Honda Civic Hatch to Race in FIA Championship

The Japanese automaker is looking to increase its motorsports exposure by entering the European Civic hatch in the WTCC.Honda has announced its plans to enter the new European 2012 Honda Civic hatchback in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in order to increase its motorsports exposure."We have made a decision to enter into the WTCC with the European Civic," said Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito."We will develop a totally new engine for this project and we are all excited about starting this new challenge."The new engine, a racing 1.6-liter, direct injection, turbo 4-cylinder engine was developed alongside Mugen and J.A.S. Motorsport in accordance with FIA's Super 2000 regulations.Honda has tentative plans to join the WTCC this season with inaugural rounds to trial the car first in Japan at the Suzuka circuit in October, followed by China and Macau.A two-car team managed by J.A.S. Motorsport will then be entered in every race in the 2013 championship season.