An unusual thing happened in the run up to the Daytona 24 Hours. A searing orange Cupra lined up for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge support race and while its result wasn’t noteworthy, its position on the grid was. Here was a car not (yet) sold in American showrooms permitted to enter an IMSA race.

“We have officially announced that we will be there on the ground by the end of the decade,” says the firm’s global head of racing, Xavi Serra. “That was enough for them to make an agreement. They are happy that we are coming to the States.” Cupra says that plan remains despite the uncertainty around tariffs.

The IMSA outing was an important moment for its latest Leon VZ TCR, which was launched in 2024 and has claimed European and Mexican TCR titles. “The best way to sell cars is make one that wins races, and we’ve been a European champion,” says development driver and former World Touring Car competitor Jordi Gené. “We need a car that is driveable for amateurs and experienced drivers alike. A nice improvement over the previous model is a geometry that makes the front tyres more usable. It has greater reactions, which is good against the stopwatch as well as for tyre wear. That was our main target.”

“It has greater reactions, which is good against the stopwatch”

The TCR (Touring Car Racing) rulebook is celebrating its tenth anniversary, launched a decade ago to boost tin-top racing at regional, national and global levels plus endurance events. Over 1500 competitor cars have since been produced by 16 different manufacturers, all with their front wheels driven by a turbocharged engine capped at 2 litres and 350bhp. Cupra can claim an intrinsic link to TCR racing, too, the rulebook informed by the Seat Leon Supercopa one-make series, especially in regard to aerodynamics.

With each TCR car kept closely related to its showroom cousins, costs are relatively low to lure in customer entries. The World Touring Car Championship switched to TCR regulations for its 2018 season, morphing into the FIA-sanctioned World Touring Car Cup. Championships have been established in over 30 countries since 2015, the UK hosting one for the last seven years. Its opening weekend of 2025 saw Cupras spread handsomely across the Donington grid with a VZ TCR already in the chase for the title.

The latest Leon offers two sequential transmission options, with identical six-speed ratios and similar differential settings. While teams might choose the Sadev for its greater endurance racing potential – “it works better when there are low grip conditions towards the end of a race,” says Jordi – others might prefer the cheaper Hewland due to sponsorship opportunities in their local market. Even Gené admits there’s little to tell the two apart in most conditions.

It does mean the old DSG option has gone. The road-spec ’box proved popular with amateur and endurance drivers thanks to its ‘indestructible’ reputation, but it was also twice the weight of a sequential and dented performance. Cupra is confident its latest transmissions are hardy and user-friendly enough to please more cautious customers who’ll now benefit from brisker lap times. Many, however, might continue to run older dual-clutch cars with Cupra Racing support. Which also covers the now discontinued Audi RS3 and VW Golf GTI TCR, which were manufactured alongside previous Leons at the firm’s Martorell base.

This new 2025 car is otherwise very close to stock, its engine just like you’ll find in a Cupra Leon hot hatchback. The EA888 2-litre TSI remains completely standard save for a new oil cap, air filter and a minor ECU fiddle that increases its power to 335bhp. Barely any more than you’ll find in the raciest Leon road car, only here it has a much slimmer 1105kg to propel. While the steel shell and panels carry over from the showroom, its additional aero accoutrements are carved from carbon. The front subframe is standard, but the uprights and Alcon brakes attached to it are bespoke to the TCR. It takes around 130 hours to transform a standard Leon shell into a finished VZ touring car in the Cupra workshop.

“The success of the TCR category is based on the concept that we can share parts,” says Xavi. “If we had designed the car for pure performance and maximum price it would be double the cost, or even more. And the magic would be gone.”

This particular car represents what you’d get right out of the box if you spent the £125,000 (before options) to purchase a Leon VZ TCR. Its front camber sits at 5.5 degrees, roughly halfway in its range, while it uses the Hewland transmission and its rear wing is set to a neutral aero profile. It sits on the stock Kumho slicks of several worldwide TCR championships; slicks which have been coddled all morning by tyre warmers as we wait for a wintry blanket of mist to leave Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

At which point Gené leads me out in an aggressively driven pace car whose coattails I’ll hang onto as we navigate slippery, single-digit temperatures. Once I’ve mastered its snappy ceramic clutch, the Leon’s controls are pretty user-friendly. Its left-most pedal is naturally only needed in the pitlane and shifting through the six ratios is done by the same, stubby plastic paddles as Cupra’s road cars. That feels a damp squib when its ballsy bodywork builds anticipation for hulking, fixed metal shifters, but it’s an easy shortcut to getting comfy in a device much more serious than its road-going relation – no matter how many parts it shares.

“The engine revs harder than any EA888 I’ve experienced”

It’s no pushover. The early laps have a few fraught moments as those Kumhos scrabble for grip, the nose of the Leon washing wide into corners with even modest entry speeds and its wheels spinning on exit. It’s a game of patience, then, pushing it hard enough to generate some heat underfoot but without demanding too much of the front end. Soon enough, its open-top steering wheel is generating the hyperactive responses Jordi promised with a vivid stream of communication as it does so. I’m braking later and later, getting the rear axle to unhook ever-so-slightly to pivot me into the Spanish GP layout’s more challenging turns. In short, you can drive this like a hot hatch, the stock Cupra’s characteristics alive and well in its TCR cousin – with yet more aggression possible once you delve deeper into its set-up potential.

The engine revs harder than any EA888 I’ve previously experienced while an anti-lag system punctuates the chilly morning air beautifully. The ’box feels great too, its shifts rapid, though the automated rev-matching on downshifts isn’t quite tuned to the grip conditions today, resulting in occasional breaks in traction. They’re easily managed, and I’m having a ball – the car beneath me is a resilient and eager partner to start building my talent and slicing my laptimes with. It gets better as I become smoother.

All too soon, Jordi indicates us back into the pitlane and my half-dozen laps are over. But the bug has bitten and what I wouldn’t give to fold myself through its narrow rollcage aperture once again. Whether it’s here in Barcelona, over the Atlantic in Daytona – or beyond.

TCR: race calendar ’25

Where to see Cupras, and more, this season

The 2025 UK TCR Championship is already underway, with five rounds complete from a total of 17 (split across seven race weekends). The first two weekends were both at Donington Park; the series then calls in at Silverstone, Croft, Oulton Park and Snetterton before the season wraps up at Brands Hatch in early November – alongside the British Truck Racing Championship. If you fancy getting stuck in, there are ‘arrive and drive’ opportunities listed on the UK TCR website (tcr-uk.co.uk).

Silverstone National
May 17-18, Rounds 6, 7 & 8

Croft Full Circuit
June 14-15, Rounds 9, 10 & 11

Oulton Park Island
July 5, Rounds 12 & 13

Snetterton 300
September 13-14, Rounds 14 & 15

Brands Hatch Indy
November 1-2, Rounds 16 & 17

2025 results
Donington Park National
March 22-23, Rounds 1 & 2 winner: Adam Shepherd (Cupra Leon Competicion TCR); Round 3 winner: Callum Newsham (Hyundai i30 N TCR)

Donington Park Grand Prix
April 5-6 Round 4 winner: Brad Hutchison (Cupra Leon Competicion TCR); Round 5 winner: Sam Laidlaw (Cupra Leon VZ TCR)

2025 CUPRA LEON VZ TCR

Engine 2 litres, four cylinders, turbo
Power 335bhp
Transmission Six-speed sequential, FWD
Weight 1105kg 0-60mph 5.0secs (est)
Top speed 160mph (est)
Price From £125,000