RML take delivery of BTCC Toledos - 03/03/04

Having been built by SEAT Sport at its motorsport headquarters in Martorell near Barcelona, the two Seat Toledos that will be driven in the 2004 BTCC by Jason Plato and Robert Huff have arrived at the Ray Mallock Limited workshops in Northamptonshire.

The cars will take to a UK track for the first time at the BTCC media day at Donington Park on Tuesday 16 March, before returning to Spain where Plato and Huff will put their cars through three days of intensive high-speed evaluation work at the Albacete circuit. The first photos of the cars, currently sporting an entirely silver paintscheme, can be seen below.

After much speculation, Seat have opted for a 4-cylinder 2000cc petrol engine for the European-spec car, but state that an evaluation programme will continue on the diesel option.

Mark Busfield, Project Manager at RML, said: “Our priority is to learn about the SEAT Toledo Cupra as quickly as we can. That will include a very detailed analysis of the car, starting from the front and working our way to the back, assessing it on a static rig and really getting to understand the car’s genetic makeup.”

It is currently unknown how the ETCC spec cars will compare with those built to BTCC regulations. The BTCC media day at Donington Park will provide the first opportunity for the two to run on the same at the same time.