The world’s first driverless touring car

Seat Sport UK is pioneering breathtaking new technology that could soon deliver the ultimate in 21st Century motor racing – the driverless touring car. Cutting-edge developments in electronics, virtual reality and on-board computers have enabled the Seat team to create probably the most advanced remote control car in the world.
The unique Leon Touring Car could potentially join the two other Seat Sport track cars – operated in more traditional fashion by humans Jason Plato and Darren Turner – in the 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Using a system developed in the UK by Seat, called Telematics Remote-Information Control Kit, this car opens up all sorts of possibilities on the race circuit.

Controlled with the help of numerous on-board cameras, microphones and a plethora of computer data, the ‘Virtual Leon’ could give real drivers a stiff challenge. Indeed, at its first outing in a recent test at Rockingham, the sophisticated Leon put in a lap time marginally quicker than both Plato’s and Turner’s.
Of course, no piece of advanced technology can exist without the considerable skills and dedication of a top development team.