Seat Cupra Championship
Encyclopedia
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
. The series will not continue for 2009, due to SEAT UK ending its racing activities. This announcement was made with just one 2008 round left, leaving many drivers at a loose end and with large amounts of useless equipment - undoubtedly causing many to be unable to race at all in 2009.
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 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 the total budget for running a car to be between £60,000 and £100,000.
, 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 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.
and Gavin Smith
shared wins in 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
was third with 133 points, Gordon Shedden
fourth with 123 and Gavin Smith
fifth with 98 points.
This was Tom Boardman
's year, as he made 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 was Carl Breeze
on 191 points and fifth was Alan Blencowe who finished on 116.
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 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 the WTCC
winning car used by Andy Priaulx
to enter his own Jackson Motorsport team as an independent in the BTCC
for 2007.
. 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 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 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 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.
champion Martin Byford
were notable additions who were immediately on 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. Adam finished the season with 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 toe camber angle, which he claimed had been bent out by an earlier escapade across the kerbs. The penalty was upheld, and meant that Adam completed back-to-back titles.
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
. The series will not continue for 2009, due to SEAT UK ending its racing activities. This announcement was made with just one 2008 round left, leaving many drivers at a loose end and with large amounts of useless equipment - undoubtedly causing many to be unable to race at all in 2009.
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
World Touring Car Championship
For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:...
. Past contenders such as Rob Huff
Rob Huff
Robert "Rob" Peter Huff is a British racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Championship for the Chevrolet team, driving the Chevrolet Cruze.-Early years:...
, Mat Jackson
Mat Jackson
Mat Jackson is an English racing driver.Jackson and his family-ran team contested the British Touring Car Championship in 2007 and 2008, in each case using the BMW Andy Priaulx used to win the previous year's World Touring Car Championship. Jackson run under the Jackson MSport banner in 2007, and...
, James Pickford
James Pickford
James Pickford is an English race car driver, born 30 April 1979 in Macclesfield, Cheshire. As a child his interest was in motorbikes; his father Keith ran bike racing teams. However, as with Damon Hill his mother led him towards the relatively safe world of car racing, beginning in karts in 1994....
, Emmet O'Brien
Emmet O'Brien
Emmet O'Brien is an Irish auto racing driver.-Career:O'Brien started competing in the Irish Karting championships at a young age, he finished 2nd in the National Irish Formula A karting championship for PCR in 1998 and also finished 2nd in the All Ireland's in 1998 winning four races...
and Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden is a Scottish auto racing driver.-Early years:In 2000 Shedden won the Ford Fiesta championship, with 9 wins. He raced in the SEAT Cupra Championship, finishing as runner-up in 2003 and 4th in 2004...
mean that tin top fans keep a close eye on these cars and drivers for the next big racing talent.
The Cars
SEAT León
The SEAT León is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer, and Volkswagen Group subsidiary SEAT, S.A. since October 1998.The two León generations are, or have been built upon two differing variants of the Volkswagen Group A platform, and they also share many other components with...
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 the total budget for running a car to be between £60,000 and £100,000.
2003 Season
The Inaugural meeting for the Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship was held at the Croft CircuitCroft Circuit
Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Dalton-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. The tarmac circuit is just over long and is based on the lands of an airfield, but has long since moved on from being a basic airfield 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
Stefan Hodgetts
Stefan Hodgetts is a British auto racing driver, best known for driving a part season in the British Touring Car Championship. His father Chris was twice champion of the BTCC.-Racing career:...
claimed the first ever victory. Eventual championship winner Rob Huff
Rob Huff
Robert "Rob" Peter Huff is a British racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Championship for the Chevrolet team, driving the Chevrolet Cruze.-Early years:...
went on to win race two. Both these drivers would battle it out to the fifth and final championship meeting of the season at Thruxton
Thruxton Circuit
Thruxton Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England which is used to host a number of motorsport events including British Touring Cars and Formula 3 racing....
along with Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden is a Scottish auto racing driver.-Early years:In 2000 Shedden won the Ford Fiesta championship, with 9 wins. He raced in the SEAT Cupra Championship, finishing as runner-up in 2003 and 4th in 2004...
who finished second, and Gavin Smith
Gavin Smith (racing driver)
Gavin Smith is a racing driver from Dublin, born on September 15, 1977. He won Ireland's Fiat Punto championship in 1998, winning 12 times, before trying single-seaters for the next year. In 2000 he was in British Formula Renault, before moving up to the Scholarship class of Formula 3.However, it...
who came in fourth place behind Hodgetts. Huff's prize was a full works drive in the BTCC
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
for SEAT Sport UK. A prize which launched a very successful career in the world of touring cars.
2004 Season
Again, first prize would be a drive in the 2005 BTCC season. James PickfordJames Pickford
James Pickford is an English race car driver, born 30 April 1979 in Macclesfield, Cheshire. As a child his interest was in motorbikes; his father Keith ran bike racing teams. However, as with Damon Hill his mother led him towards the relatively safe world of car racing, beginning in karts in 1994....
and Gavin Smith
Gavin Smith (racing driver)
Gavin Smith is a racing driver from Dublin, born on September 15, 1977. He won Ireland's Fiat Punto championship in 1998, winning 12 times, before trying single-seaters for the next year. In 2000 he was in British Formula Renault, before moving up to the Scholarship class of Formula 3.However, it...
shared wins in the first races at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
. Tom Boardman
Tom Boardman (racing driver)
Tom Boardman is a British auto racing driver. His greatest achievement to date is winning the 2005 SEAT Cupra Championship for the Triple R team which he runs with father, John, who was previously a rallycross driver in the 1970s.-Early years:Tom first started driving cars at a very young age on...
and Gavin Smith won races 3 and 4 at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
, giving Smith an early championship lead. It was James Pickford who was consistently finishing in high positions including 2 more wins at Oulton Park
Oulton Park
Oulton Park Circuit is a motor racing track in the small village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington with a nearby rail connection along the Mid-Cheshire Line. It occupies much of the area which was...
and Croft
Croft Circuit
Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Dalton-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. The tarmac circuit is just over long and is based on the lands of an airfield, but has long since moved on from being a basic airfield circuit...
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
Tom Boardman (racing driver)
Tom Boardman is a British auto racing driver. His greatest achievement to date is winning the 2005 SEAT Cupra Championship for the Triple R team which he runs with father, John, who was previously a rallycross driver in the 1970s.-Early years:Tom first started driving cars at a very young age on...
was third with 133 points, Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden is a Scottish auto racing driver.-Early years:In 2000 Shedden won the Ford Fiesta championship, with 9 wins. He raced in the SEAT Cupra Championship, finishing as runner-up in 2003 and 4th in 2004...
fourth with 123 and Gavin Smith
Gavin Smith (racing driver)
Gavin Smith is a racing driver from Dublin, born on September 15, 1977. He won Ireland's Fiat Punto championship in 1998, winning 12 times, before trying single-seaters for the next year. In 2000 he was in British Formula Renault, before moving up to the Scholarship class of Formula 3.However, it...
fifth with 98 points.
2005 Season
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 seriesThis was Tom Boardman
Tom Boardman (racing driver)
Tom Boardman is a British auto racing driver. His greatest achievement to date is winning the 2005 SEAT Cupra Championship for the Triple R team which he runs with father, John, who was previously a rallycross driver in the 1970s.-Early years:Tom first started driving cars at a very young age on...
's year, as he made 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
Mat Jackson
Mat Jackson is an English racing driver.Jackson and his family-ran team contested the British Touring Car Championship in 2007 and 2008, in each case using the BMW Andy Priaulx used to win the previous year's World Touring Car Championship. Jackson run under the Jackson MSport banner in 2007, and...
got a total of 8 wins including some superb performances at Snetterton
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Norfolk, England. Owned by MotorSport Vision, it is situated on the A11 road some 20 km north-east of the town of Thetford and 30 km south-west of the city of Norwich...
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
Tom Ferrier
Tom Ferrier is a British racing driver, born 14 November 1981. The highlight of his long karting career was winning the 1998 British Championship...
on 219 points, fourth was Carl Breeze
Carl Breeze
Carl Breeze is a British auto racing driver, born 7 July 1979. He is not to be confused with Hyla Breese, another racer with British Touring Car Championship experience. His racing heroes include Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Valentino Rossi....
on 191 points and fifth was Alan Blencowe who finished on 116.
2006 Season
Despite the SEAT Cupra champion Tom BoardmanTom Boardman (racing driver)
Tom Boardman is a British auto racing driver. His greatest achievement to date is winning the 2005 SEAT Cupra Championship for the Triple R team which he runs with father, John, who was previously a rallycross driver in the 1970s.-Early years:Tom first started driving cars at a very young age on...
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
Blaupunkt
GmbH is a German manufacturer of electronics equipment, noted for its home and car audio equipment. It was a 100% subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH until March 1st, 2009 when its Aftermarket and Accessories branch including the brand name were sold to Aurelius AG of Germany for an undisclosed...
SEAT Cupra Championship. It was Mat Jackson
Mat Jackson
Mat Jackson is an English racing driver.Jackson and his family-ran team contested the British Touring Car Championship in 2007 and 2008, in each case using the BMW Andy Priaulx used to win the previous year's World Touring Car Championship. Jackson run under the Jackson MSport banner in 2007, and...
, who carried on his good form and show of ability by winning 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
Jonathan Adam
Jonathan Adam is a Scottish racing driver. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons - winning in 2007 and in 2008. He also won the 2005 Elf Renault Clio Cup...
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 the WTCC
World Touring Car Championship
For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:...
winning car used by Andy Priaulx
Andy Priaulx
Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE is a British racing driver from Guernsey. He is a European Touring Car Championship champion, three times World Touring Car Championship champion and the only FIA Touring Car champion to win an International level championship for four consecutive years...
to enter his own Jackson Motorsport team as an independent in the BTCC
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
for 2007.
2007 Season
This year saw a restructuring of the championship, with the introduction of the new model SEAT LeónSEAT León
The SEAT León is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer, and Volkswagen Group subsidiary SEAT, S.A. since October 1998.The two León generations are, or have been built upon two differing variants of the Volkswagen Group A platform, and they also share many other components with...
. 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
Jonathan Adam
Jonathan Adam is a Scottish racing driver. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons - winning in 2007 and in 2008. He also won the 2005 Elf Renault Clio Cup...
, who won winning 9 of the 20 races. An exciting first race of the year saw a win for Carl Breeze
Carl Breeze
Carl Breeze is a British auto racing driver, born 7 July 1979. He is not to be confused with Hyla Breese, another racer with British Touring Car Championship experience. His racing heroes include Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Valentino Rossi....
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 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
Carl Breeze
Carl Breeze is a British auto racing driver, born 7 July 1979. He is not to be confused with Hyla Breese, another racer with British Touring Car Championship experience. His racing heroes include Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Valentino Rossi....
with 204.5 and 204 respectively. Behind them were Neil Waterworth fourth with 177.5 points and Daniel Welch
Daniel Welch
Daniel Welch is a pitcher for Brigham Young University's baseball team. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but grew up in Florida, Australia, and Utah. Welch was a three year starter for Danny Schoonover at Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah. He tossed a two-hiiter in his final regular...
ending the season strong to finish fifth with 153.5 points.
The Leon Cupra R class was won by Harry Vaulkhard
Harry Vaulkhard
Harry Vaulkhard is a racing driver. In 2010 he has been racing in the World Touring Car Championship for Bamboo Engineering. His father Nigel also races.-Early career:...
with 267 points. Ian Churchill
Ian Churchill
Ian Churchill is a British comic book artist, who has mostly worked in the American comic book industry.-Career:Churchill's early work included stints on Supergirl, Uncanny X-Men as well as the Deadpool: Sins of the Past limited series, in addition to a lengthy stay on Cable, the latter gaining him...
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.
2008 Season
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 CupRenault Clio Cup
The Renault Clio Cup is a One-make racing series created and managed by Renault Sport. As the name suggests, Renault Clio cars are used, and are grouped in 15 national championships and an International Cup.-Championships:...
champion Martin Byford
Martin Byford
Martin Byford is a British racing driver from Colchester. He is currently competing in the BTCC for AmD Milltek.-Racing career:...
were notable additions who were immediately on 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. Adam finished the season with the most points, but the result remained provisional as Lawson awaited the result of an appeal. He was thrown out of qualifying at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
for an illegal toe camber angle, which he claimed had been bent out by an earlier escapade across the kerbs. The penalty was upheld, and meant that Adam completed back-to-back titles.
Champions
| Season | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 |  Rob HuffRob Huff Robert "Rob" Peter Huff is a British racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Championship for the Chevrolet team, driving the Chevrolet Cruze.-Early years:... |
Northern South | 122 |
| 2004 | James Pickford James Pickford James Pickford is an English race car driver, born 30 April 1979 in Macclesfield, Cheshire. As a child his interest was in motorbikes; his father Keith ran bike racing teams. However, as with Damon Hill his mother led him towards the relatively safe world of car racing, beginning in karts in 1994.... |
Northern South | 151 |
| 2005 | Tom Boardman Tom Boardman (racing driver) Tom Boardman is a British auto racing driver. His greatest achievement to date is winning the 2005 SEAT Cupra Championship for the Triple R team which he runs with father, John, who was previously a rallycross driver in the 1970s.-Early years:Tom first started driving cars at a very young age on... |
Special Tuning UK | 265 |
| 2006 | Mat Jackson Mat Jackson Mat Jackson is an English racing driver.Jackson and his family-ran team contested the British Touring Car Championship in 2007 and 2008, in each case using the BMW Andy Priaulx used to win the previous year's World Touring Car Championship. Jackson run under the Jackson MSport banner in 2007, and... |
Jackson Motorsport | 273 |
| 2007 |  Jonathan AdamJonathan Adam Jonathan Adam is a Scottish racing driver. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons - winning in 2007 and in 2008. He also won the 2005 Elf Renault Clio Cup... |
Total Control Racing | 309 |
| Harry Vaulkhard Harry Vaulkhard Harry Vaulkhard is a racing driver. In 2010 he has been racing in the World Touring Car Championship for Bamboo Engineering. His father Nigel also races.-Early career:... |
Volkis Boozers/Triple R (Cupra R Class) |
267 | |
| 2008 | Jonathan Adam Jonathan Adam Jonathan Adam is a Scottish racing driver. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons - winning in 2007 and in 2008. He also won the 2005 Elf Renault Clio Cup... |
Total Control Racing | 301 |