LEON CUP RACER SET TO STORM THE HILL AT THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED
- SEAT gives UK debut to the Leon Cup Racer at the
- Fiercely powerful Cup Racer due to go up the famous Goodwood Hillclimb
- Former SEAT WTCC driver Jordi Gené will be behind the Cup Racer’s wheel
- Full SEAT Sport team present at Goodwood, as well as the revised Ibiza Trophy race car on display
- Latest models available to test drive at the Moving Motor Show, including the new Leon and the Ibiza
SEAT will spearhead its presence at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed by taking the mighty Leon Cup Racer up the famous Hillclimb. It will be the first time that the car has made an appearance in the UK.
The Leon Cup Racer is an all-new race car designed and developed by SEAT Sport to underscore the company’s commitment to customer motorsport; SEAT has a proud track history, which culminated in back-to-back driver and manufacturer titles in the FIA World Touring Car Championships in 2008 and 2009.
Both triumphs were achieved with Leon models powered by TDI engines – making SEAT the first manufacturer to win a WTCC title with a diesel.
The Leon Cup Racer will be driven up the Hill by SEAT Sport driver Jordi Gené, the celebrated Spanish racing driver who piloted a SEAT Leon for the SEAT Sport WTCC factory team between 2005 and 2009.
This year will be the third time that SEAT has participated in the Goodwood Festival of Speed – which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, incidentally during the same year that SEAT celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Martorell production facility.
Aside from the headline Leon Cup Racer, the Spanish brand will display the new Ibiza Trophy race car, as well as a raft of production models including the brand new Leon SC, the Leon five-door, the Ibiza Cupra, the Toledo and the Mii.
Moving Motor Show attendees will have the chance to drive the Ibiza Cupra and the Leon five-door, as well as the opportunity to be among the very first in the UK to get behind the wheel of the stunning new Leon SC*, which will be there in racy FR trim.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed opens 11 July 2013, and is expected to attract 185,000 visitors from all over the world over four days. SEAT board members Dr Matthias Rabe (VP, Research & Development) and Dr Andreas Tostmann (VP, Production) will be in attendance at the event.
Leon Cup Racer: SEAT’s commitment to motorsport
The Leon Cup Racer, which was unveiled at May’s GTI Treffen in Reifnitz, is a car that embodies SEAT’s commitment to motorsport.
SEAT has taken the new Leon as a basis and completely overhauled it, resulting in a truly cutting edge racing car. Powered by a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with 330 PS and 340 Nm, fed to the front wheels through either a six-speed DSG automatic or a sequential racing transmission, the Leon Cup Racer is an uncompromising track machine.
The Leon Cup Racer gives a very clear indication of what a SEAT cup car racer might look like, and has been prepared for a wide range of racing series worldwide. Racing teams are already able to register interest in purchasing the car, with prices starting at €70,000 plus local taxes.
“Motorsport is deeply anchored in our brand; SEAT has more than 40 years of racing history and, with the Leon Cup Racer, we are now writing the next chapter for our highly motivated customer teams,” says Dr. Matthias Rabe, SEAT Executive Vice-President for Research and Development. “The Cup Racer is not a show model, but the first test car for our development work.”
The new SEAT Leon SC: the embodiment of SEAT
The Goodwood Festival of Speed provides an exciting and very early opportunity to see the new Leon SC in the UK, which hits showrooms in July.
The Leon SC is the embodiment of SEAT’s brand values: dynamic, design-driven and young-spirited. Its exterior styling is distinct from the five-door Leon’s from the A-pillars back, with wider ‘blisters’ over the rear wheel arches, a more rakish tailgate, lower roofline, and re-designed rear three-quarter windows for a more ‘hunkered down’ effect in profile.
Despite these styling changes giving it a true coupé-like aesthetic, the three-door Leon SC is properly practical. It loses no boot space compared to the five-door, retaining a 380-litre capacity (bigger than that of many five-door family hatchbacks), and although the chassis has been shortened (by 35 mm) and the roof line lowered (by 10 mm), it remains a full five-seat car with plenty of occupant space.
The Leon SC comes with the same trim and engine hierarchy as the five-door car, which means S, SE and FR trim specifications, with petrol engines ranging from a 1.2 TSI with 105 PS to a 1.8 TSI with 180 PS, and diesels from a 1.6 TDI with 105 PS to a 2.0 TDI with 184 PS. Prices range from £15,370 to £22,075.
*Test drive numbers are limited and only available on Thursday 11 July.
