Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the mission to enforce the brand's participation in rally championships, followed by 11 titles between 1979 and 1983. It has competed in

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

and

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mov ...

, and also develops high performance versions of road cars. The result of this effort has been rewarded through SEAT's most prestigious titles in

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

championships, three conquests with the SEAT Ibiza Kit-Car in the FIA 2L

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

(WRC) (1996, 1997, 1998) and two times with the SEAT León in the FIA

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

(WTCC) (2008, 2009).SEAT Sport history http://www.seat.com/com/generator/su/com/SEAT/site/company/SEATSport/main.html In 2018 SEAT created the

Cupra Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the miss ...

brand as its independent high-performance branch and SEAT Sport was officially replaced by Cupra Racing.

Rallying

SEAT's first serious attempt at a World Rally Championship (WRC) was in the 1977 season when the company took part with its 'SEAT 1430/124D Especial 1800' race car, and in its debut at the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeas ...

the SEAT team finished in third and fourth place with the official 1430-1800 cars being driven by Antonio Zanini and Salvador Cañellas. In recent years the consignment was burdened on the small

SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a supermini car that has been manufactured by Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1984. It is SEAT's best-selling car. The Ibiza is named after the Spanish island of Ibiza and was the second SEAT model to be named after a Spa ...

, a 1.6L normally aspirated

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...

car with its roots in the

Volkswagen Polo The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car ( B-segment) produced by the German car manufacturer Volkswagen since 1975. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, and estate variants throughout its production run. Histor ...

. The Ibiza allowed the company to start building its rallying experience, and was officially engaged in some European national championships. The years went by and little success followed until a 2L version of the Ibiza was

homologated Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

as a kit-car, and extra wide tracks, larger wheels, brakes, etc., were fitted to it as the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) kit-car regulations allow. With these attributes, the car won the 2L World Championship three times ('96, '97, '98). SEATs three conquests of the 2L FIA title, and the sport's popularity in Spain, convinced

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercia ...

management to go further, and allocate sufficient budgets to the SEAT Sport department so as to allow it a chance to reach its goal. SEAT's project to build a WRC-spec car was officially announced during the 1997 San Remo rally. It was in 1998 that the

SEAT Córdoba The SEAT Córdoba is the saloon, estate and coupé version of the SEAT Ibiza supermini car, built by the Spanish automaker SEAT. It was manufactured between 1993 and 2010, and was related with the second and third generations of the Ibiza. ...

WRC was first enrolled by the company to compete at the highest level of WRC racing. The Córdoba was based on the family saloon of the same name but was, naturally, a WRC class car. It had a

4 cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ' ...

, permanent

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

, and active differentials were involved in its transmission. However, the short

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (fron ...

and high-mounted

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

(compared to its rivals) worked against the Córdoba, and results weren't impressive. The main drivers were ex-WRC champion

Didier Auriol Didier Auriol (born 18 August 1958) is a French former rally driver. Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, he competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first driv ...

, along with

Harri Rovanpera Harri is a given name, and may refer to: *Guto Harri (born 1966), Welsh former BBC Chief Political Correspondent *Harri Anne Smith, American Republican member of the Alabama Senate * Harri Eloranta (born 1963), Finnish biathlete * Harri Hänninen ...

and rising Finnish star

Toni Gardemeister Toni Gardemeister (born 31 March 1975) is a Finnish professional rally driver in the World Rally Championship. After previously competing for SEAT's, Mitsubishi's, Škoda's and Ford's factory teams, as well as for privateer teams, he joined the ...

. They did achieve three podium finishes; at the 1999 Rally New Zealand (Gardemeister), the 1999 Rally of Great Britain (Rovanpera) as well as the 2000 Safari Rally (Auriol). SEAT pulled out of international rallying at the end of 2000.

WRC Results

Touring cars

In 2002 SEAT Sport set up the

SEAT León Supercopa The SEAT León Supercopa was a one-make racing series, organised by SEAT Sport, the motorsport division of Spanish car manufacturer SEAT. It used a modified version of the SEAT León road car, and championships have been run in Spain, Germany, Ita ...

in Spain, a one-make series featuring the

SEAT León The SEAT León (), also spelled Leon in some other languages (named after the city of León, which also means "Lion" in Spanish), is a hatchback compact car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since October 1999.ETKA The first two Leó ...

. This format has since expanded across Europe, with the formation of the

SEAT León Eurocup The SEAT León Eurocup was a one-make touring car racing series which uses SEAT Leóns, run by SEAT Sport. Background The championship began in 2008, making its debut at Circuit de Valencia, as a support series for the World Touring Car Champi ...

in 2008. In 2003, SEAT began entering the SEAT Toledo Cupra in the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

(ETCC) with drivers

Jordi Gené Jordi Gené Guerrero (born 5 December 1970) is a racing driver who competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2010. His younger brother, Marc is also a ex-racing driver and is currently a Brand Ambassador for the Scuderia Ferr ...

and

Frank Diefenbacher Frank Diefenbacher (born 19 March 1982 in Pforzheim) is a German auto racing driver. Career Diefenbacher won the German Junior Kart Championship in 1996. His first steps out of karting were in Formula Ford in Germany in 1998, where he finished ...

. Former

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed a ...

winner

Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell (born 22 September 1967) is a retired Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car Cham ...

joined them in 2004, taking their first victory.

WTCC

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, the ETCC became the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

Peter Terting Peter Terting is a German auto racing driver, born on 19 February 1984 in Kempten. He won the Volkswagen Lupo Cup in 2002, earning him a DTM drive for Abt Sportsline in 2003, although this proved to be too big a step up, and the teenager struggle ...

replaced fellow German Diefenbacher.

Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been BTCC Champion, in 2001 for Vauxhall and 2010 for Silverline Chevrolet. He ...

also joined the team for four rounds, and Marc Carol for one round. Later in 2005, the León model made its debut. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He h ...

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...

and James Thompson joined the team.

André Couto André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a MacaneseOscar Nogués and

Florian Gruber Florian Gruber (born 26 January 1983 in Vilsbiburg, Lower Bavaria) is a German auto racing driver. Career Gruber won Division 2 of the German Touring Car Challenge in 2003, in a Volkswagen Lupo.http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/6192/career/ Career ...

also raced in one-off rounds. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, Rydell, Thompson and Terting left the team and were replaced by

Michel Jourdain Jr. Michel Jourdain Lascurain, better known as Michel Jourdain Jr. (born September 2, 1976), is a Mexican racecar driver, best known for winning two Champ Car races in 2003. He is the 2020 Super Copa GTM Champion. Formula racing Jourdain started ra ...

and

Tiago Monteiro Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro (; born 24 July 1976) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup, driving a Honda Civic TCR for Engstler Motorsport. He competed in Formula One between 2005 an ...

. Terting and Rydell later made one-off appearances for the team, as did Nogués. Towards the end of the season SEAT debuted the

TDi TDI (Turbocharged Direct Injection) is Volkswagen Group's term for its current common rail Fuel injection#Direct injection, direct injection turbodiesel engine range that have an intercooler in addition to the turbo compressor. TDI engines are u ...

diesel version of the León. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Jourdain left the team, as the team scaled down from a six-car to a five-car team. Yvan Muller won SEAT's first driver's championship in the WTCC and SEAT also won the manufacturers title. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, SEAT Sport continued with the same five drivers, with French team

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport. ...

assisting with the operation. Gabriele Tarquini won SEAT's second in-a-row driver's championship in the WTCC and SEAT won the manufacturers title for a second consecutive year. After winning two consecutive driver's and manufacturers titles, SEAT withdrew from the WTCC at the end of the 2009 season as a manufacturer-backed team. However, in January 2010, it was announced that they would provide backing to the newly formed SR-Sport team run by SUNRED Engineering, while also confirming Gabriele Tarquini, Jordi Gene, Tiago Monteiro and

Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, th ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

drivers, as Yvan Muller departed for the works

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

team. For

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, SEAT announced that they will return to the WTCC Season as a Customer Supply team, SEAT Sport supplied engines in 2012 to the Lukoil Racing Team who run two 1.6T cars driven by veteran SEAT Driver Gabriele Tarquini and Aleksei Dudukalo. They also supplied 1.6T Engines to the Tuenti Racing Team who ran cars for Pepe Oriola and Fernando Monje, Tuenti Racing Team driver Tiago Monteiro ran a SEAT Sport TDI engine for the first weekend but then switched to a 1.6T engine supplied by SUNRED. Special Tuning Racing have run both a 1.6T engine and 2.0 TDI engine both supplied by SEAT Sport, Daryll O'Young has only used the 1.6T engine but Tom Boardman used the 2.0TDI from the start of the season till round 7. SUNRED engineering ran a SEAT Sport 2.0TDI engine at the start of the season in Andrea Barlesi's car but then switched to the SUNRED 1.6T engine from rounds 2-3. Jason Plato Oulton Park (Knickerbrook)

BTCC

Between

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

and

, SEAT Sport competed in the

, under the SEAT Sport UK banner.

drove for the team for five years, while

Rob Huff Robert Peter "Rob" Huff (born 25 December 1979) is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) driving for Zengő Motorsport. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the ...

James Pickford James Pickford (born 30 April 1979 in Macclesfield, Cheshire) is a British race car driver. As a child his interest was in motorbikes; his father Keith ran bike racing teams. James started at the beginning in karts in 1994. For a while he was coa ...

, Luke Hines, Darren Turner, James Thompson and WTCC regular Tom Coronel (as a one-off) also competed. Initially the cars were run by RML Group until they began concentrating on the Chevrolet WTCC project. Plato finished as championship runner-up in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 the TDi version was used, but reliability was a problem. Two teams continued to campaign petrol SEATs in the championship during

with Adam Jones and series returnee

Dan Eaves Dan Eaves (born 3 June 1975 in Worcestershire) is a British auto racing driver. He competed in the British Touring Car Championship between 2000 and 2005, and again in 2009, winning a total of six races (including a triple-race clean sweep at ...

competitive for the Cartridge World Clyde Valley team, while

Gordon Shedden Gordon Shedden (born 15 February 1979) is a Scottish auto racing driver, currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for the Halfords Racing with Cataclean team. He has previously won the series on three occasions; in 2012, 201 ...

drove for Clyde Valley for a couple of events before it withdrew, but he returned to drive a Leon for the Club Seat outfit. In

, Tom Boardman drove a petrol SEAT Leon Under the team name Special Tuning UK with sponsorship from Club SEAT. Phil Glew joined Tom in a SEAT for one weekend at Silverstone racing under the team name of YourRacingCar.com but the car was run by Special Tuning UK. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, Boardman and

Dave Newsham David Newsham (born 7 July 1967) is a British auto racing driver and businessman. He is the managing director of Norscott Vending. He raced in the British Touring Car Championship from 2011 to 2017, but in 2016, he competed in the British Rallyc ...

drove petrol SEATs under the team name Special Tuning Racing. Special Tuning Racing where not associated with SEAT Sport or SEAT Sport UK. Boardman came first in the third race at Knockhill.LeonOC News http://www.leonoc.com/?p=651

Models

Current

* Cupra E-Racer * Cupra León TCR * Cupra León Competición TCR * Cupra Ateca *

Cupra Born The Cupra Born is a battery electric compact car/small family car (C-segment) marketed by SEAT through its performance-oriented Cupra marque. Initially unveiled as the SEAT el-Born concept in 2019, the production car was revealed in May 2021 as t ...

* Cupra Formentor

Discontinued

*SEAT 1400 B (1957 - Juan Fernández - Copa Montjuïc de Cotxes Sport) *SEAT 850 Coupé (1967 - A. Pérez Sutil, D. Morán) *SEAT 1430-1600 (1970 - Del Vaz, Lazcano - London-Mexico) *SEAT 124 Sport (1970) *SEAT 124 Sport (1971 - Manuel Juncosa, M. Salas - Rally Basc-Navarrès) *SEAT Fórmula 1430 (1971) *SEAT 850 Spider Gr. 5 (1972 - Juncosa) *SEAT SELEX ST3 (1972 - Salvador Cañellas - SEAT Fórmula 1430) *SEAT 127 Gr. 2 (1973 - Salvador Servià - Montse Imbers) *SEAT 1430-1800 Gr. 5 (1973 - Jorge Babler, Ricardo Antolín - Rally d' Espanya) *SEAT Martini F-1800 (1975 - Villacieros) *SEAT 1430-1800 Gr. 4 (1977 - Salvador Servià, Jordi Sabater - Rally Montecarlo) *SEAT 124-2100 16v Gr. 5 (1977 - Antonio Zanini, Juan Petisco - Rally Costa del Sol) *SEAT 124-2000 Gr. 2 (1979 - Salvador Cañellas - Campionat d'Espanya de Turismes) *SEAT 131 Abarth (1979 - Salvador Servià, Alex Brustenga - Rally Montecarlo, Rally Nova Zelanda) *SEAT 131-2100 Gr. 5 (1980 - Santiago Martin Cantero - Campionat d' Espanya de Turismes) *SEAT Panda Gr. 2 (1981/1982 - R. Munoz) *SEAT Fura Crono (1983) *SEAT Ibiza Bimotor Proto (1988 - Josep Maria Servià, Lluis Corominas - Rally de Terra de Lloret de Mar) *SEAT Ibiza 1.5 GLX Gr. B (1989) *SEAT Marbella Proto (1989 - Antoni Rius, Manel Casanova - Rally de Toledo) *SEAT Toledo Podium (1992 - Special edition delivered to the medallists of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games) *SEAT Toledo Sport (1992 - Special commercial edition built for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games) *SEAT Toledo Olimpico (1992 - Official car of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games) *SEAT Toledo Supertourisme (1993/1994 - Giroix) *SEAT Toledo Marathon (1994 - Josep Maria Servià, Enric Oller - Raid de Grècia) *SEAT Ibiza Gr. N (1994 - Stephen Roche) *SEAT Ibiza Gr. A (1995 - Weber/Rius) *SEAT Ibiza Kit car (1996 - Harri Rovanperä, Juha Repo - RAC rally) *SEAT Córdoba WRC (1999 - Toni Gardemeister, Paavo Lukander - Raŀly de Nova Zelanda, Rally de Toledo) *SEAT Ibiza Junior Gr. A (2000 - Dani Solá - Rally d' Ourense) *SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo 3 (2001 - Salvador Cañellas, Alberto Sanchís - Rally RACC) *SEAT Dakar TDI (2002 - Fernando Gil, Rafael Tornabell Arras - Madrid-Dakar) *SEAT Ibiza TDI Gr. N (2003 - Joan Font, Massip - Rally de Salamanca) *SEAT Córdoba Silhouette (2003 - Christophe Bouchut - Campionat de França de Superturisme) *SEAT Toledo GT (2003 - Ginés Vivancos, Jordi Gené - Campionat d'Espanya de GT) *SEAT Toledo Cupra ETCC (2003 - Jordi Gené - ETCC) *SEAT Cupra GT (2003) *SEAT Cupra GT (2004 - Gené, Vivancos) *SEAT León Supercopa (2004 - Luis Pérez-Sala) *SEAT Ibiza Proto 4x4 (2004 - Flavio Alonso) *SEAT Toledo WTCC (2005 - Rickard Rydell - WTCC) *SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo 3 (2006 - Crivillé) *SEAT León Supercopa (2006 - José Manuel Pérez Aicart - Supercopa SEAT León) *SEAT León WTCC (Jordi Gené - WTCC 2006) *SEAT León TDI WTCC (2007 - Yvan Muller) *SEAT León BTCC (2008 - Jason Plato - BTCC) *SEAT León TDI WTCC (2008 - Yvan Muller)

References

External links

SEAT Sport
{{Extreme E teams SEAT Automotive motorsports and performance companies World Rally Championship teams World Touring Car Championship teams British Touring Car Championship teams Official motorsports and performance division of automakers Red Bull sports teams Racecar constructors Auto racing teams established in 1985