SEAT UK has decided that it will not participate in the British Touring Car Championship in 2009.

This year will also mark the end of the SEAT Cupra Championship, the popular one-make series that has nurtured talented drivers on their way to a place in either the BTCC or WTCC.

Offering the biggest prize pot in British motorsport, this series was first run in the UK in 2003.

Since the start of its activities in British motorsport, as well as on a wider stage with the World Touring Car Championship, SEAT has successfully strengthened its sporty and lively credentials.

Steve Robertson, SEAT UK Head of Marketing, said: "SEAT has enjoyed six very successful seasons in British motorsport —five of them in the BTCC — and it is fair to say that through both touring cars and the SEAT Cupra Championship, the brand's image has been massively enhanced. This is emphatically demonstrated through sales of our hot hatches ˆ the UK is the world's biggest market for the Leon Cupra, for example, while FR and Cupra combined account for over 30 per cent of Leon sales in this country."

The firm's roll call of drivers — Rob Huff, James Thompson, Luke Hines, James Pickford and Tom Coronel, as well as current duo Darren Turner, of Banbury, and Oxford's Jason Plato — have helped secure the 2006 Manufacturers' Trophy, the 2007 Teams' Trophy, as well as the first win for a diesel car in the 50-year history of the championship.