The SEAT Cupra Championship was a one-make series that ran for six years between 2003 and 2008, the last five of which ran as a support package to the British Touring Car Championship .
35-615: Originally the prize for winning the championship was a drive for the SEAT works team in the BTCC. From 2005 and onwards this changed to a £100,000 cheque. Throughout the championship's six years, 78 drivers competed. It established itself as one of the main routes into topline Touring Car racing, and drivers went on to do well in either the BTCC or World Touring Car Championship . Past contenders such as Rob Huff , Mat Jackson , James Pickford , Emmet O'Brien and Gordon Shedden mean that tin top fans keep
70-462: A close eye on these cars and drivers for the next big racing talent. Cars driven are the SEAT León Cupra. Engine sizes moved from a 1.8 L (first generation Cupra R) to the second generation León with a 2.0 L engine in 2007. The engines use an inline four cylinder layout and are paired with a six speed gearbox. Prices for new entrants are £40,000 plus VAT directly from SEAT. SEAT estimate
105-664: A combined circuit of the road course and the then newly constructed NASCAR speedway), Wellington in New Zealand and Mount Fuji in Japan . The Championship was well-supported by the factory European teams of Ford , BMW , Maserati and Alfa Romeo (until Alfa withdrew following the European races), but was embroiled in controversy. Unfortunately, the leading BMW Motorsport teams and the Ford Europe backed Eggenberger Motorsport had developed
140-434: A good start to the season winning both opening rounds at Donington, and going on to get 7 race wins in total for the year. Mat Jackson got a total of 8 wins including some superb performances at Snetterton and Knockhill . In the end he was always playing catch up to the more consistent finishing of Boardman, who won overall on 260 points. Jackson finished in second on 245 points. third was Tom Ferrier on 219 points, fourth
175-433: A motor manufacturer. This can sometimes be a motor racing team running cars of behalf of the manufacturer or cars being run directly by the factory. Below is a timeline of manufacturer entries from the beginning of the championship in 2005. Alan Blencowe Alan Blencowe (born 22 October 1976) is a British Racing driver. He started racing in the 750MC Stock Hatch Series in 1999, winning one race and finishing 4th in
210-785: A single season in 1987 as the World Touring Car Championship and most recently a world championship (WTCC) that has run between 2005 and 2017. Following the 2017 season, an agreement was reached for the FIA WTCC to become FIA WTCR and use the TCR technical regulations. The first World Touring Car Championship, which was open to Group A Touring Cars, was held in 1987 concurrent to the long-running European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Additional rounds were held outside Europe at Bathurst and Calder Park Raceway in Australia (Calder used
245-769: A situation of "you don't protest us, we won't protest you" . While this worked well in the European races, when the championship landed in Australia the local teams took exception to the Europeans somewhat liberal interpretation of the Group A rules. Subsequently, the Eggenberger cars were protested against and eventually disqualified from the Bathurst 1000 results. The championship was provisionally awarded to West German Eggenberger Ford Sierra RS500 drivers Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedzwiedz . It
280-464: The 2005 , 2006 and 2007 Drivers and Manufacturers Championships. In 2008, Frenchman Yvan Muller won the title after Race 1 in Macau in his SEAT León TDI . This marked the first time an FIA sanctioned world championship, in any category, being won by a diesel powered racing car. SEAT León TDI won both championships for a second time in 2009, this time in the hands of Gabriele Tarquini . 2010 marked
315-458: The United States . Technical rules were modified in 2011 to allow 1.6L turbo gasoline engines, and the 2.0L gasoline and turbodiesel engines were outlawed in 2012. In 2014, new car regulations were introduced with the name TC1, with larger wings and more engine power. The old 1.6L turbo cars were renamed TC2 for a year and were dropped for 2015. The series adopted TCR regulations for 2018 and
350-552: The WTCC winning car used by Andy Priaulx to enter his own Jackson Motorsport team as an independent in the BTCC for 2007. This year saw a restructuring of the championship, with the introduction of the new model SEAT León . This created a two tier system incorporating the new cars with the old ones running in a Cupra R class. A total of 28 drivers entered. The championship was dominated by Scottish driver Jonathan Adam , who won winning 9 of
385-485: The 20 races. An exciting first race of the year saw a win for Carl Breeze with Adam right behind him at the line. A good start to race 2 and a very comfortable victory for Adam followed. His impressive driving continued, winning 4 out of the next 6 at Rockingham, Thruxton and Croft. One of the more interesting meetings were rounds 11 and 12 at Donington, where the drivers were greeted with terrible weather conditions. Victims included Carl Breeze and Oli Wilkinson . The race
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#1732877032914420-655: The BTCC Production class championship. In 2004 he had to make the move over to the Britcar Endurance season as sponsorship was hard to find and again driving for Barwell Motorsport in a Honda Civic Type-R , taking two class wins in the four races he competed in also always being the fastest driver out of the two or sometimes three drivers that competed in the same car. For 2005 he moved to the SEAT Cupra Championship , finishing 3rd four times and taking 5th in
455-507: The Championship. A silhouette formula championship (proposed by Ecclestone) was announced by the FIA for 1988 which would have seen specialist racing chassis carrying bodywork resembling production roadcars powered by the about to be outlawed Formula One 1.5 litre turbo regulations, but manufacturers did not support the concept. Only one car, based on an Alfa Romeo 164 with a 3.5 litre V10 engine
490-633: The FIA's points system used in the FIA Formula One Championship and the FIA World Rally Championship. Between 2005 and 2009, the championship adopted the following points scoring system: For the inaugural 1987 season, the championship used the following points scoring system: As per FIA WTCC all-time statistics on the official site of the WTCC. The WTCC features entries with the backing, funding and technical support of
525-538: The championship driving a Peugeot 205 GTI . In 2000 he raced in the Ford Fiesta Zetec Championship finishing 5th in the championship and also becoming the winter series champion. He stayed in the series for another year, this time finishing 4th in the championship. For 2002 he made the move up to the BTCC with Gary Ayles Motorsport in the Production class. His debut weekend didn't turn out well when
560-514: The championship. In 2006 he finished 2nd in the championship, again his consistency playing part with only one win but 10 podium finishes and one lap record at Knockhill. At the end of 2006 Blencowe was asked to test for the Seat factory team at Rockingham after his impressive season in the Seat Cupra Cup. He stayed at Triple R for one more year driving the new SEAT León , winning two races before he left
595-695: The drivers standings. This gave Chevrolet a clean sweep of both titles. The 2012 championship saw Chevrolet pick up where they left off in 2011, leading to a second year of championship clean sweeps, this time with Rob Huff taking the drivers title. The modern series has held events based all around the world including races in Argentina , Morocco , Hungary , Germany , Russia , France , Portugal , Slovakia , Czech Republic , Japan , China , Thailand and Qatar with former races in Brazil , Great Britain , Italy , Macau , Netherlands , Spain , Sweden , Turkey and
630-485: The fifth and final championship meeting of the season at Thruxton along with Gordon Shedden who finished second, and Gavin Smith who came in fourth place behind Hodgetts. Huff's prize was a full works drive in the BTCC for SEAT Sport UK. A prize which launched a very successful career in the world of touring cars. Again, first prize would be a drive in the 2005 BTCC season. James Pickford and Gavin Smith shared wins in
665-437: The first races at Brands Hatch . Tom Boardman and Gavin Smith won races 3 and 4 at Silverstone , giving Smith an early championship lead. It was James Pickford who was consistently finishing in high positions including 2 more wins at Oulton Park and Croft who won a closely fought championship with 151 points. A late surge in the standings saw Oli Wilkinson finish second, just 5 points off Pickford with 146. Tom Boardman
700-438: The first three races. He went on to dominate the championship winning 11 out of the 18 rounds. With a lot of new faces for 2006, the nearest any one got to Mat's total of 273 points was Alan Blencowe with 225. Following them in the final points standing were new boys, Jonathan Adam in third with 218 points, Fulvio Mussi in fourth with 169 points and Ben Winrow in fifth with 166 points. Jackson used his £100,000 prize to buy
735-494: The kerbs bending his wheel rim. Seat harshly stripped him of 32 championship points and put him to the back of the grid and Lawson lodged an immediate appeal. With bent parts changed Lawson beat Adam in the race taking victory. Due to Seat Sports shock withdrawal from motorsport and based on a financial decision with his sponsors Lawson elected not to take the unappealing first prize of a drive in Seats Touring Car, but to take
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#1732877032914770-508: The pace. A change of rules meant that Adam was allowed to defend his title, although Mussi and Waterworth did not return. Lawson dominated the first half of the season, but Adam came back at him to lead the standings going into the final round. Lawson finished the season scoring the most points, but the result remained provisional as Lawson awaited the result of an appeal. He was thrown out of qualifying at Silverstone for an illegal camber angle, which had been bent out by an earlier escapade across
805-460: The public due to the intense competition and Eurosport live broadcasts. At the request of interested manufacturers, the ETCC was changed to the current WTCC beginning with the 2005 season, continuing to use Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 regulations. 2004 ETCC Champion Andy Priaulx and his BMW 320i were the dominant driver-car pairing during the first three years of the revived championship, winning
840-549: The second driver on the team collided with him in race 1 and was taken out of race two by another competitor while running in 3rd place. Over the course of the season he picked up four Production class podiums, his best result a second place at Thruxton and eventually finishing 7th in the Production class championship. He moved to the Barwell Motorsport team in 2003 and despite only taking one Production class win, his consistency of 18 podiums and only one DNF took him to 2nd in
875-537: The second prize of a brand new Seat race car and the cash prize. He withdrew his appeal which meant that Adam completed back-to-back titles. All champions were British-registered. 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
910-419: The series after a huge accident at Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit caused by the pole sitter. In 2008 Blencowe was asked to drive for Synchro Motorsport ( Honda factory Swindon ) which he did for two races until the car caught fire at Snetterton after an oil leak and burnt the car out. He now works as a professional driver for Lamborghini when required and he also provides one to one driver coaching all over
945-449: The start of Chevrolet 's dominance of the championship with its Cruze model. Frenchman Yvan Muller became World Champion, fending off tough competition from Gabriele Tarquini and Andy Priaulx to win the first world championship for Chevrolet . Muller continued his success into 2011, winning both drivers championship and helping Chevrolet to its second manufacturers championship after Muller's two teammates finished second and third in
980-589: The total budget for running a car to be between £60,000 and £100,000. The Inaugural meeting for the Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship was held at the Croft Circuit , with a strong 17 car grid (including three female drivers). All cars were being prepared by one team to make racing more even. Stefan Hodgetts claimed the first ever victory. Eventual championship winner Rob Huff went on to win race two. Both these drivers would battle it out to
1015-601: Was Carl Breeze on 191 points and fifth was Alan Blencowe who finished on 116. Despite the SEAT Cupra champion Tom Boardman not getting the works drive for 2005, the rules remained unchanged meaning he was not allowed to stay and defend his title. There was still a healthy grid with 22 entrants for 2006 and a new sponsorship deal, creating the Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship . It was Mat Jackson , who carried on his good form and show of ability by winning
1050-801: Was built before it was abandoned. In 2001, the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) was resumed with support from the FIA, the precursor to the current WTCC. In 2001, the Italian Superturismo Championship became the FIA European Super Touring Championship, with an extra class for Super Production cars alongside the main Super Touring class. In 2002, this evolved into the brand new FIA European Touring Car Championship, using Super 2000 rules, dominated by Alfa Romeo and BMW , but popular with
1085-531: Was not until March 1988 when their Bathurst disqualification was finalised that results were confirmed and Italian Schnitzer Motorsport driver Roberto Ravaglia in a BMW M3 was declared the champion. The Entrants Championship was won by the Eggenberger Texaco Ford No 7 entry. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success — the FIA (and Bernie Ecclestone ) feared it would take money away from Formula One and stopped sanctioning
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1120-415: Was red flagged and restarted, but by round 12 we had a very depleted grid of 14 cars. Champion Adam ended the season with a huge total of 302 points. Fulvio Mussi was half a point ahead of third placed Carl Breeze with 204.5 and 204 respectively. Behind them were Neil Waterworth fourth with 177.5 points and Daniel Welch ending the season strong to finish fifth with 153.5 points. The Leon Cupra R class
1155-729: Was renamed World Touring Car Cup (WTCR). Official factory teams are not allowed, though many drivers and teams receive backing from manufacturers. The WTCC uses Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 cars, as cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation. Super 2000 engines are 1.6 L turbo-charged 4-cylinder engines producing approximately 380 bhp. Wheels are 18" in diameter, and large front and rear aerodynamic devices are permitted. Many technologies that have featured in production cars are not allowed, including variable valve timing , variable intake geometry , ABS brakes and traction control system . Currently, all WTCC races are awarded equal points. From 2010, these points have been based on
1190-505: Was third with 133 points, Gordon Shedden fourth with 123 and Gavin Smith fifth with 98 points. 2005 saw the season have an expansion to 18 rounds compared to last years 12 rounds plus a new name, the Smartnav SEAT Cupra Championship . Cars were now entered by independent teams rather than SEAT themselves, meaning less performance parity but involving more people in the series This was Tom Boardman 's year, as he made
1225-497: Was won by Harry Vaulkhard with 267 points. Ian Churchill was second on 263 points ahead of older brother Adrian on 248.5 points. Freddy Nordstrom was fourth with 222 points and Mike Doble fifth with 171.5 points. The field was much smaller for 2008, with the R Class gone and only 12-14 cars entering most meetings. Robert Lawson and reigning Renault Clio Cup champion Martin Byford were notable additions who were immediately on
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