Honda Civic Type R sets new benchmarks at five legendary European race circuits

Inspired by the Civic Type R, which smashed the front-wheel drive lap time at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in May 2014, the Honda team developed this European challenge to assert Type R as the leading front-wheel drive performance hatchback.

The campaign started in April at Silverstone, with Matt Neal setting a time of 2:44:45. Not content with this time, Matt returned to the circuit to set a dry lap time of 2:31:85. In early May, Castrol Honda Racing's Rob Huff tackled the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, and set a blistering time of 2:56:91. 

With two attempts successfully completed, Italy's historic Monza circuit was the next target. There, Norbert Michelisz took the wheel and piloted the Civic Type R around the famous Parabolica to return a time of 2:15:16. Former Formula One driver Tiago Monteiro was supposed to tackle the Estoril next, until he was taken out of commission in a FIA World Touring Car Championship crash.

So on short notice, the series' safety car driver Bruno Correia stepped in and lapped the former home of the Portuguese Grand Prix in 2:04:08. The last record was set at the Hungaroring, where Michelisz returned to the cockpit and set another front-drive lap record of 2:10:85.