New backer for SEAT.

Having backed Vauxhall in recent seasons, Holiday Inn is to switch teams for the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season to renew its ties with SEAT.

Holiday Inn was title sponsor to the SEAT Cupra Championship in both 2003 and 2004 and will now feature prominently in the brand new Leon TDis of Jason Plato and Darren Turner - which made their public debuts during yesterday's media day at Rockingham.

As revealed in studio shots released by SEAT earlier this week, Holiday Inn will feature prominently in a new-look yellow and green livery for the season ahead.

"Having had a successful partnership with SEAT in the 2003 and 2004 SEAT Cupra Championship, we are delighted to renew our relationship for the 2008 BTCC season," Chris Hale, vice president of marketing and communications, EMEA at Intercontinental Hotels Group, said. "Holiday Inn and SEAT both share a history of dynamic marketing and innovation in their respective sectors and we look forward in joining forces to push the boundaries both on and off the track."

SEAT UK motorsport manager Scott Dennis was also delighted with the new partnership, which comes as his team becomes the first major manufacturer to run under diesel power in the BTCC.

"We are very pleased that Holiday Inn has chosen SEAT Sport UK as its partner in the BTCC for the 2008 season," he said. "The partnership comes at an exciting time, as not only is the BTCC celebrating its 50th anniversary, but SEAT will be the first manufacturer in that time to enter a diesel powered car.

I'm confident that as the relationship matures through the season, SEAT Sport UK and Holiday Inn will be at the forefront of all that happens in and around the championship."