SEAT leaves BTCC with 43 wins in 150 races

SEAT UK can reflect on five highly successful seasons in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship after winning 43 races and scoring 101 podium results in 150 races.

Having entered the series in 2004, Jason Plato and Darren Turner closed the chapter on SEAT UK's motorsport programme by ensuring the Leon TDI was the top winning car in the 2008 BTCC campaign - with 10 race wins to its name. Nine different drivers won races in 2008, but no-one scored more than Jason Plato, who took his BTCC career total to 46 victories and 2136 points (in 276 starts) with eight wins this year.

Jason still had a mathematical chance of winning this year's Drivers' title at the final round at Brands Hatch, but he needed arch rival Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra) to have a nightmare of a race weekend. Having scored points in all previous 27 races, Giovanardi non- scored in the opening two races at Brands Hatch and only scored one point in the final race. Unfortunately, Jason didn't have a good race day either, picking up six points for finishing 5th in Race 1, but non-scoring in the other two.

With Mat Jackson (BMW 320si) winning Race 1 and 2 and finishing 4th in Race 3, the 2006 SEAT Cupra Champion stole the runners-up spot in the Drivers' series, with Jason's 3rd position in the final Drivers' standings not representative of a great season.

Darren won two races in 2008, taking his BTCC race career total to five wins and 339 points (in 75 races). Ever the professional, Darren gave up his chance of winning the opening race to try and help get his team-mate further up the leader board, going from 2nd to 7th in the unselfish act. He was in 7th place in the middle race too when he collected a front puncture and whilst Darren took the chequered flag in 18th place, he was officially classified as a non-finisher.

Race 3 saw John George moved across the front of Darren on the fast approach to Surtees. The Honda Integra tapped the front of the Leon TDI and speared off into the crash barriers on the right, rolling before coming to rest in a mangled heap. Darren was concerned for George's condition, but thankfully the driver emerged from his badly damaged car, visibly shaken. Darren raced on to finish 12th, one place ahead of Jason, to finish 8th in the Drivers' table.

As SEAT Sport UK prepared to load the equipment into its trucks for the final time, there was a fitting tribute from the SEATCupra.net fans on the South Bank, with air horns saluting the team's achievements.

Jason Plato (5th/DNF/12th): "My association with SEAT started in 2003, and up until that point in my career, particularly in touring cars, I had always been just a driver. When I left the BTCC at the end of 2001, I knew that if I came back I'd want to do something different and be more than that. When the opportunity to get involved with SEAT came along, I could see I could be more than that. I could get involved with its marketing and be an ambassador for the brand and that was a very exciting prospect.

"The fact that it's all come to an end is very sad. We did set out to win the BTCC, and we won the Manufacturers' and Teams' title, but never the Drivers' - although we finished second twice, third twice and fourth in five years. We've been incredibly successful and I leave with a lot of mixed emotions; pride that we achieved so much and sadness that it's all over.

"I have really enjoyed working with the people at SEAT. They are my kind of people - they work extremely hard, they want to win and they know how to enjoy themselves. SEAT has achieved an amazing amount of success the last six years, five of which in the BTCC, and I think the paddock will have a very different feel to it when SEAT isn't there. SEAT in British motorsport has been much bigger than I thought it ever would be.

"Putting the racing to one side, SEAT has had a massive influence on my life - and not just from 2003 to where we are now, but on the rest of my life too. If it wasn't for SEAT I would not have met my wife Sophie and I wouldn't have a wonderful baby daughter. I've got an enormous amount to thank SEAT for."

Darren Turner (7th/DNF/13th) "SEAT took a risk with me at the end of 2005 and gave me an opportunity to drive for them in the 2006 season, even though I had no touring car experience at all at the time, and I shall always be extremely grateful to them for that.

"Although I never really had a good run at the Championship myself, I've had the opportunity to win races, get stuck into the BTCC and enjoy front-wheel drive racing, which is something else I had never done before in my career. It's been a very up and down experience with SEAT, but even at the times when things have been on the back foot and not running that well for me, it's been a great experience. When it's been going really well, like qualifying both cars on the front row of the grid and winning races, it's been the best feeling in the world.

"We've made some great strides with the diesel-engined Leon this year and we would have been extremely competitive next year, so not carrying on in 2009 is a big disappointment - but you have to look what has been achieved in the six years that SEAT has been involved in British motorsport and what a great period that has been. Everyone who has been involved with SEAT Sport UK should be extremely proud of what they have been part of - I know I am. This is the end of a chapter. Life goes on and for me they'll be new chapters, but I know for sure that they won't be as much fun as the SEAT chapter."

Scott Dennis, SEAT UK Motorsport Manager: "Little did we know when SEAT Sport UK recorded its first of forty-three race wins in its BTCC debut race meeting in 2004 at Thruxton that we would have such an impact on the Championship.

"During the subsequent five years SEAT Sport UK has not been afraid to try new things, running the first S2000 car in the Championship, becoming the first manufacturer to run a turbo diesel and taking the first win with a diesel engine car in the fifty year history of the BTCC. We've enjoyed Championship success by becoming Manufacturer and Team Champions, and have narrowly missed out on the Drivers' title on a number of occasions, including this year where, had it not been for a mid-season run of unfortunate results, I'm sure we would have been here at Brands Hatch this weekend defending the Championship lead.

"I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of SEAT Sport UK over the years, without all of their hard work and commitment we would not be able to look back on our journey in the BTCC with the satisfaction of a job well done. I'm very proud of what SEAT Sport UK has achieved.

"I'd also like to thank the many thousands of fans who have supported us during our BTCC campaign."