JAS Motorsport was positive after the racing debut of the new Honda Civic Type R TCR in the 24H Dubai, despite the car run by the British RKC/TGM Team did not finish.
After qualifying 12th in the TCR class, the Honda recovered to sixth after two hours, but then lost 50 minutes in the first half of the race due to a sticking wheel nut and a long pitstop to address overheating issues.
The quartet of drivers - David Drinkwater, Umair Khan, Ricky Coomber and Tom Gannon – proved that the car is fast despite it was laden by a 40kg weight penalty and was running at 95% power under Balance of Performance.
However, with the track surface of the Dubai Autodrome becoming increasingly debris-laden as the race wore on, and with the drivers of the Civic having to go off-track to avoid spinning rivals on several occasions, a mixture of stones and rubber gradually blocked the radiator. Resultant overheating issues forced the car into the pits in the 14th hour, but despite the valiant efforts of the team to effect repairs, the tough decision was taken to retire with six hours to go.
Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsport TCR Project Leader, said:“We planned to use Dubai as a test with no targets in mind other than to see how the car performs in a real-world race situation. The experiment has been extremely useful. The big positive is that car’s speed is exactly where we hoped it would be, despite the late BoP adjustment that made the Civic heavier and less powerful. We’ve gathered more data in one weekend than we would do in a season of sprint racing and have been able to identify areas in which we can improve the car instantly for our customers. While we would loved to have finished the race, we’re more convinced than ever before of the strength of the car and we must thank RKC/TGM for giving the new Civic Type R TCR its debut and for their determination, spirit and professionalism."
