Gethin Aims to Put Wales on the SEAT Cupra Racing Map

09 October 2003

Monmouthshire racing driver Gethin Jones is aiming to contest the 2004 SEAT Cupra Championship, after reaching the final of ITV’s Racing Rivals Scholarship Drive Competition.
 
The talented 33-year old racing driver from Chepstow was one of 10 finalists invited to the Holiday Inn SEAT Super Prix at Brands Hatch last weekend to find out who had won a paid drive in the 2004 SEAT Cupra Championship. The name of the winner was kept a closely guarded secret, right up until the winner’s name was announced, in true Pop Idol style, by Racing Rivals presenters Nell McAndrew and Jason Plato in front of the television cameras. 
 
Although London rival Oli Wilkinson won the Racing Rivals Scholarship Drive Competition, Gethin’s driving skill and professionalism impressed the judges enormously.
 
For the last two years Gethin, a former Welsh Auto Test and British National Formula 2 Rally Champion, has been winning awards in racing and his success at reaching the final of the Racing Rivals Scholarship Drive Competition has encouraged him to press on and put a deal together to race in the SEAT Cupra Championship next season. Beating Wilkinson and proving the judges wrong, is also on his agenda!
 
Gethin said: “It was a great experience to get through as one of the ten finalists, especially as the competition attracted thousands of entries from around the country. Obviously I was disappointed not to win, but it’s made me all the more determined to put a deal together and race in next year’s SEAT Cupra Championship. I’d be the first driver from Wales to race in the series, and I really need the support of Welsh companies to make it happen, because finding the financial support to enter the series is my first battle. Ten million people watched the Racing Rivals series on ITV this year and the SEAT Cupra Championship received an enormous amount of press coverage, so to a commercial partner it’s one of the most cost-effective sponsorship deals available in British motorsport today. Once I’m on the grid, I’m confident I can do extremely well. I’d only be there to try and win, that’s for sure!”
 
Having correctly answered three motorsport questions on ITV2’s Racing Rivals programme, Gethin was one of 100 drivers who were selected to go through to the next elimination stage, a karting tournament held at GP Karting in Northampton on Monday 15th September. Here a series of theoretical and practical tests allowed the panel of independent motorsport experts (made up of specialists in the motor racing industry, independent judges from ITV and SEAT and also several drivers from the 2003 Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship) to assess each contestant’s potential as a future professional racing driver.
 
Gethin won his way through to the next stage of evaluation with flying colours, and was one of 25 drivers who went to the ProdriveLive facility in Warwickshire on Wednesday 17th September. After further driving skills and aptitude tests, a final 10 were selected and invited back to ProdriveLive on Monday 22nd September for the Grand Final – which included timed high-speed laps in SEAT Leon Cupra Rs. The winner was the driver with the highest number of points accumulated over the course of the competition.

See series calendar for SEAT Cupra Championship 2003

Related Story 28.09.2003 - Stefan Wins £30,000 SEAT Super Prix Top Prize