Photo: Honda Racing Team JAS

Honda continue testing at Valencia with new Civic TC1

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The Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team began testing yesterday at the Valencia circuit ahead of their second full season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, with drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro driving the team’s brand new Civic WTCC, built to race in the Championship’s new TC1 class.

The car has been built from the ground up for the 2014 season, with the previous Civic WTCC only getting one full season of racing under its belt before new regulations were introduced for this season in order to allow Citroen to enter the championship ahead of schedule.

The engine is still based on the 1.6 litre turbocharged engine used last season, but features an increase in power, which can be handled by the lighter Civic with larger tyres and an enhanced aero package.

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“On top of having created a new casting for the block and sump, we also made great progress on the intake and combustion,” said Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project Leader for WTCC engine development at Honda R&D.

“After these first track tests, I am satisfied that the simulations we have carried on the test bench have been confirmed in real life on the track. Our only job is now to fine tune the engine management.”

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“The new Civic WTCC does not have much in common with last year’s Civic,” said Andrea Adamo, Chief Designer JAS Motorsport. “Everything is new: the chassis, the engine, the suspension, the aerodynamic parts, even the size of the tyres has changed! Considering we started the project in September 2013 and were able to perform a shakedown of the new Civic WTCC in January 2014, our staff really have done an incredible job in a short amount of time.”

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“We are very proud that we can bring the new Civic WTCC 2014 at the start of what will be a very exciting FIA WTCC season,” said Alessandro Mariani, JAS Motorsport Team Principal. “It has been hard work all through winter and the late rule changes did not make our lives any easier. We have set high aims, but the test sessions we completed show that we are moving in the right direction. The team spirit we’ve created will be essential to get us through this challenging campaign.”