Honda wish Rob Huff well and set date for line-up announcement

The Honda Racing Team have thanked Rob Huff for his contribution to the team in 2016 as he returns to Münnich Motorsport for the 2017 season in a Citroën C-Elysée, and confirm they’ll announce their line-up on Monday.

Huff joined the team along with Norbert Michelisz for 2016 as the team expanded to three cars, joining Tiago Monteiro for the season, where Honda took the fight to Citroën particularly during the early part of the season, before a series of accidents and the flat floor controversy hampered their campaign.

“We can confirm that the partnership between Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team and Rob Huff had come to an end,” said the team in a statement.

“We would like to thank Rob for his contribution to the team in 2016. During the winter of 2015/16, we underwent a significant restructure as part of the plan to increase the competitiveness of the Civic WTCC. Undoubtedly, this was successful, as proven by Rob’s Honda debut win at Circuit Paul Ricard and the performances that he, Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz produced over the season.

“Unfortunately, it has not been possible to extend the partnership with Rob into 2017 and we would like to wish him the very best of luck for the rest of his career. Our line-up for the upcoming season will be announced on Monday 23 January.”

Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz are expected to stay with the team, with Ryo Michigami linked with the third seat, after having raced for the team at Motegi, where he finished just outside of the points in the opening race.

With Citroën’s withdrawal from the championship, Honda have become favourite to win the 2017 title, but the Citroën C-Elysée is expected to be a strong competitor, with their now former driver Rob Huff now a significant threat along with the ever-improving Volvo for the 2017 crown.