Honda Civic Type R TCR wins second straight ‘Model of the Year’ prize

The JAS Motorsport-built Honda Civic Type R TCR has been crowned TCR Model of the Year for a second straight season following another stunning set of campaigns across the world.
 
The Model of the Year title is awarded by TCR creator WSC Group to the most successful car competing globally, with results in every single TCR-affiliated series counting for points across a 12-month period.
 
With six major championships won in 2020 and 44 race victories (48 including non TCR-affiliated series), the Civic Type R TCR – based on the Civic Type R production vehicle and built at JAS Motorsport in Arluno, Italy – achieved incredible success.
 
Kasper H Jensen was the first champion declared as the Massive Motorsport driver claimed the inaugural TCR Denmark crown.
 
He was soon joined by TCR Germany Junior Cup winner Marcel Fugel, of the Fugel Sport-run Honda Team ADAC Sachsen, and by Jordan Michels, who clinched the NZ Endurance Championship’s Class 2 title for the Evolution Motorsport-run Team Williams Racing.
 
A pair of Coppa Italia Turismo crowns for MM Motorsport’s Kevin Giacon and Davide Nardilli were added to by Rio Shimono, who won TCR Japan’s Saturday Series ‘Bronze’ title for Drago Corse.
 
Fugel Sport won the TCR division of the Nurburgring 24 Hours for a second straight year with Tiago Monteiro, Esteban Guerrieri, Dominik Fugel and Markus Oestreich at the wheel.
 
Fugel and Guerrieri topped the 2020 winners’ list with five victories each while the Argentinian also became the FIA World Touring Car Cup’s all-time leading race winner with 10 victories - all scored in JAS-built Hondas.
 
The Honda Civic Type R TCR debuted in March 2015 and has, in total, claimed 37 major titles and 271 race victories, with more set to follow next year.
 
Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsport TCR Project Leader, said: “It is a huge honour to see the Honda Civic Type R TCR named as the TCR Model of the Year, and even more so as the first car to win this prestigious award two years in a row. We are extremely proud to be a technical partner of Honda for over 20 years and to have achieved this success for them. This award is both a testament to the determination and professionalism of our customer TCR teams across the world and also a vindication of both the quality of the Honda Civic Type R production model and of the technical and sales support we offer to our customers. There is an incredibly hard-working group of people at our headquarters in Arluno, Italy, comprising mechanics, engineers, logistic, sales and support staff, and this shines a light on the fantastic job they have all done on the Civic Type R TCR project.”
 
Hiroshi Shimizu, General Manager Motorsport Division, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. said: “First of all, we would like to thank all the customers over the world who chose to race with the Civic Type R TCR and with the Honda brand. It is a great honour for Honda to receive this TCR Model of The Year award for the second consecutive year. It shows what a strong base car the Civic Type R production vehicle is and why it has strong support from customers. Winning this award not only proves that the Civic Type R TCR is a customer-supported product in the spirit of the category, but also that the customer support we have provided in collaboration with JAS Motorsport is working properly. At Honda we advocate 'the three joys' when delivering our products; the joy of buying, the joy of selling and the joy of creating. TCR is based on the spirit of customer racing and being active in the category is a great opportunity to realise our philosophy. We sincerely hope that our customers will have more success and experience 'The Power of Dreams' in the 2021 season.”
 
Marcello Lotti, WSC President, said: “This second consecutive Model of the Year award for the Honda Civic Type R is testament to the professionalism and passion with which Honda and its technical partner, JAS Motorsport, have always supported their customer teams in all the TCR competitions around the world. Their efforts have been deservedly repaid with the brilliant results achieved by the drivers who were at the wheel of the many Civic cars that took to the track during this difficult season.”
 

 
TCR Denmark (Drivers) - Kasper H Jensen
TCR Germany Junior Cup (Drivers) – Marcel Fugel
New Zealand Endurance Championship Class 2 (Drivers) – Jordan Michels
Coppa Itailia Turismo (Drivers) - Kevin Giacon
Coppa Italia Turismo Sequential Trophy (Drivers) - Davide Nardilli
TCR Japan Saturday Series Bronze Cup (Drivers) – Rio Shimono
 

 

Nurburgring 24 Hours - Tiago Monteiro/Dominik Fugel/Markus Oestreich/ Esteban Guerrieri

Main: Esteban Guerrieri/Tiago Monteiro/Dominik Fugel/Markus Oestreich, Fugel Sport Honda Civic Type R TCR winning the Nurburgring 24 Hours (TCR class), Germany (credit: Honda.de); Lower 1(L): Kasper H Jensen, Massive Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR Denmark champion (credit: Gripping/TCR Denmark); (R) Davide Nardilli, MM Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR, Coppa Italia Turismo TCR Sequential champion (credit: Actualfoto); 2 Marcel Fugel, Fugel Sport Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR Germany Junior Cup champion (credit: TCR Germany); 3(L) Kevin Giacon, MM Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR, Coppa Italia Turismo champion (credit: Actualfoto); (R) Jordan Michels, Team Williams Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, NZ Endurance Class 2 champion (1 Hour race) (credit: Euan Cameron).