Honda not concerned by pace at Monza season launch test

Honda Racing Team JAS are unfazed by their performance at the Monza season launch event two weeks’ ago, recognising both that the track doesn’t suit the Civic WTCC, and that they weren’t chasing lap times during the two day test.

Tiago Monteiro finished sixth after two days, with team-mate Norbert Michelisz seventh fastest, both just over a second shy of the benchmark time set by Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff.

Although the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC is still considered to be the reference car after strong performances from Münnich Motorsport and Sébastien Loeb Racing, Polestar Cyan Racing were hiding their pace by removing their transponders on day two of the test, while Honda drivers Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro missed most of the running on the first day, leaving it all to Ryo Michigami.

“We were following a plan,” said Monteiro to TouringCarTimes. “We’ve done a lot of testing this winter, we still have a lot of things to go through, but even though the other teams and the media are here, we didn’t want to focus on performance, but wanted to focus on our own plan.

“All three of our cars are different at the moment. There’s something different on each part as we’re testing different parts, so it’s really development.”

Despite this, the Portuguese driver confessed that the return of Monza to the calendar, despite effectively being the JAS Motorsport team’s home race, wasn’t likely to play into their favour, with Citroën and Chevrolet notorious for having better straight-line speed.

“Don’t get me wrong, Monza will always be the hardest track for us,” he added.

“Top speed isn’t our strongest point, and Monza is just about speed, so I’m not worried, but a little bit concerned. We also know the Volvos will evolve this year, and the move to get Yvan (Muller) was good as it’s an easy way to get a lot of information and experience really quickly – so that’s not good for us.”