Cupra’s legacy is relatively young but is backed by Seat’s 70-year history , forty of them immersed in competition. Seventy have also been the number of victories that Cupra has achieved in 2019, a year after being born as an independent brand. The union of the concepts Cup (cup) and Racing (competition) appeared, for the first time, in 1996. The Ibiza of that year was the first model to be marketed under that name. Later, the 2000 Leon Cupra revolutionized the market for entry-level sports compact. Twenty years later, the competitive essence remains as alive as in the Kit Car and it does so from Martorell. The Cupra Garage was inaugurated at the beginning of 2020 and, next to it, the Cupra Racing Factory, the racing car workshop where the magic arises.
The Cupra TCR will be developed within these walls and the future Cupra León Competición will do so , vehicles purchased by private racing teams. These models are manufactured to comply with the technical regulations of the TCR, used for regional competitions in Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Asia, Russia and even the World Touring Car Cup ( WTCR ). They are also approved to compete in the mythical 24 hours of the Nürgburgring. It’s no wonder, then, that this department has worked with more than 150 teams over the past few years.
More than 20 people make up the Cupra Racing Factory team, shaping private projects and serving customers in the paddock itself . Xavi Serra, responsible for the technical development of Cupra Racing, is in charge of coordinating the team. “We always pay special attention to the start of the championships, because that is when the changes in the regulations or there have been updates to the car, and it is the moment when the customers need us the most.” A job that requires meticulous attention from the headquarters in Martorell, under the command of Jaime Puig, director of Cupra Racing. “We are perfectly coordinated to give the best possible service in a race at the Montmeló Circuit, in Moscow (Russia) or Ningbo (China), and even if all of them are held at the same time,” says Puig.
