Cupra Racing

This article is about the motorsports company and team. For the car brand established in 2018, see Cupra (marque).
Cupra Racing
FormerlySEAT Sport
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryAutomotive
PredecessorSEAT Special Vehicles department
Founded1985; 39 years ago (1985)
FounderDaniel Alexander Evans
HeadquartersAbrera, Catalonia, Spain
ProductsPerformance cars
Racing cars
Websitecupraofficial.es/racing

Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985,[1] 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.[2] In 2018, SEAT created the Cupra brand as its independent high-performance branch and SEAT Sport was officially replaced by Cupra Racing.[3][4]

It has competed in rallying and touring car racing, 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 championships, three conquests with the SEAT Ibiza Kit-Car in the FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup in 1996, 1997, 1998, and two wins with the SEAT León in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in 2008 and 2009.[5] Cupra also won the FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup in 2021 and 2022 before the series was discontinued in 2023.[6][7]

Cupra partnered with Abt Sportsline as Abt Cupra in the all-electric SUV off-road racing series Extreme E from 2021 to 2023 and the open-wheel single-seater electric motorsport championship Formula E from 2022 to 2024.

  1. ^ SEAT Sport foundation "SEAT.com -> 1989-1980". Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  2. ^ SEAT motorsport 1970-1977 http://www.seat.com/com/generator/su/com/SEAT/site/company/SEATSport/main.html Archived 2010-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "CUPRA: a new brand is born". Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  4. ^ "From SEAT Sport to CUPRA Racing". Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  5. ^ SEAT Sport history http://www.seat.com/com/generator/su/com/SEAT/site/company/SEATSport/main.html Archived 2010-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Ekstrom crowned PURE ETCR champion as Vernay wins ultra-dramatic finale". www.autosport.com. 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  7. ^ "FIA ETCR - Tambay and CUPRA EKS Take First-Ever FIA ETCR Titles". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2023-07-15.