What a track day costs in India, and how to book your first one

If you want to drive your own car on an Indian racetrack, the cheapest published route starts at ₹5,000. Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, the circuit that opened the 2026 national car racing season, lists an open track day from ₹5,000 per slot on its own booking site. A slot is a session of roughly 15 to 30 minutes, and you share the track with other participants rather than having it to yourself. The same site lists a karting joy drive from ₹550 per slot if you want to try the 1.1 km kart circuit first.

What you pay and how you book

Kari's booking process is three steps. You pick a date and time slot online, you pay, and you turn up on the day. Payment is accepted only through QR code transactions or bank transfer, and you then upload the payment screenshot in your dashboard on the site so the booking can be verified. There is no walk-in price listed.

If you do not want to risk your own car, the rental route exists too. When Madras Motor Sports Club and Volkswagen Motorsport India launched arrive and drive sessions at the Madras track in September 2020, Autocar India reported a price of ₹9,000 for a 25-minute session in a race-spec Polo, covering track time, car hire, fuel, tyres, mechanics and crew, with a maximum of four slots per driver per day. That was six years ago, so treat it as an order of magnitude and ask the club for current rates.

The rules nobody reads until they are turned away

Kari's published conditions are strict and worth memorising. Arrive 30 minutes before your slot. Complete on-ground registration 10 minutes before the briefing. Carry a valid government photo ID. Sign the indemnity waiver. Sit through the 10-minute safety and track briefing, which is compulsory. Helmets are compulsory, and your own helmet is allowed only if it meets the track's safety standards, so a road-legal lid is not automatically accepted.

Two more lines decide whether your money survives. A no-show or a late arrival gets no refund and no rescheduling. If the track cancels for weather or safety, you are offered an alternate date or a refund. Reckless driving on or off the track means immediate disqualification, and alcohol or drugs are banned outright.

Where else you can book, and what comes next

Coimbatore now has a second option. The CoASTT High Performance Centre at Karumathampatti runs a 3.8 km circuit with 15 corners, 15 metres of elevation change and a 527-metre start-finish straight, built to FIA Grade 2 standard and run anti-clockwise, which is a first in India. It is open from 9am to 6pm by prior booking only and does not publish rates, so you have to call or email for a quote. The track can also be split into two shorter layouts for testing.

A track day is step one, not the end of the road. India's national car racing championship is clearly in a growth phase, with a record 137 driver and rider registrations and 17 races across eight categories at the season opener at Kari on 24 and 25 October 2026, in its 29th year. Several of those eight categories exist for newcomers, including the Formula 1300 Novice Cup and the Rookie class of the Levitas Cup. The championship's own schedule lists round two at Kari Motor Speedway from 13 to 15 November 2026, which makes a race weekend easy to watch before you decide to enter one.

Sources

• Kari Motor Speedway, main circuit and karting circuit booking
• Kari Motor Speedway, LG Sports home page
• CoASTT High Performance Centre, circuit details
• CTR Sports, Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026 schedule
• The Tribune, CTR-JK Tyre FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026 round one report
• Autocar India, MMRT arrive and drive sessions with race-spec VW Polo