It’s not often you get the chance to have your picture taken at the wheel of a genuine racing car. Motorsport fans in Hatfield will get the chance to do exactly that this Saturday.

Darren Guiver, the Managing Director of Hatfield SEAT, will be unveiling an uprated SEAT Leon Cupra that is set to compete in this year’s Dunlop Production Touring Car series. It will be the first public showing of the car, and it will be at Hatfield SEAT for one day only.

Top local racing driver Luke Caudle will be driving the SEAT in the series and, as his main sponsor for 2012, Hatfield SEAT have provided him with a car to compete for the title.

The uprated Leon Cupra will be available to view all day at Hatfield SEAT, with the official unveiling and handover taking place at 9am on Saturday, March 17. Celebrations will last all day.

“Everyone is welcome to come along to our Hatfield SEAT centre on the Great North Road this Saturday, to have a look at the car, sit in it, take some photos and chat throughout the day to Luke or our members of staff about motorsport,” Darren Guiver says. “We’re really excited about the car, and we wish Luke every success with it.

“We’re also going to be holding a fun competition at the launch, and one lucky winner is going to be enjoying a day out with Luke at a top racing circuit.”

The racing SEAT is based on a standard Leon Cupra, but the power has been uprated from 220bhp to 360bhp. “It’s been stripped down and turned into a racing car with a roll cage, racing seats and so on,” Luke explained. “From the testing we’ve done so far, it should be very quick in a straight line compared to other cars, but also nimble and good round corners. It looks fantastic, and is pretty much ready to race.”

For the past three years, Luke has competed in the Mini Challenge, winning the one-make series cup twice. Now the former karting champion is ready for a new, tougher challenge and to take another step towards his ultimate goal of reaching the British Touring Car Championship.

As part of the ExcelR8 Motorsport team, Luke will be competing in the Dunlop Production Touring Car Cup – against some very talented drivers – with the first of seven rounds taking place at Oulton Park on 24 March.

“It is sure to be an exciting season and I’m confident we can make a strong showing with the SEAT Leon Cupra,” said Luke. “I’d like to thank Hatfield SEAT for all the support they have given me.”

Hatfield SEAT, 168 Great North Road, Hatfield, AL9 5JN Tel: 01707 252222 Web: www.hatfieldseat.co.uk