Restart Racing to race with the new Civic Type R FL5 in this year’s TCR UK championship
Restart Racing will be the first team in the world to compete with the brand-new Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR, where it’ll make its debut in this year’s TCR UK championship.
After an incredible first year in the TCR UK championship in 2022, with the new team winning the drivers’ title first time out with touring car star Chris Smiley, the team is delighted to confirm the new car for its title defence.
The #1 will be carried by Chris’ brand-new Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR from Round 1 of the championship at Snetterton, which will be the global debut of the new car, prepared by touring car specialists JAS Motorsport.
The car is the third generation of the Civic TCR, which has won 75 titles since TCR technical regulations were first introduced in 2015.
Chris’ car will also be running a new livery, which will be revealed in full ahead of the season opener at Snetterton.
The team hit the ground running with an ex-TCR Europe Honda Civic Type R FK7 last year, and the team hasn’t changed the winning formula at all, as the team is only just about to take delivery of the new third generation TCR car from JAS Motorsport.
For this reason, the car won’t be present for the championship’s season launch event at Donington Park today, but will definitely be at the season’s start at Snetterton on April 8th/9th.
Bert Taylor, Restart Racing Team Principal, said:
“We had a fantastic season last year, and we’re aiming to show that we’re taking things really seriously with this project, expanding to two cars with Scott Sumpton joining Chris, but also working with JAS Motorsport as we become the first team to run the Civic Type R FL5.
“We’re also very excited to getting our hands on the new car very soon, and making it ready for the season’s start next week. Chris is heading straight off to Spa-Francorchamps after the media activities today to do a shakedown and bring the car back to the UK.”
Chris Smiley, car #1 and 2022 TCR UK champion, said:
“I’m really excited for the start of the season, more so than any other I think. Last year was a step into the unknown, while this year it’s a very different feeling going in as the champion, and knowing there will be a target on your back, but it’s an exciting feeling.
“I’m also very happy that we’ll be racing the brand-new Honda Civic Type R this year. We developed a great relationship with the Honda car builders JAS in Italy last year, and now we’ve been entrusted with the racing debut of this stunning new car – I can’t wait to hit the track at Snetterton and seeing what it can do.”
Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsport TCR Project Leader, said:
“We’re so excited to confirm the global racing debut of the new Honda Civic Type R TCR for Easter weekend with Restart Racing in TCR UK at Snetterton.
“We’ve spent a long time working on the concept and design and testing has gone extremely well with our Test Driver Nestor Girolami reporting the FL5 car is an improvement over the old model in virtually every area.
“Restart Racing and Chris Smiley made a fantastic impact in TCR UK by winning on their debut at Oulton Park last year with the FK7 Civic and then taking the championship as well and I’m confident that with the latest and most technically-advanced TCR car in the world, they can once again fight for the title.”
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Restart Racing has prepared, raced, and won at some of the most famous race circuits in the world. The team has built up a wealth of experience in the motorsport industry and made it its business to consistently build and run race-winning cars.
Over the years the team has run cars by manufacturers such as Honda, TVR, BMW, Chevrolet, Vauxhall, Porsche, Hyundai and Volkswagen in the BTCC, GT3 sports car series, and Hot Rods.
In 2022, our Essex-based professional team competed in the hard-fought TCR UK Touring Car Championship with Chris Smiley at the wheel, pitted against a total of 16 other teams. Having collected our race car from Honda’s specialist preparation company in Italy only days before the start of the season, Chris went on to secure pole position and win the first race at Oulton Park, and would go on to win the championship at Snetterton at the final round.
It turned out to be a great season of racing at some of the UK’s premier circuits, culminating in the team being chosen to represent the UK at the prestigious FIA Motorsport Games at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, where Chris Smiley finished in eighth position against competitors from around the world.
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Restart Racing to race with the new Civic Type R FL5 in this year’s TCR UK championship was first seen on Restart Racing