“I’ll be back with the trophy.” That’s what I confidently announced as I left office on Thursday evening, bags packed and adrenaline already kicking in for the final round of the Levitas Cup. It was a single-make race with just 12 other drivers. How hard could it be, right? Turns out... very.
I rolled into Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore, on Friday morning, absolutely buzzing. Waiting for me was my race machine for the weekend – a Maruti Ignis, transformed into a lightweight, purpose-built race car. Everything unnecessary had been ripped out: headlamps, tail-lamps, seats, carpeting, and even the dashboard. The windows have been replaced with plexiglass. What remained were the bare essentials – a snug Cobra racing seat, a 6-point harness, race pedals, a sporty steering wheel and a standard 5-speed manual gearbox. The result? A feathery 800kg.
Project head Nithin Jacob Mathew showed me around with a grin that only someone who has personally built something can have. The Ignis sat on in-house-developed coilovers, the stock setup tossed aside for something more track-focused. JK semi-slick tyres were deployed for handling duties. Under the hood was the familiar 1.2-litre K-Series engine, still stock but now breathing through custom headers and a straight-pipe exhaust. That bumped power to roughly 92hp at the crank – nothing wild, but in an 800kg shell, it meant a healthy 115hp/tonne. “This,” I told myself, “is going to be fun.”
I suited up and rolled into the pits for the 20-minute practice session. It was my first time at Kari, and despite all the onboard videos I’d watched, nothing prepared me for driving it in the wet. It had been raining all day; water was standing in patches across the track. I tried to keep a steady pace, following cars ahead at a safe distance, but reality hit me fast: I was overwhelmed. The pack disappeared almost instantly, the racing lines I’d memorised felt useless, the FIA suit was cooking me from the inside, and the windscreen started fogging up. Before I could collect myself, practice was over.
And that’s when I learned exactly who I was up against. Except for two newcomers, every single driver had serious racing pedigree – years of karting, touring cars, or LGB F4 experience. Many were from Coimbatore or nearby towns, and Kari was their home turf. Suddenly, my “bring-home-the-trophy” confidence looked... hilarious.
Yet, despite their experience, every driver was incredibly helpful. They offered tips, encouragement, and genuinely wanted the newbies to learn. Driving coach Sandeep Kumar later walked us through the telemetry from the ADU5 ECUMaster dashboards fitted in each car, which showed throttle traces, braking pressure, clutch use and GPS speed, all of which pin-pointed exactly where we were losing time.
By the time all of that sank in, it was qualifying time. The rain had stopped, but the track was still damp. I pushed to the best of my ability and clocked a 1:29.060, which placed me 11th in Race 1. The quickest time was a 1:25.132 by Sidharth Balasundaram, with the top nine drivers within just 1.5 seconds of the leader. It was clear – the front pack weren’t just fast, they were consistently fast.
Saturday arrived. Lining up 11th on the Race 1 grid, I felt something surreal – it hit me that I was actually fulfilling a lifelong dream: starting a real race. As the lights went out, instinct took over. Years of launches from drag racing and testing helped me gain a couple of spots off the line. But approaching Turn 1, caution got the better of me. I braked too early, got swallowed by the pack again, and the gap only grew bigger, lap after lap. Embarrassing, yes. But I finished 10th, thanks to a few retirements – Nitin A R (car 45) even toppled his car in the second-last lap.
Full credit to the Levitas pit crew – they worked like a well-oiled machine, fixing all cars in time for the next race, adjusting pressures, and addressing driver feedback. Everything ran like clockwork.
Race 2? Same story. Another P10. This time, though, I’d had enough. I sat down with Sandeep again, and he patiently broke down the telemetry. “You’re braking too early, turning too much, and losing exit speeds,” he pointed out. When he overlaid my data with that of the faster drivers, it was obvious – I wasn’t lacking aggression, I was lacking confidence and clean lines.
Then came the twist – reverse grid for Race 3. The top 8 were flipped, so I started P9. Armed with Sandeep’s advice and hours of my own GoPro footage, I felt prepared. Lights out, another great start. I was right in the mix through C1 and C2. But at the fast chicane, C3, I made a rookie mistake – I slowed down to let a driver pass. Seventeen-year-old Nihal Singh (car 63) didn’t expect the sudden lift, clipped my rear bumper and sent me spinning off-track. I lost a solid 15 seconds and any chance of staying with the pack.
Finally, Race 4. I started P10, determined to salvage something memorable – and I did. What unfolded was an honest, hard, wheel-to-wheel battle with Dheeraj Bhatia (car 42). We traded positions over six times over the course of 10 laps. It was intense, clean, and easily the most fun I had all weekend. By the end, we both knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses around the track. Bhatia even said it was his favourite battle of the season – that meant something.
No, I didn’t bring back a trophy. Not even close. But the Levitas Cup gave me something far more meaningful: my first real taste of racing. And it’s something I’ll hold close forever. The Levitas team was incredibly supportive, the drivers were competitive yet friendly, and racing alongside professionals felt like living inside a dream.
A final observation, the Rs. 7.5 lakh Levitas Cup fee felt justified – three rounds, four races each round, a fully prepared race car, data-driven coaching, and a full professional crew backing you. It genuinely felt like value.
But here’s the catch – Motorsport is dangerously addictive. Once you get a taste, you’ll end up craving more. I know I already am. Shravanthika Lakshmi (chief promoter, Levitas Cup), can you please reserve a spot for me in the next season?
Shravanthika Lakshmi, chief promoter, Levitas Cup.
“Being a racing driver myself, I’ve always wanted to develop motorsport from a grassroots level and bring in more newbies into racing, and that’s how the Levitas Cup journey began.
In these cars, we have the ECUMaster ADU5 dash, making it more data-driven. We want our drivers to analyse all the data and hone their skills. And the best thing is, after three rounds, our top 10 drivers are within a second of each other (in their respective classes), which speaks volumes of how these drivers have evolved over a period of time.
I’m glad to see that for this season, half the participants are first-time entrants, with limited racing experience. For the upcoming rounds, I’m hoping more women participate, and the grid remains a healthy mix of newbies and experienced racers.”
