WTCC
Oschersleben: SEAT Sport preview
SEAT Sport gears up for Leon WTCC debut The next two races in the FIA World Touring Car Championship -- at Oschersleben in Germany on August 28th -- will see the SEAT Sport Leon WTCC make its competitive debut. The car received its ...
Published: Aug 20, 2005, 12:55 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
SEAT Sport gears up for Leon WTCC debut
The next two races in the FIA World Touring Car Championship -- at Oschersleben in Germany on August 28th -- will see the SEAT Sport Leon WTCC make its competitive debut. The car received its public unveiling at the Barcelona Motor Show on May 5th and its track debut before the end of the season was promised at that time. Its appearance at Oschersleben, in the hands of Jordi Gene, both fulfils that promise and marks an expansion of the testing programme that began almost immediately after its show-stealing appearance in Barcelona.
Last year, the Oschersleben circuit gave the SEAT Sport team its first win when Rickard Rydell drove his Toledo Cupra to victory. Following more wins for Rydell and Peter Terting this year, both men will drive Toledos in Germany, allowing engineers the perfect opportunity to compare the performances of the old and new cars on one of the team's favourite circuits.
Rickard Rydell: "I think that all three of us have a really good chance of winning; it's a circuit that we know is good for the Toledo, because the chassis works well there, and theoretically it should be good for the Leon as well. The extra downforce will be an advantage in the corners and the straights aren't long enough for the drag to have much of an effect. I can't wait for my first race in the car, which the team has promised will be before the end of the season."
Jordi Gene: "I'm quietly confident. I don't think we should be going to Oschersleben with thoughts of winning with the Leon, although at the same time the car may well surprise a few people! I'm very happy to be given the honour of starting with the car for the first time, but it's still early in its development. It's a great base; it has good suspension geometry and an excellent chassis that works really well in the road car. We still have some work to do to get the best out of the WTCC car, but it's better than the Toledo, that's already clear. The potential is there; the only question mark is when."
Peter Terting: "I have a really good feeling about Oschersleben; I know the circuit well and I don't have much weight in my car. Rickard's win showed that it's a circuit that suits the Toledo -- lots of corners and not many straights. I think that for Jordi, too, it'll be a good circuit. You need lots of braking force in the corners and the Leon has more downforce than the Toledo. This is a great chance for us to test the Leon, not just against the Toledo, but against the BMWs and the Alfas for the first time."
Jaime Puig, SEAT Sport Director: "For the second year in a row, Oschersleben will be very important for SEAT Sport. The best way of testing a new car is to race it and so Oschersleben will accelerate the Leon testing programme. It's also very important for SEAT that both the road car and the racing car are being launched at exactly the same time. We chose to take one Leon and two Toledos to give us a comparison between the two, but the Leon is our future."
-seat-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article CHCA: Land's End preview
Next article Turkish GP: Friday press conference
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jordi Gene
Huff critical of "stupid" Gene after Macau TCR pile-up
TCR
TCR
Macau
Huff critical of "stupid" Gene after Macau TCR pile-up
Team Craft-Bamboo take a one-two victory at Sepang
TCR
TCR
Sepang
Team Craft-Bamboo take a one-two victory at Sepang
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship's latest news
BTCC
BTCC
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship's latest news
Latest news
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
3 h
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe