Honda Civic will enter as a nationally homologated car

Honda Racing Team JAS’s new Honda Civic will be entered as a nationally homologated car for the final three rounds of the season, rather than a formally FIA WTCC specification entry like the Chevrolets, SEAT, Ford and BMWs in the championship.

The new Honda Civic S2000 TC will be granted dispensation to race as a nationally homologated car, accepted by the regulations of a national series which runs to S2000 regulations, in this case, the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship.

Cars built for national championships don’t necessarily have to comply completely to the FIA specifications, though the FIA will often enforce balancing measures to make up for any advantage or disadvantage that could be gained as a result.

This year, the SUNRED León 1.6T is officially entered under national homologation by the Spanish ASN RFEdeA, and carries an additional 20kg of ballast as a result, and it’s homologation status has only been approved for the 2012 season only.

Last year Volvo entered their C30 under STCC national homologation (as it is a three-door car, and not eligible in any circumstances under FIA specifications). Hong Kong based 778 Autosport also entered an STCC specification car at the season finale at Macau, with a Peugeot 308 built by IPS Motorsport, but were excluded as the fuel tank didn’t match the homologation papers.

As of 2011, cars built to national homologation can score points in the World Touring Car Championship, subject to modifications set by the FIA.

Article 10 c)

Any car that does not fully comply with the FIA technical regulations for touring cars and/or is in conformity with national technical regulations may be accepted for the season by the TC Committee, subject to having obtained the prior agreement in principle of the Touring Car Commission.

The TC Committee may take any decision concerning the balance of performance of these cars, at any time during the season.

These cars will be entitled to score points for the Championship titles, provided that they respect the entry conditions described in Article 36 of the applicable sporting regulations.

The FIA has accepted Honda Racing Team JAS’s application, and has set the car’s base weight at 1,150kg, the same as the front-wheel drive Ford Focus and SEAT León WTCC cars. The Chevrolet Cruze and BMW 320 TC run at 1,160kg as their base weight.

The Honda, which will be driven by Tiago Monteiro, will however be subject to an additional 40kg late entry ballast for the first two races in which it competes, which will be Japan and China, before this is re-evaluated for Macau based on its performance.