Budding motorcycle champ, 22-year-old Kayan Zubin Patel, resident of Rustom Baug (Mumbai), has started 2023 with yet magnificent astounding win, making the community very proud indeed! Kayan won first place in the prestigious ‘All India KTM RC CUP’, Mumbai selection, out of 120 participants, including the top 40 qualifiers. KTM India’s RC Cup is the largest motorcycle racing championship, attracting over 1000 participants, from across 8 cities – Mumbai, Vadodara, Delhi, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Chennai.

This was an official FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) event, where Kayan was the only Parsi participant. Kayan clocked the fastest timing ever at the Raymond Track (Thane) at 29.733 seconds. There was a mass start final race, in which, though Kayan started third on the start grid, he still maintained a good lead over the others, to finish in first place .

Kayan started his passionate journey at the young age of four! “I started racing on a small bike which my dad got me from Japan as my gift on my 4th birthday. I remember learning to ride it on the Rustom Baug football field!” Elevating the third generation of the ‘Patel Racing family’, Kayan follows in the illustrious footsteps of his uncles, racing champ Rustom and Neville Patel, under the expert guidance and support of his father – Zubin Patel, who collectively run the family-owned business, ‘RNZ Service Station’, which is a boutique service garage for two-wheelers.

With this win, Kayan is now selected for the mega finals which will take place in March, in Chennai MMRT, where all the top three winners from across the eight cities will fight it out for the final selection, where the final Top three winners of the KTM RC CUP will travel to the global head-quarters of KTM in Austria.

Sharing fitness as the essence of his success as a racing champ, Kayan says, “Fitness is the crucial aspect of being a good rider. Your success depends on your fitness first, and then your dedication towards training. Mentally too, you need to be strong in terms of focus and discipline. Most importantly I’d like to share this message with our youth who are race-enthusiasts – please say NO to street-racing. If you want to race, get on the track, not the streets!”

Here’s wishing Kayan all the best for the finale and for many more achievements!