Honda WTCC Civic Racer

Honda has just announced that it is entering the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) with the new European Civic hatch.

Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito said that "We will develop a totally new engine for this project and we are all excited about starting this new challenge."

This bespoke engine will be developed by Honda's R&D department, while J.A.S. Motorsport will develop the race car, using the new Honda Civic 5 door. To brand's in-house tuner, Mugen will also be involved in manufacturing and maintaining the car.

The engine will be a turbocharged 1.6-litre 4-cylinder unit featuring direct fuel injection which will be developed in accordance with the FIA Super 2000 regulations.

The WTCC Civic racer will participate in a string of

"inaugural rounds"this year which will include Japan, China and Macau, while from next year Honda will enter with a two car team managed by J.A.S. Motorsport which will participate in every race in the 2013 season.

The team driving the Honda WTCC Civic this year is formed by three-times BTCC Champion, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, with the car expected to line up at the grid on April 1st at Brands Hatch.

Tags: civic, honda, wtcc

Added in Honda, Motorsports

Source: Honda