Monteiro prepares to give the HONDA Civic its first race

The Japanese round of the World Touring Car Championship FIA WTCC, which will take place from October 19th to 21st on the Suzuka East circuit, will provide an opportunity for Tiago Monteiro to make the competition debut of the brand new Honda Civic.

Tiago Monteiro is eagerly anticipating the event after three months of waiting and intense preparation. In just six months, the Japanese manufacturer has managed the feat of building a quality sedan, put it through its initial paces and have seen its reliability and potential.
For the last three rounds of the FIA 2012 WTCC, Honda and JAS Motorsports main objective will be to assess their performance against the competition and define the best areas to develop in order to be more competitive in 2013 where they will aim to secure their first victories.

"The big day is approaching: the debut of the Honda Civic in competition! smiled!" Tiago Monteiro. "JAS and Honda have done an excellent job over the last six months. The whole team has worked very hard so that we can participate in these two Japanese races, Hondas home ground. The final shakedown took place at Sugo and everything went well. The car is very reliable in regard to performance, but we were the only ones on the track so it is difficult to get an idea of its actual speed compared to the others."

Despite the natural anxiety that comes with any new venture, Tiago knows he can count on unconditional support from the country. "We must not lose sight of our goal for this first appointment: we need to gain experience and test several technical solutions that could be beneficial for the 2013 season. We need real information. Getting a good result is not our goal, but in our true spirit, the top 10 should be a reachable target," says Tiago.

Before arriving at Suzuka for the race weekend, Tiago attended a two-day event in the Honda headquarters in Tokyo. "It’s amazing to see the impact of this project in the world and Japan is very very special. I am very happy to be part of this team and I’m really looking forward to October 19 when the car makes its debut," concluded Tiago Monteiro.