Next up in our Q1 2023 content drop is the another piece of the British Touring Car Championship puzzle, as we are delighted to announce a car that should need absolutely no introduction – the incredible Honda Civic Type R is here!
The latest in what has been an enviable collection of exceptionally potent Honda cars in the BTCC, the current gen Type R Civic has already proven to be one of the very best of the current crop of British Touring Car Championship machines.
Developed and built by the hugely successful Team Dynamics outfit of Steve and Matt Neal, and run under the official Honda banner, the Civic is an iconic of a car for the BTCC as it is possible to get – and now it is heading to rFactor 2 players in the next few days!
One of the absolute standout models within the British Touring Car Championship in recent years, the Honda Civic is a sensational performing vehicle that has taken drivers championships in the hands of both Matt Neal and Gordon Sheddon in recent years, and now, in FK8 Type R form, continues that long legacy of success for Honda machinery in the BTCC.
Brought into the championship by crack touring car outfit Team Dynamics, with support from the UK Honda dealer network ahead of the 2021 season, the FK8 Type R has taken a little while to find its feet at the front of the grid, having undergone significant change behind the scenes with first the retirement of team talisman Matt Neal, then the withdrawal of works Honda support, and finally the new driving line-up of returning champion Sheddon, and new teammate Dan Rowbottom.
With that settling in period now well and truly behind them, and joined by the incredibly potent driving strength of the BTC racing outfit firmly challenging the established might of Team Dynamics, the Honda is once again proving itself to be an absolute standout car in the highly competitive world of British Touring Car Championship racing.
Despite being one of the few new models on the grid in 2021, the Honda managed to rack up no less than nine victories across drivers Josh Cook, Sheddon, Dan Cammish and Senna Proctor in 2021, with a further seven race wins coming the way of the car the following year, solidifying the belief that to be in with a chance of taking a title in the British Touring Car Championship, you don’t have to look much further than this outstanding machine.
The Honda Civic Type R will be introduced to rFactor 2 complete with all the teams, drivers and liveries of both the 2021 and 2022 British Touring Car Championship season, and just like its real life counterpart, should prove to be an exceptionally popular addition to the tin top field.
For the 2021 British Touring Car Championship season, the Honda Civic Type R was campaigned by both the works Team Dynamics with Cataclean of Daniel Rowbottom (#32) and Gordon Shedden (#52), plus BTC Racing in the hands of Senna Proctor (#18), Dan Cammish (#21) and Josh Cook (#66), with female racer Jade Edwards (#99) running the season under the banner of PHSC with BTC Racing.
2021 would be a very successful year for the car, as Cook and Shedden eventually ended the season in third and sixth position in the drivers’ championship respectively, taking the championship fight in the hands of Cook right down to the wire in what was an exceptionally entertaining season of racing – in the way that only BTCC can regularly produce.
For 2022, British Touring Car Championship legend Jason Plato (#11) would join the Rich Energy BTC Racing team alongside Cook and Edwards. The former double champion, celebrating his final season of BTCC racing, would sadly fail to add to his tally of 97 career victories in the series, however teammate Cook proved to once again be a commanding figure in the field, adding another five victories to his account en route to sixth in the final classification, just ahead of stalemate Shedden in the Halfords Racing with Cataclean car, himself with a further 2 outright wins from the season.
Q1 2023 Announcements so far:
Another exciting addition in the books, with more update announcements set to come! Stay tuned to the rFactor 2 social media channels and website to find out what comes next – exciting times ahead!
The BTCC Honda Civic – Coming February 21st to rFactor 2!
