Model turned actress Nivetha Pethuraj, who won the Miss India UAE pageant in 2015, made her Tamil cinema debut in Oru Naal Koothu and followed it up with roles in films like Udhayanidhi Stalin's Podhuvaga En Manasu Thangam, Jayam Ravi's Tik Tik Tik, Thimiru Pudichavan opposite Vijay Antony, while also appearing in Vijay Sethupathi's Sangathamizhan. Having made a name for herself in Telugu cinema as well over the years, Nivetha has now achieved a new feat as she completed the Level 1 of the Formula Race Car Training Program hosted by "Momentum – School of Advance Racing". 

Sharing her excitement on her latest accomplishment, Nivetha says, "My interest towards car started during my school days when I was studying in 8TH std when an aunt in my neighborhood purchased a sports car. It inspired me with a strong curiosity towards sports cars, and it kept brewing in me for years. In 2015, I purchased a Dodge Challenger sports car, and I was the second girl in UAE to get it. In fact, my father wasn’t happy as he was concerned with the V6 Engine, which has a fast racing power. Nonetheless, I was confident driving it and felt so cool indeed. Besides, I have worked in several Dubai Motor shows, F1, and brands like Lexus, Rolls Royce, and Chevrolet, which kept escalating in me the fascination towards cars. When I came down to Chennai, I had visited a few motor tracks, but never imagined that one day I would be there steering my way." 

Nivetha further states, "My heavy rush for cars got rebooted when BMW approached me to test drive the car for a week, which made me revisit my passion. When my brother Nishanth visited Momentum  - School of Advance Racing in Coimbatore, I was scared if I could make it through. I had to enroll three months earlier for the program, and each session would have only 8 people, and I was the only girl amidst them. As I got used to the tracks, I started feeling more confident, and by the end, my Lap timings were almost on par with the other guys. This has propelled in me a huge lease of self-confidence that Motorsports aren’t just for the men, but women as well. Even now, there aren’t Formula 1 and Formula 2 championships for women, and I hope it becomes a reality soon." 

Om being queried about her interest in participating in championship car racing events, Nivetha said, "I am already approached for many championships. But it needs lots of investment and dedication of time on track practice. Besides, it’s easy for me to get sponsors as I have become a familiar face in the industry. It’s a costly sport as every race will cost around Rs.15 Lac. So, I will be getting on with it only if I am interested. For now, my interest and desire are all about completing different levels." 

On the film front, Nivetha Pethuraj, who was last seen in Red in Telugu, is currently attached to the Tamil-Telugu bilingual October 31st Ladies Night, followed by Pon Manickavel opposite Prabhu Deva and Venkat Prabhu's long-delayed multi-starrer heist comedy Party, including Rana Daggubati-Sai Pallavi's Virata Parvam, Paagal with Vishwak Sen and an untitled project under Chandoo Mondeti in Telugu.

Check out Nivetha Pethuraj in action at the car race track in the videos below: