Rochdale racer Waterworth opens the SEAT Cupra floodgates

Date published: 17/01/2006

Neil Waterworth is the first driver to officially sign up to compete in the 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship, after committing to the series at the Autosport International Show.

The 29-year-old company director from Rochdale won the Fiesta XR2 Championship in 2001 and for the last three years has been racing in the Clio Cup. For 2006, his 250PS turbo-charged SEAT Leon Cupra R will be run by Total Control Racing (TCR), the highly-experienced racing team from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, and will appear in a striking black and orange livery with backing from Swift Electrical Supplies, Sensernet Homes, Awesome GTI and Paul Smith Media.

Neil has already taken delivery of his new car and will test the Leon for the first time at Donington Park on 26 January.

Neil said: “I’m really looking forward to racing in the SEAT Cupra Championship, because from a sporting point of view it’s a step up from the Clio Cup.  The prize money is very attractive too – you get £10,000 for finishing fifth in the SEAT Cupra Championship, which is the same as the top prize for winning the Clio title!  I’ll be aiming to finish on the podium as much as possible in 2006 and I think that I have a good chance of scoring some very good results.  Rob Huff was the first person to sign for the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2003 and he went on to win the title that year and he’s now racing in the World Touring Car Championship, so I hope that’s a good omen.”