Seat: End of the line

The sun is setting on Seat's WRC effort

It has been a disappointing year for Seat - the company has already decided to pull out of the world rally championship, and quits after the Rally of Great Britain with its tail between its legs.

The Spanish company, now owned by the giant Volkswagen Audi Group, entered the world championship with its Cordoba model in 1998, after several successful years competing with the Ibiza on a national level.

But the new car's performance never matched up to expectations, despite a budget that is reputed to be at least as large as much more successful Ford's.

And after a third year of disappointment in 2000, the company's top brass has decided to pull the plug on the world championship at the end of the year.

Disappointing results

That was despite the occasional promising result, like a fourth place on the first rally of the season, in Monte Carlo, for Toni Gardemeister and a third place on the Safari for Didier Auriol.

The Rally GB, then, will be the last time that Seat competes on the world stage for some time.

Doubtless it would like to go out on a high, but the results of this season, which have been disappointing to say the least, suggest this is an unlikely eventuality.