Jenson Button to drive Honda Civic Type R in new lap record attempts

Jenson Button to drive Honda Civic Type R in new lap record attempts
Honda set the front-wheel-drive lap record at the Nürburgring last year
2009 F1 champ will be among line-up of racers for Honda’s 2018 ‘Time Attack’ challenge

Jenson Button will be one of four racing drivers tasked with breaking lap records at iconic European circuits in the latest Honda Civic Type R.

2009 Formula 1 champion and current NSX Super GT driver Button (pictured, below) joins a line-up featuring Honda World Touring Car Cup drivers Tiago Monteiro and Esteban Guerrieri, as well as fellow NSX Super GT racer Bertrand Baguette.

The racers will split the drive of the FK8-generation hot hatch across a list of circuits, which include tracks where the car’s predecessor, the FK2, currently holds the front-wheel-drive lap record: Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and Estoril.

The FK8, which will be revealed at the Geneva motor show next week, will attempt to set new benchmarks at these tracks while also heading to more circuits with the ambition of laying down further front-wheel-drive records.

The car will be a standard road model with road tyres and an unmodified engine. The car’s turbocharged 2.0-litre engine produces 316bhp and 295lb ft of torque, enabling a 0-62mph time of 5.7sec.

The latest Honda Civic Type R already holds the lap record for front-wheel-drive cars at the Nürburgring. A production development car set a 7min 43.8sec time there in April 2017, supplanting the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S and its 7min 49.2sec.

More content

Honda Civic Type R 2018 BTCC racer revealed

Next Honda NSX could be fully electric

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BTCC 2018: Neal wins Diamond Double at Snetterton

Image
Neal clinched victory in the extended Diamond Double race Jack Goff stars in qualifying and race one, while veteran Neal clinches glory in double-length finale Triple British Touring Car champion Matt Neal clinched victory in the special extended Diamond Double race at Snetterton, held to mark the 60th anniversary of the series in his Honda Civic Type R . Rising stars Jack Goff and Ashley Sutton also took race wins at the Norfolk track. Instead of the usual reverse-grid finale, the third race at Snetterton was extended from 12 laps to 20, with double championship points on offer and no success ballast. The race also featured its own separate qualifying session. Picture special: 60 years of the BTCC That was good news for Eurotech driver Goff, who went fastest in both qualifying sessions to claim two pole positions in his Civic Type R. He made the first one count, pulling out a big lead in treacherous wet conditions.  The young guns of the BTCC Behind Goff, reigning champion
Read more

Japan's micro sports cars – Honda and Daihatsu kei cars driven

Image
S660 and Copen are the only kei sports cars in production Kei cars are big in Japan, but do they deliver driving thrills? We sample a pair in Tokyo to find out When the American style of christening storms came to Britain a couple of years ago, it was inevitable that some wag in the Met Office would find a way to undermine the whole concept with an underwhelming name to snigger about.  Storm Brian was the result. It’s a fine English name but perhaps lacking the gravitas of many of those coined overseas. “In terms of impact, we’ve had spray overtopping quaysides,” someone from the Environment Agency told the BBC of Brian’s pummelling of Cornwall. Top marks for not trying, Brian.  While Brian was doing his thing on the other side of the world, Typhoon Lan – now there’s a name – was homing in on southern Japan, bringing with it 140mph winds and a storm that made photographer Stan Papior wish he’d invested in a waterproof camera and jacket.  Look really closely at some of his pictur
Read more