The Honda Civic Type R has set the front-wheel drive lap record at five European circuits, driven by racing drivers from Honda’s touring car stars from the BTCC and WTCC.
After the Type R hot hatch was knocked into second spot at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, by the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S lapping 1.4 seconds quicker, Honda has now stamped its mark far and wide.
It all began in April, when BTTC driver Matt Neal – who normally drives a racing version of the Civic Type R – took a standard production model around the Silverstone circuit in a chart-topping time of 2 minutes 31.85 seconds.
Lap records at Silverstone, Spa and more
After that, the Civic with 306bhp from its turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine, headed to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, home of the European Grand Prix. Here it laid down a record time of 2 minutes 56.91 at the hands of Rob Huff, of WTCC fame.
Not happy with just those accolades, Honda headed to the iconic Monza Grand Prix Circuit in Italy (2 minutes 15.16), the Autodromo do Estoril in Portugal (2 minutes 04.08) and the Hungaroring in Hungary (2 minutes 10.85) where each record was broken, by Norbert Michelisz, then Bruno Correia in Portugal and Norbert back in the seat in Hungary.
'Benchmark in front-wheel drive performance'
Bruno Correia is the WTCC series’ safety car driver, who stepped into the car when the planned WTCC racer Tiago Monteiro was involved in a heavy crash at the WTCC Race of Germany. Despite just 24hrs notice and only a day in the car, he managed the blistering lap.
Philip Ross, Senior Vice President of Honda Motor Europe, commented: “This challenge secures Civic Type R’s position as the benchmark in the front wheel drive performance segment. With the support of our touring car stars, it is a fitting testament to the team who engineered and designed it as the ultimate race car for the road.”
Car Keys staff who have driven the Type R can fully attest to its rabid on-road performance, just take a look at our video review:
