In its two last generations, the European market Honda Civic hatchback has followed a different path from its sedan siblings in other markets; however, the admittedly impressive looking Civic you see pictured here isn’t the regular model but the Japanese firm’s new contender in British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
Revealed without its racing colors, the new Civic Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) made its first public test outing today at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in England.
Honda Racing Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship team drivers Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden and triple-BTCC champion Matt Neal put the Civic racer through its paces as they prepare for the season debut on April 1, 2012.
“It will be interesting to see how the car performs, but I’m optimistic that we’ll walk away from today confident we have a championship winning car,” said Neal.
The testing at Brands Hatch comes after a preliminary assessment at the MIRA test track last week where the racing model underwent comprehensive system checks to make sure it is fully functional.
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