Honda to enter WTCC this season

Honda fans who’ve been lamenting their favourite brand’s decline into blandness can rejoice. The Japanese carmaker is putting its racing suits on and will enter a team in the FIA World Touring Car Championship starting with the Japanese rounds at the Suzuka circuit in October. And the car Honda’s chosen for its WTCC entry is the new European 2012 Honda Civic hatchback, which will be powered by a bespoke 1.6-litre, direct injection, four-cylinder turbo engine developed by Mugen in accordance with FIA’s Super 2000 regulations. The racecar will be developed by J.A.S. Motorsport, which will eventually manage the two-car team that Honda plans to field throughout the 2013 season. "We will compete with one car from the Japanese round in October this year, and will use two cars from next year," said Hideo Sato, the head of Honda’s motorsports section.