A ‘Step 2’ version of the JAS Motorsport-built Honda Civic will make its début in the TCR International Series in Thailand, with the car featuring an improved engine directly from the new Civic Type-R.
The JAS Motorsport Civic was the first TCR car to be built specifically to the new-for-2015 TCR regulations, with the Honda being ready for the first meeting of the season in Malaysia.
Now the Italian outfit have prepared an evolved version of the car, which features engine improvements at its core. The car will continue to be prepared by top Swedish team West Coast Racing.
“The most significant update concerns the engine,” explained JAS co-owner Maurizio Ambrogetti. “The first version of the Civic TCR was powered by a normally-aspirated engine with the addition of a turbocharger. The ‘Step 2’ car is powered by the production turbocharged unit from the new Civic Type-R. We are confident that this will give our TCR customers a solid base for the 2016 season.
“We have adjusted something here and there on the basis of the experience we had gained during the season so far. Indeed, the Civic TCR has been tested and developed in racing conditions during all the previous events.
“Now the two final rounds in Thailand and Macau will help us to test the changes that will be implemented in the cars that will be available to customers in 2016.”
The TCR grid will once again feature five Civic TCR cars this weekend, as the TCR Asia Series joins in at the Buriram International Circuit, with Prince Racing adding a pair of the Japanese cars to the grid.
JAS Motorsport are pressing ahead with ambitious plans to build more Civics, having been on board with the TCR concept from the very beginning.
“We have just completed the fourteenth chassis and our goal is to build and sell twenty-five cars before the beginning of the 2016 season,” added Ambrogetti. “We wish to have at least two cars running in each TCR series.”