The Honda Civic WTCC will start both races at the opening round of the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship from the front row after a dramatic qualifying session at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team driver Tiago Monteiro showed terrific speed all day, setting the pace in a damp opening practice session and then adding second spot in a dry FP2
The Portuguese translated the improved pace of the Civic into qualifying to go second fastest and achieve the best starting spot for himself and Honda at Paul Ricard since the WTCC began racing at the French circuit. Monteiro’s British team-mate Rob Huff, who makes his WTCC debut for Honda this weekend, will start second for the opening race and ninth for the main race; his session affected by a slight lack of top-end speed during the day. Honda Racing Team JAS driver Norbert Michelisz showed strong pace in FP1 to end up fourth fastest and was then eighth in FP2. The Hungarian, who is racing for the JAS Motorsport-run team for the first time this weekend, improved on his dry showing in qualifying to place sixth for the main race and fifth for the opener. New to the WTCC for 2016 is the ‘Manufacturers Against the Clock’ team time trial, which made its debut after qualifying. An enthralling session, held in changeable conditions, excited the fans, who were treated to an ultra-close finish
Honda placed third in MAC3; Norbert leading Tiago and Rob, who struggled to get away from the line, to the chequered flag, to ensure six early points as the battle for the WTCC manufacturers’ championship kicked off. Tomorrow’s opening race begins at 1215 local time with the main race taking place at 1715. Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, said: “It’s a great way to start the season with a front-row spot – my best ever performance in qualifying at Paul Ricard. The aim for tomorrow is to win the main race, which is possible with the pace we’ve shown, but which will also require a lot of hard work overnight to make sure the car is as fast in the races as it was today. The new race format with the reversed-grid opening race, means you need to take extra care when you start in the pack, but I think we’re looking good overall. It was also interesting to experience MAC3 in proper conditions for the first time.” Rob Huff, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, said: “Starting from the front row for tomorrow’s opening race gives us a great opportunity to start the season with a race victory for Honda, and it’s something that we’ll work very hard to achieve. We have to be realistic that pole is as a result of a reversed grid and that it will be a challenge to come through the field from ninth in the main race. I had a slight issue with straightline speed, which cost me some time to Tiago and Norbi, but the team is already analysing the data and will have the car in excellent shape tomorrow. We can also take a lot of confidence from Tiago’s pace, as it means the car has taken a big step forwards on last year.” Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS, said: “It’s been an interesting day with a new experience in MAC3, which was calmer than I was expecting – inside the car, at least – and with some tricky conditions in practice. To be starting fifth in the opening race means that there is a good chance of getting a podium finish – which is the aim – and six for the main race means that two good hauls of points should be achievable quite realistically. My car is the same as Tiago’s so it should be possible to have the same speed as him tomorrow, which gives me a lot of confidence that we can move forwards in the races.” Alessandro Mariani, Team Principal: “Today has been a very good result for the team. Tiago was very fast in both practice sessions and translated that speed into a fine front-row position for the main race – the best qualifying for Honda at Paul Ricard since we started coming here in the WTCC – and Rob will start the opening race from second place, so there are possibilities for very good results both times. Norbi, with P5 and P6, has a good chance to get a podium finish too. MAC3 was disappointing, but we knew from testing that this can happen at the start and sometimes it will. We can use this experience to help us going forwards with our procedures.” Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project Leader WTCC Development, Honda R&D: “Our target for this event was to achieve a significant step-up in performance over last year in terms of engine and chassis, and with a fantastic qualifying lap for Tiago to go second fastest, we have achieved this, so we’re very happy. Having Tiago on the front row for the main race as well as Rob second for the opening race means we have an excellent chance of fighting for victories tomorrow, but we need to concentrate on improving the car still further if we are to achieve this
