Honda continues the push for the FIA World Touring Car Championship this weekend with a visit to the fabled Nürburgring in Germany for the fifth round of the 2016 season.
Opened in 1927 and known as ‘green hell’ for its picturesque surroundings and immense challenge, the 26-kilometre-long ‘Nordschleife’ contains every imaginable type of corner and a history that is almost unparalleled in modern motorsport
Unsurprisingly, the drivers consider the circuit as the highlight of the season and are all determined to push their Honda Civic WTCCs which will carry an unchanged 40kg of compensation weight this weekend to their limits.
Having finished on the podium at every one of the first four rounds of the season including an opening race victory in Slovakia Tiago Monteiro lies just 14 points away from the championship lead with 55 on offer this weekend.
The Portuguese driver took a rostrum finish at the Nürburgring last year and is aiming for at least a repeat result on what he describes as his favourite circuit of the year.
His Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team-mate Rob Huff won the main race in Morocco to move up to third place in the championship standings and take his tally to two victories for the season.
The Briton will be on double-duty this weekend as he will also contest the Nürburgring 24 Hours, which shares the bill with the WTCC.
Fellow factory driver Norbert Michelisz is also climbing the championship table; his three podium finishes so far this year including a season’s best second place as part of Honda’s historic 1-2-3 finish in Morocco lifting him to fourth overall.
He has a best finish of fourth at the Nürburgring, achieved in a Honda in 2015, and is aiming to go one better this weekend.
Due to the presence of the Nürburgring 24 Hours on the weekend schedule, the WTCC timetable will take on a different look to normal. Practice and qualifying will take place on Thursday and Friday with both races being held on Saturday.
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, said: “So far in 2016, the Civic WTCC has been right on the pace at every circuit, regardless of the level of compensation weight we’ve carried, and that gives us a lot of confidence as to what to expect this weekend. The handling of the Civic is its main strength, and this will be extremely useful through the many different kinds of corners at the Nürburgring, although overtaking will be tough because the hatchback shape of the car generates more drag than the saloons. We’re P2 in the championship and only 14 points less than what you get for finishing on the podium off the lead, so we’re absolutely in the hunt. The aim for this weekend is to stay there.
Rob Huff, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, said: “The Nürburgring is my favourite circuit on the WTCC calendar and after a great weekend in Morocco, I’m confident of another big haul of points both for myself and the team. I’m going to be extremely busy as I’ll be racing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours as well as the WTCC over the course of the weekend, so while this will be quite a challenge physically and mentally, the benefit is that this will give me significantly more track time than most of the other drivers, which I aim to use to my advantage. A touring car is actually a much bigger challenge than a GT3 machine at this circuit because you really have to get it on a knife-edge to extract maximum performance. I’m looking forward to putting the Civic to the test.”
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS, said: “I can’t wait to get back to the Nürburgring. As a circuit, it has no equal in the WTCC. It’s 26km long and an incredible challenge. Last year was my first time racing on the Nordschleife and I don’t think it’s possible to ever learn the entire layout of the track unless you drive here every day. But I know it quite well, having owned the circuit on the racing simulator I play for quite a while now. The results in Morocco were a huge deal for me and got my season back on track. While the Nürburgring is a completely different kind of circuit; undulating, fast, full of cambered corners and as long as eight and a half laps of the Marrakech circuit, the pace the Civic has shown on all different kinds of circuits this year means we must again have the podium as the minimum aim for the team, even with 40kg of compensation weight on board.”