Yes, benchmark squad Honda has this week revealed its new challenger, the Civic Type R, and it looks much more menacing than the freezing temperatures and widespread snowfall.
Veteran racer Matt Neal will once again lead the team for his 28th consecutive season in Britain’s biggest series, but the triple-champion Midlander will have a new teammate in the Team Dynamics-run, Halfords-sponsored squad – for the first time since 2005.
Fellow three-time title winner Gordon Shedden has departed the team to race for Audi in the World Touring Car Cup this year, leaving big shoes to fill in the second Civic.
Enter former British Formula Ford champ and double Porsche Carrera Cup title winner Dan Cammish, who’ll make his BTCC debut alongside Neal. The 28-year-old Yorkshireman has already declared that if his new mount is as fast as it looks, he’ll be in very good shape come the start of the season at Brands Hatch on April 8th.
Cammish will be aiming to become the 16th driver to win a BTCC race in a Honda since the Japanese marque first tasted victory during the British Grand Prix-support meeting with the late, great David Leslie at Silverstone in 1996. Who, we wondered, are the five most successful Honda pedallers who’ve contributed to the 157 wins during those past two decades?