RACER DEVELOPED
Touring car ace Jordi Gené now lists Cupra road car development on his CV. James Attwood meets him
When Seat Sport entered the FIA European Touring Car Championship in 2003, Jordi Gené was one of the first drivers it signed. Fifteen years later, and with a few detours along the way, Gené is still a key part of the team, but things are a little different at the team’s Abrera workshop.
Seat Sport has become Cupra Racing, so there’s a new logo above the door. What goes on inside is different too: the squad doesn’t currently run a works programme but it builds the new Cupra Leon TCR touring car, supporting customer teams that run them in various championships across the world. Cupra Racing is also developing an electric version of the car, the e-racer, which is being used to showcase a planned EV tin-top series.
So while Gené, now 47, might not be racing as regularly as he did when he was a key part of Seat’s European and world touring car assaults, he’s busier than ever, with his role now encompassing driving and development work for the Seat and Cupra brands. His experience means that, when the company wanted a tame racing driver to give an honest appraisal of the new Cupra Ateca, Gené was called into action.
What was your reaction when you first heard about the Cupra Ateca?
“Honestly, I was not a fan of SUVS. I’m a racing driver, so I’ve always wanted a low car that’s wide and aggressive. That was until I drove the Cupra Ateca for the first time: I had some of the same feelings in it you get in a low, wide car. Before I’d driven it, I wondered why the Ateca was going to be the first Cupra model. Once I drove it I realised why.”
What role did you play in the Cupra Ateca’s development?
“They called me to get my opinion. With the Leon Cupra R I was responsible for part of it, but this was testing the first prototypes and giving my opinion on how I feel about it, how the suspension feels. I like to drive prototypes, any type of prototype, whether it’s a Mii or a Tarraco, although I usually find it more enjoyable more to go and drive a Leon on the Nordschleife. But I thought, ‘well, let’s go and see what this car produces’. When I did I was really surprised, and I said ‘wow’.”
How does driving the Cupra Ateca on a circuit compare to a performance car such as the Leon Cupra R?
“One of the risks of driving this Ateca on a track is that you quickly compare it to cars that are designed to have track functionality. But it is physics: if the car is higher and a bit heavier, it’s difficult to perform exactly the same. But with all the electronics on the car and the Dynamic Chassis Control suspension, the work we’ve done in the roll bars and the four-wheel drive system, all these little things make the car capable of performing on a race track surprisingly well.
“What you really notice on a circuit is what a huge step it is from a regular Ateca. It sits a bit lower, and thanks to the suspension work you get a much nicer feeling when you change
direction. You really notice the difference through a tight chicane.”
Have you had a chance to drive the Cupra Ateca away from the track?
“I was lucky because the first time I tested it was in winter and they let me keep the car to use over Christmas, which is very unusual. I went on a skiing holiday with my family and some friends, and each day we took the kids to ski school for 8am, up in the mountains.
“Several of my friends drive premium sports cars and they were very surprised when I’d overtake them in the Ateca. They were like ‘hey, that’s not just your [racing driver’s] hands, that was uphill out of a corner. What have you got in there?’ They realised the Cupra Ateca was something special. I really enjoyed that.
You’ve driven for Seat for a long time now. How are you finding the change to Cupra?
“I’m very old now, although I still feel young! But yes, I’ve been at Seat for many years. I still like to race but it’s not going to last forever. I’ll keep going as long as I have fun and I’m fast. As soon as one of those two things stops, that will be it.
“I’m lucky the relationship I have with Seat has gone on so long and they now like my opinions when they develop a car. It’s a relationship growing from sport into other areas, and that will continue with Cupra.”
Cupra is also developing an electric TCR racer. What’s that like to drive?
“It’s a new challenge again. When the team first told me they were developing it, I wasn’t sure: I’ve driven an electric car on the road, and it was a bit boring.
“But when I drove the e-racer I went ‘woah, this is not boring’. There’s lots of power, lots of torque. There are still some bad things – it’s very heavy, for example – but the technology is changing quickly and there are already some things that are better than combustion-engined race cars. It’s a good path to follow.”
WHEN I DROVE THE E-RACER I WENT ‘WHOAH, THIS IS NOT BORING’