Civic Type R rally debut
Honda's unlikely rally rocket DNFs, but will return for Rally of MelbourneHonda is not known for its long-standing rally heritage. If anything, the Japanese manufacturer is more frequently associated with Formula One. So the news that Honda would compete in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship with a Type R Civic was greeted with some surprise (more here).
How did the Type R fare in the Rally of Canberra last weekend? The car, driven by British Rally Champion, Guy Wilks, finished fifth overall on the first day, but failed to finish the event, due to a transmission failure.
The vehicle has been prepared by JAS Motorsport and features a 2.0-litre Mugen DOHC engine coupled to a close-ratio six-speed manual transmission -- the weak link in the chain, as it turned out.
"We are frustrated with the failure of the transmission which prevented the Civic from achieving an impressive result in its Australian debut," said Alessandro Mariani, Managing Director of JAS Motorsport.
"However, we enjoyed the experience and are very committed to the next Australian event."
Undeterred by the outcome in Canberra, the team will return to Australia for the Rally of Melbourne later in the year.
"The result from Day 1 was encouraging," said Honda Australia MD, Yasuhide Mizuno.
"Honda is very much looking forward to the rally in Melbourne in October."
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