If you've been paying attention to the hot hatch market over the last couple of years you will be aware of the ongoing ding-dong between Honda and Renault as they attempt to out-gun each other in order to grab the title of fastest front-wheel drive car around the famous Nürburgring. Well, while that's been going on, Spanish firm SEAT has quietly been fettling its new Leon Cupra 280 and getting in some practice laps.
The result? In the capable hands of Jordi Gene, the most powerful production SEAT to date set a lap time of 7 minutes 58.4 seconds, obliterating the previous record set by the Mégane Renaultsport by nigh on 10 seconds.
Anything else?
It's hard to know just how long that record will stand for, as Honda is getting close to revealing an all-new Honda Civic Type R. Whether the Japanese firm had figured SEAT into its original equation remains unclear.