No diesel SEATs for '09.

SEAT has confirmed that while the two cars raced by Jason Plato and Darren Turner in the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship are available for sale, the TDi engines as raced by the works team in its final year in the series are not part of the package.

SEAT UK motorsport manager Scott Dennis was quoted as saying that the cars had been placed up for sale following the Spanish manufacturers decision to pull out of the UK motorsport scene, which led to speculation that a customer team could elect to continue with the diesel programme into 2009 as an Independent entry.

However, SEAT has now moved to clarify the situation by revealing that, while the two chassis are available for purchase, the TDi powerplants have returned to SEAT in Spain with the deal to run them in the UK this year having been a 'non-transferable' agreement between SEAT UK and SEAT Spain.

"Following reports suggesting that the Leon TDI will be available for customer teams to race in the 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, SEAT Sport UK wishes to clarify that the team's two chassis (as driven by Jason Plato and Darren Turner in 2008) will be put up for sale," a statement read. "The TDi engines, which won ten races in 2008, have been returned to SEAT Sport in Spain and will not be available for customer use in 2009.

"SEAT Sport continues to develop the highly competitive race-winning petrol engine for customer and importer use and SEAT Sport UK running a diesel engine (the only team to do so outside SEAT Sport's WTCC campaign) was a non-transferable agreement between SEAT UK (who own the chassis) and SEAT Sport (who own the engines)."

The Leon TDi ran for the final time in Britain earlier this week when the top four in the SEAT Cupra Championship were given the chance to drive the car at Silverstone as a reward for their performances during the season.