1960s, with Redditch-based trials winners such as Peter Stirland, Peter Gaunt, and Johnny Brittain, or the 1970s and 1980s with multiple Indian Grand Prix winner, Bullet Bose, has Royal Enfield had a successful works entry in any form of motorsport.
That changed in dramatic fashion when Royal Enfield went flat track racing in 2020, winning its first race in the USA. That was quickly followed by success in the UK when teammates, Gary Birtwistle and Paul Young, took the chequered flag on their Royal Enfield FT 650 Twins in all five rounds of the 2021 DRTA season, securing both first and second places in the championship.
Both riders talk about their challenges and successes, Royal Enfield's flat track program, and their aspirations for the 2022 season. Gary, already the 2019 UK and European UK Hooligan flat track champion, also discusses Royal Enfield slide school days which he runs in conjunction with his business, Dirt Craft, and Paul, a former Grand Prix racer, talks about his role as Royal Enfield's senior development test rider.
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