Spanish duo boosts SEATs hopes

Jordi Gené and Arnau Niubó are two important components of the SEAT Sport WTCC team, and they have a very special relationship. Both are Spanish, both have a special responsibility regarding the development of the cars and they work almost as one.

This allows them to master any challenges including the development and race debut of the SEAT León TDI.

Gené has been with SEAT Sport right from the beginning of their international touring car project. He raced the Toledo Cupra in the 2003 FIA European Touring Car Championship, gave the León its FIA WTCC debut at Oschersleben in 2005 and, along with Yvan Muller, gave the Leon TDI its WTCC race debut at the latest meeting in Anderstorp.

Jordi has played a significant role in every major development of SEAT Sport’s touring car programme and he has become a passionate ambassador for the brand, as well as a highly respected WTCC race winner. When he joined SEAT Sport in 2002, his current race engineer, Arnau Niubó, was already there – having joined in 1998, working in the technical office on the FIA WRC project.

This year has been one of the busiest for Jordi and Arnau. It’s the first time the Spanish duo have worked together as driver/race engineer, and they have also been developing the 280 hp diesel-engined SEAT León.

“I have known Arnau ever since I joined SEAT Sport, but this year is the first time he has worked as my race engineer. One of the best things about him is that he is very clever at analysing my car and the other cars around. He knows exactly what everyone is doing, what works for some drivers and not for others and what I like, so he is able to pull together a lot of different data and use it for my specific needs. Since I have been working with him this year, I have realised that the very small details that he can give me has really helped my driving. He knows me and knows how to get the best out of me,” said Gené.

And Niubó echoed: “Jordi is not only a really fast driver, he has an exceptional feeling for the car, with a lot of racing experience, a big amount of racing car knowledge and the capacity to give feedback about the car’s behaviour. He is one of the most complete drivers in the FIA WTCC, a driver who makes the engineer’s work easier! It’s like having an extra engineer driving the car.

This has been a big help in developing the new car with the TDI engine which is heavier, and this extra weight on the front axle is distributed in a different way. This make a lot of difference and means it is necessary to make adjustments to the engine’s mapping and at the general set-up. Thanks to Jordi’s experience, this process has been rapid and effective.”