Levitas Cup to kick off later this year with the JK Tyre National Racing Championship

If you’re keen on taking part in motorsport in India, you now have another avenue to do so with the Levitas Cup, which is a new single-make racing championship which will be kicking off later this year with the JK Tyre National Racing Championship. This racing championship aims to encourage and promote talent at the grassroot level, providing young racers with a stepping stone before moving on to the higher rungs of motorsport – similar to the Volkswagen Polo Cup – and the Levitas Cup has been founded and run by Shravanthika Lakshmi, a 21-year-old racing driver from Coimbatore. This single-make racing championship will make use of identically-prepared Maruti Suzuki Ignis race cars running on JK Tyre rubber. Participating in the Levitas Cup will cost ₹7.4 lakh per driver per season, and the season consists of 3 rounds with a total of 8 races which will take place at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.

Cost of participating in the Levitas Cup

Making motorsport more accessible and affordable is a key factor in India, and the season package for the Levitas Cup will cost ₹7.4 lakh per driver, with taxes being additional. A refundable deposit of ₹1 lakh is also required to cover potential damages. This championship follows an arrive-and-drive format and the cost to participate includes a fully-prepped Ignis race car, dedicated technical support at each round, complete pre and post-race servicing plus maintenance for the race car, data analysis from professional race engineers providing performance insights, and driver coaching with professional coaching sessions and a de-brief post the race. The arrive-and-drive format and the identically-prepared race cars also ensure that the participants compete on merit alone – whether they are a karting graduate or a seasoned professional.

How does the Levitas Cup work?

The Levitas Cup will have three rounds with a total of 8 races and the single-make championship will consist of two driver classes – the Rookie class and the Pro class. Each class consists of 8 cars. Both classes allow drivers older than 15 years of age to take part. The differentiator however is that the Rookie class will comprise of drivers who haven’t won a title or podium in the National Car Racing Championship. The Pro class on the other hand will comprise of experienced car racing drivers, those who have won a title or podium in the National Car Racing Championship. Participants will also receive driver coaching from national champions and data analysis from the race engineers.

Maruti Suzuki Ignis race cars in the Levitas Cup

The Levitas Cup will make use of 16 identically-prepared Maruti Suzuki Ignis race cars. The Ignis in its stock form is powered by a 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine that makes 82bhp of power, but the race cars get significant performance enhancements such as a standalone ECU, a cold air intake and a free flow exhaust system. You also get a data logger, and to make sure the race car can handle as well as stop better on the racetrack, it is equipped with Performance Racing coilovers and a 4-pot Wilwood Big Brake Kit. Power figures for the race car have not yet been revealed. The race car also makes use of a lightweight chassis and comes with racing alloy wheels which are exclusively wrapped in JK Tyre rubber. The Ignis race car gets FIA-compliant safety equipment such as a FIA-approved Cobra racing seat and a 6-point harness system, an FMSCI-spec roll cage and a fire extinguisher. To ensure fair play, all these cars are identically-prepared by a certified technical partner, get encrypted ECU systems and will face regular technical inspections throughout the season. Each race car features specific zones for driver / sponsor branding and drivers are encouraged to secure personal / corporate sponsorships.

The Levitas Cup also marks a first for Indian motorsport, with a privateer-led single-make racing series being developed without manufacturer backing for the first time. However, this racing championship is committed to uphold the same professional standards as those associated with a factory-supported series. In fact, Speedsmiths, the technical team for the Levitas Cup, includes reputed race engineers such as Manush S Rowaine, Sulaiman Shaikh and John Pettah who have worked on the VW Polo Cup in the past, and their presence will provide the technical heft and expertise required to make this new single-make racing series a success.

The philosophy and the vision behind the Levitas Cup is to make it easier and more accessible for new talent to enter car racing, while also creating more opportunities for women in racing, both as drivers and as officials. The Cup also has plans to upgrade to forced induction (think turbocharging or supercharging) in the Pro class in the near future. As for now, the introduction of this single-make racing championship will definitely draw in more people towards motorsport, particularly due the accessibility and affordability that the Levitas Cup promises to offer.