Jordi Gené and Arnau Niubó are two important components of the Seat Sport team in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and they have a very special driver/race engineer relationship. Both are Spanish, both have a special responsibility regarding the development of the cars and they work almost as one – such is the special understanding they have with each other.

This allows them to master any challenges – the most recent one being the development and race debut of the Seat León TDI WTCC. Jordi Gené has been with Seat Sport right from the beginning of its international touring car project. He has raced the Toledo Cupra in the 2003 FIA European Touring Car Championship, gave the Seat León its FIA World Touring Car Championship debut at Oschersleben in Germany in 2005 and, along with Yvan Muller, gave the Seat Leon TDI its WTCC race debut at the most recent 2007 WTCC race meeting at Anderstorp in Sweden. Jordi has played a significant role in every major development of Seat Sport’s touring car programme and he has become a passionate ambassador for the brand, as well as a highly respected and race winning WTCC driver. 

When he joined Seat Sport in 2002, his current Race Engineer, Arnau Niubó, was already there – having joined Seat Sport in 1998, working initially in the technical office on the FIA World Rally Championship project (with drivers such as Harri Rovenperä, Toni Gardemeister, Piero Liatti and Didier Auriol). He then worked on the road-going Cupra performance car project and then in the ETCC and WTCC. This year has been one of the busiest for Jordi and Arnau. It’s the first time the Spanish duo have worked together as driver/race engineer, and if contesting the 22-race WTCC wasn’t challenging enough, they have also been developing the 280 hp diesel-engined Seat León. Here, we ask Jordi and Arnau to talk about their relationship with each other and delve into a world of closely guarded secrets, strategies and how they motivate and encourage each other on a personal level. 

Jordi Gené on Arnau Niubó 
“I have known Arnau ever since I joined Seat Sport, but this year is the first time he has worked as my Race Engineer.  We have such a strong team and such an incredible level of knowledge that all the engineers at Seat Sport could run a car in the WTCC.  Look at Toni Cuquerella.  Last year he was our engineer at Seat Sport, and now he does the same job in Formula 1 [Race Engineer for Anthony Davidson at Super Aguri F1 Team]. neers at Seat Sport. Personally, one of the best things about Arnau is that he is very clever at analysing my car and the other cars around.  He knows exactly what everyone is doing, what works for some drivers and not for others and what I like, so he is able to pull together a lot of different data and use it for my specific needs. 

Since I have been working with Arnau this year, I have realised that the very small details that he can give me has really helped my driving.  He knows me and he knows how to get the best out of me.   Technically I cannot say if he is the best engineer that I have had, because at this level they all are excellent race engineers, but on a personal level Arnau is very good and motivates me. This strong relationship helps at all levels, one of which is conquering the challenge of developmen  the new León TDI WTCC. One of the aspects of my work that I most like is the development of new cars and new technologies. Throughout several months of work, before the car made its debut in Anderstorp, Arnau’s help has been fundamentally important since the beginning of the TDI programme, as he has matched the regulations to the car’s own characteristics and made the adjustments to make a petrol-engined car work with a diesel engine.  

Arnau certainly understands me very well. When I say something, he knows exactly what I mean, even by the tone of my voice he knows how serious I feel the problem is! This way we can get straight to the heart of a problem, and being able to work quickly like this is certainly an advantage when time is limited on a busy race weekend. I live twenty minutes away from Seat Sport, and I often call in to have a coffee and discuss what’s happening.  I have a very good relationship with the team, I feel very comfortable with everyone and for me it is like visiting friends. I really like to go there.  Sometimes I go there because I need to talk to Arnau and go over some data, and sometimes it’s just to say hello.”

Arnau Niubó on Jordi Gené 
“The relationship between Jordi and me is really close.  Work starts one week before the race weekend, when we analyse all the information we have about the track and discuss the main car set-up points. Once we are at the track, we always walk around the circuit and define the race weekend strategy. When race weekend is on, after each practice session we spend a lot of time analysing data acquisition.  It’s essential information which allows us to decide the car set-up changes for the next session and also to find the best driving lines. Jordi stands out for his professionalism. Not only is he a really fast driver, he’s a driver with an exceptional feeling for the car, with a lot of racing experience, a big amount of racing car knowledge and a big capacity to give feedback about the car’s behaviour to the race engineer.

For all these reasons, Jordi is one of the most complete drivers in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. He’s a driver with whom it is a pleasure to work with and, definitively, a driver who makes the race engineer’s work easier! I work with Jordi not just at race weekends, but at tests and during the week too. Jordi knows the León perfectly and his technical knowledge of the car is massive.  He is able to give me a lot of information and because of this we have a better chance of getting the set-up right. Because he knows the León so well, Jordi can give me exactly the direction he wants to go.  He is more than a driver; working with Jordi is like having an extra engineer driving the car. It is a huge help to an engineer.” 

This has been a big help in developing the new car with the TDI engine. The diesel engined León is heavier because the regulations say it must be, and this extra weight on the front axle is distributed in a different way. This make a lot of difference and means it is necessary to make adjustments to the engine’s mapping and at the general set-up. Thanks to Jordi's experience, this process has been rapid and effective and I am sure that in certain circuits the new León TDI WTCC can offer an excellent performance yield.”