The launch of the second-generation SEAT Ibiza in 1993 was a historic milestone for the brand, because it was the first car to be built at the new Martorell plant. It was also the model chosen to completely revamp SEAT’s presence in the drivers’ promotion cups.

In those years, SEAT’s participation in competition was twofold: on the one hand, international programmes for technicians and engineers to gain experience and also to boost the brand’s image; on the other hand, to contribute to training new generations of drivers.

The Ibiza II was to be the basis for both challenges in the mid-1990s: the Ibiza Kit Car programme took over from the Toledo Marathon and gave SEAT its first world titles in the FIA World Rally Championship for Makes; and the Ibiza Cups in tarmac and gravel allowed hundreds of drivers to get started in rallying with a competitive car at a low cost.

SEAT’s tradition in the area of promotion began in the 1970s with the Formula SEAT 1430 track racing series. In 1981, the Panda Rally Cup was born, in which a young Carlos Sainz made his debut. The first Ibiza Cup was launched in 1985 with the model’s first generation, and in 1987 came the Marbella Cup, first in gravel rallies and then on tarmac. The little Marbella was active until 1993, when the Martorell factory was inaugurated and the new Ibiza II was launched.

This was the moment chosen by SEAT to revamp its promotion cups. Based on the Ibiza GTI, powered by a 2.0-litre, 115 HP naturally aspirated engine, SEAT Sport created the Ibiza Cup in 1994, first in the Spanish Gravel Rally Championship. With the backing offered by SEAT, the car cost 1,900,000 Pts. ready to race.

SEAT test driver Toni Rius was in charge of developing the rally kit supplied by SEAT Sport, which included all the obligatory safety components (roll-bar, safety harness, bucket seats, fire extinguishing equipment). The engine was the standard one, with the engine mounts reinforced and the exhaust modified, keeping the catalytic converter. The car received a close-ratio gearbox fitted by SEAT Sport, and reinforcements to the suspension and brakes.

Although the engine was strictly stock, the leap forward in the new Ibiza Cup was spectacular: from the 55 HP of the Marbella Cup to 115, more than double. The excellent sporting base of the new car became clear when Toni Rius and Manel Casanova took part as a test in the first round of the 1994 Spanish Gravel Rally Championship, on 9th April in the Villa de Llanes Rally: at the wheel of the Ibiza Cup, they were fifth overall and second in the 2WD category.

At the second round of the championship, on 21 May in Logroño, the Ibiza Cup finally got underway, with the experienced Carles Solé as the first winner. However, the Ibiza Cup’s first champion was a very young 20-year-old Salvador Cañellas, who won four rallies to Solé’s two. Cañellas was making his debut in rallying that year with the Ibiza Cup and was the son of SEAT Competición’s first works driver, Salvador Cañellas, who in 1972 had been double Spanish rally and Formula 1430 champion.

The results of the Ibiza Cup confirmed what had been noted in the car’s debut in Rius’ hands: Cañellas and Solé climbed to the overall podium in several rallies, ahead of more powerful 4-wheel drive cars. At the end of the season, Solé was overall runner-up in the Spanish Gravel Rally Championship (Cañellas was sixth) and champion in the 2WD category with the Ibiza Copa.

Towards the end of 1994, the new 130 HP Ibiza GTI 16v was unveiled. Thus, the SEAT range came to offer two “GTIs” and in 1995 there were also two Ibiza Cups. The Ibiza Gravel Cup continued with the Ibiza 2.0 GTI and the new Tarmac Cup was contested with the new Ibiza GTI 16v. Salvador Cañellas switched to the Tarmac Cup and was runner-up to Metodio Ferradas. Cañellas won the Ibiza Tarmac Cup in 1997, when it was run with the new Ibiza CUPRA, and the following year he was a works SEAT driver in the World Championship with the Ibiza Kit Car.

In 2000, the new Ibiza 1.8 20VT was run in both the Gravel and Tarmac Ibiza Cups, until 2002, when SEAT came back to racing with the new one-make Supercopa León, the prelude to the brand’s new world titles in the World Touring Car Championship.

Due to their low cost, high prizes and the competitiveness of the car, the Ibiza Cups were the most profitable formula for motorsport. In 1994, around fifteen drivers competed, with a total of almost 40 in the 1999 Gravel Cup, and a further 25 in the Tarmac Cup. SEAT Sport provided free assistance to the drivers and strict control of the car specifications to ensure technical equality. SEAT even offered a driving course to the participants, given by Toni Rius on the test track at SEAT’s Martorell Technical Centre.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 1993 Ibiza II, SEAT HISTÓRICOS recovered this old SEAT Sport unit in 2023, which was the test car used to develop the Ibiza Cup evolutions. Painted like the car that made that excellent debut with Rius in the 1994 Villa de Llanes rally, it is now back in action in regularity events for historic cars.