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Formerly | SEAT Sport |
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Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Automotive |
Predecessor | SEAT Special Vehicles department |
Founded | 1985 |
Headquarters | Abrera, Catalonia, Spain |
Products | Performance cars Racing cars |
Parent | SEAT S.A. |
Website | cupraofficial.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, in a partnership with Abt Sportsline as Abt Cupra, is currently competing in the electric motorsport championship Formula E since 2022. Abt Cupra formerly competed in the all-electric SUV off-road racing series Extreme E from 2021 to 2023.