Tarquini Victory Seals World Championship Title for Honda Civic

Tarquini Victory Seals World Championship Title for Honda Civic

Gabriele Tarquini won the Race 2 at Sonoma, California yesterday to secure the FIA World Touring Car Manufacturers Championship for Honda. This was the 19th win of his career.

Gabriele Tarquini

 

Honda showcased the Civic's competitive pedigree with the victory and finishes of third and fifth. Tarquini got on to a great start and took victory 2.4 seconds ahead of the second place man. Norbert Michelisz set the fastest lap in his bid for second whilst Tiago Monteiro fought hard to reach fifth after starting 8th.

“My start was like a masterpiece to get ahead of the rear wheel drive car and once ahead I just kept the pace to maintain the gap in front. It is a great victory for me and the team and a very special win for Honda,” said the experienced Italian as he mounted the victory podium. With six races left, Gabriele is still in the running for the Drivers’ Championship after moving up to second in the table.

Michelisz had to defend his position against the current Championship leader and in the process, he clearly demonstrated his talents along with the Civic's prowess. “For me and the Zengo Motorsport team a place on the podium here means so much. It is a drivers’ circuit so I am pleased to get this result. The Honda is superb and we get better and better as the season moves on so I am really looking forward to Japan and the last races of the year,” said Norbi.

Tiago Monteiro also had a strong showing at Sonoma. “I have had some bad luck days this season but when you come to this great circuit and get these results it makes everyone happy. Now we move to Suzuka where I started with the Civic last year right at the start of our development program so it will be great to see how far we have moved forward.”

As shared by Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project leader for WTCC development from Honda R & D, it had been a perfect weekend for the team. We look forward to Honda's home race at next WTCC event at Suzuka on 22 September where an additional Honda Civic WTCC will be driven in that event by Takuya Izawa!

Honda Unveils Civic Tourer Concept at Geneva Motor Show

Honda unveiled the concept of the new Civic Tourer model at the Geneva Motor Show on 5 March, 2013. The concept exemplifies the design themes that Honda has adopted for the current generation of the European Civic. 



The Tourer is slated to be introduced in early 2014. The production version could be seen as early as September at Frankfurt. While we are not expecting the Tourer to make it to Asia, we would love the sharp, angular design elements as well as the sloping roof line and front lightings to make it into the Asian models!

New Civic Type R to be tested at Nurburgring

Honda announced that testing at the Nurburgring for the new model will begin in late 2013. While there has been no news of a Japanese version, the new technologies demonstrated in Honda’s World Touring Car Championship Civic certainly shows that Honda has responded to the automobile trends worldwide.

Zengő Motorsport Selects Honda’s Civic for WTCC

The Hungarian-based private team Zengő Motorsport confirmed today that they will enter the next two seasons of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) with the Honda Civic WTCC. The car will be driven by Hungarian driver Norbert Michelisz.

William De Braekeleer, Motorsport Manager Honda Motor Europe Ltd., said of the announcement:

“We have always been committed to making the Civic WTCC available to private teams, so we couldn’t be more delighted with today’s announcement.”

“Zengő Motorsport is an extremely professional outfit and Norbert Michelisz a very respected and talented driver. We are really honoured by their choice and the trust they are putting in the Civic WTCC. We are pleased to be able to count on such a player to help us in the manufacturer title’s fight and it is our aim to provide them with the best package to achieve their own goal. Of course this also means an extra challenge for our own works team, but this is what racing is all about!”

He added: “Zengő Motorsport was the first of many teams, both within and outside the WTCC, to express an interest in racing the Civic WTCC. But whilst we would love to make further cars available in the future, we are currently limiting it to one private team.”

Zoltán Zengő, the team principal said:

“With Honda on board we have the perfect partner to fulfill our new goals; namely to fight for the World Championship.”

“I have to thank Honda Hungary for their support and to every member of my team, to whom I’m very proud of. My role is to help Norbert Michelisz’s talent with the best equipment possible because when an outstanding driver meets an outstanding car, miracles can happen. That’s why we chose Honda and it’s the perfect time to board their “Shinkansen”. We feel honoured that somewhere in Japan and Italy there’s an absolute top level racing car under construction and it is made for us, for Norbert to race.”

Based in Budapest, Zengő Motorsport was founded in the 1990s by team principal Zoltán Zengő and has grown to become one of the leading motorsport operations in Hungary.

Norbert Michelisz’s is Zengő Motorsport’s lead driver and has been supported by the team since 2006. In 2008 he became the first Hungarian driver in the modern era to compete in the WTCC, and in his first full season in 2010 showed his class by winning the Rookie Challenge. Last year brought further success for Michelisz, with a win at the Hungaroring and claiming the overall victory in the Yokohama Driver’s Trophy.

J.A.S Motorsport will build the car for the team to the same specifications as Honda’s own Civic WTCC. It will be powered by the HR-412 E, Honda R&D’s bespoke 1.6 litre 4 cylinder direct injection turbo-charged petrol engine, with Mugen providing trackside support.

Honda Racing Team JAS, Honda’s factory team, will enter two cars in the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship, driven by Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro.

Honda Racing Team JAS entered the Civic WTCC into the last three races of the 2012 championship, which saw Monteiro claim the car’s first podium finish at Macau in November.