Seat Ibiza Cup, our test on the track with the racing version - Sports Cars

Forget sports buttons, traction controls and various aids: a racing car is the ultimate expression of driving, even if it's a simple Seat Ibiza... Last weekend I drove this car out to the track for the second stage of the race. Seat Ibiza Cup Monobrand Championship... This is a very successful and tenacious championship, and also quite affordable (the race costs 7.000 euros with the possibility of changing two drivers).

Le smooth tires, crossbars, racing brakes transform the little Spaniard into an object that is very different from the Cupra road. If you think that on a track like Misano this car turns about six seconds faster than the 6bhp BW M560, you can get an idea of ​​the speed that a small car can handle. 200 hp.

Il 1.4 TFSI engine with a positive displacement compressor and a turbine, and DSG gearbox a standard car, but with a racing ECU.

Inside, you sit very low, there's only one seat, and the only controls you have are two levers that let you turn on the car, headlights, and wipers. The four-point harness makes it feel like salami, and the left window is electric, thank God. The OMP racing steering wheel has two paddle shifters, and a selector lever (which isn't very nice to look at) is standard.

As with any racing car, so far smooth tires not to reach the temperature, it is better to walk calmly, in order to avoid unnecessary straightforwardness and spinning. After bumping into tires and brakes, you can gradually start to pull. The steering is light but progressive and highly detailed. You feel that the car has been stripped of all those extra pounds, and it feels like you are driving on a very hard can. The front is softer than you might imagine, the braking is steep, and in the driest braking sections, the little Seat wags its tail like a dog that wants to play; in fact it is always on three wheels, if not two. It may sound frustrating, but once you get used to it, you can be sure that it will wag its tail without betraying you.

The best way to drive it is to enter corners with brakes and try to switch from brake to gas as soon as possible by doing your job limited slip differential from the corners. There are those who ride it clean, or those who ride kart with steering strokes in the insert, and the rear is adjusted to be as flexible as possible. The capture of slicks is sensational, at least until they wear out, after which the "soapy" phase begins. In any case, if you get off Ibiza and get on the Leon Cupra road, you will feel like you are boarding a bus.

I brakes they are the only "strange" part of this machine. They are equipped servo and ABSbut their operation is not the same as that of a road car. You need to brake hard, but not too hard, otherwise there is a risk that the system will fail and you will dig a new tunnel. But the braking force is great, and once you get the pressure you want, you can detach 100 times in a row at the same point and be sure it will stop.

È funny car, ballerina and fast enough... It won't be the most accurate and made up of front-wheel drive racing cars, but detaching at the bottom of Misano's corner from Ibiza sideways is as exciting as few things in the world.