Levitas Finds Confidence, Title Charge In Gold Return

Subtitle:Veteran Maryland Driver Continues Championship Quest At COTA

Michael Levitas will admit it: He was at a crossroads after the first two rounds of the 2014 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season.

Following his Gold Cup championship campaign in 2013, sports car racing veteran Levitas was struggling to come to grips with the move up to the Platinum Cup (2014 car models). He was uncertain of his direction in the Porsche single-make series after disappointing results in the first two races of the season in mid-March at Sebring International Raceway. Uncertain of himself, too.

“I had to do some soul-searching after Sebring and really think about it,” Levitas said.

That self-evaluation led him on a path back home.

Levitas returned to the Gold Cup (2010-13 car models) starting at the next two rounds of the series, in early May at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and won his first race back in the class in the No. 35 TPC Racing Porsche. He finished second in the second race of the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca weekend, spawning a come-from-behind charge toward a second straight championship in the class.

Since returning to Gold Cup, Levitas has finished on the podium in eight of his 10 starts, with four victories. He is third in the championship standings, 22 points behind leader Patrick-Otto Madsen, with four rounds remaining this season. He’s also third in the Gold Masters (drivers 45 and older) class, 16 points behind leader Fred Poordad.

The next two rounds are Sept. 19 during Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Levitas, from Baltimore, owns TPC Racing, a premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center for Porsche sports cars in Jessup, Maryland. He loves the intricacy of the mechanical side of racing and has raced Porsches since 1992 in Porsche Club of America, SCCA, MARS, GRAND-AM and now IMSA competition.

The return to Gold Cup was not an easy slide back into a car in which he dominated the class last year, winning the championship by 30 points despite missing the last two races of the season. Levitas embraces constant technical challenge and got it this year in Gold Cup.

Last season, Levitas raced in the previous generation of the Porsche 911 GT3 Gold Cup car, known to competitors and teams as the 997.1 and produced from 2005 through 2009. This year, he climbed to the later edition of the car built from 2010 through 2013, the 997.2. So while he came back to a familiar class, there still were plenty of nuances for him to tackle and learn.

“I felt like I had unfinished business in the 7 (997),” Levitas said. “And I really didn’t get a chance to develop that 997.2 the way I wanted. For me personally, it was not only a return to it, but it was like I need to step up to the challenge of the 997.2 car and see what it was all about. Laguna really taught me a lot. That was my first true race into that second-generation 997, and I really enjoyed it a lot.

“For me, it was like comfort. Man, it was like having comfort food. I could jump in the 997, and it felt like back home.”

Levitas never felt more comfortable than in late June at Watkins Glen. He achieved a rare sweet spot craved by every competitor, finding a rhythm and groove that helped him win both rounds in dominant style.

“At the Glen, I just nailed it,” Levitas said. “The car was so good. It was so hooked up. It felt great. I could do no wrong with the car. I really found the chassis.”

That quick understanding of the latest generation of the Gold Cup car was important for Levitas. There was no time to waste for his title aspirations because the competition level in the class has been far deeper and more intense this season than in 2013.

Six different drivers have won at least one race. Forty-eight points separate the top five drivers. Last season, 188 points separated the top five after the last race.

“The competition level that’s right now in Gold is just as fierce as the front of the Platinum field,” Levitas said. “In qualifying, everyone is within a tenth of a second. So whether you’re in it for the Masters or you’re in it for the overall, the Gold is a great challenge.”

Levitas is preparing for yet another challenge in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama next season, whether he catches Madsen and second place Jeff Mosing in the next three weeks for his second consecutive Gold Cup championship or not.

He plans to give the Platinum Cup class another try.

“I am putting in for a 2015 car, so I want to keep my options open,” Levitas said. “I feel like I have some unsettled business with the 991 (Platinum Cup car). Just for me, on a personal level, I really would like to get on top of that car and work with it. I know it’s a truly great chassis. It’s just a matter of putting the time in and getting acclimated to it.

“I’m looking forward to leaving my options open. I’m having too much darn fun.”