Honda all set to make Irish BTCC debut at Mondello

Honda Racing makes it maiden appearance at the challenging Mondello Park circuit situated to the West of Dublin this weekend (22-23 June). Having been a major force within the British Touring Car Championship between 1995 and 2000, Honda returned to Britain's top race series with a pair of competition-prepared Civic Type-Rs at the start of this season and thus missed the BTCC's long awaited debut on Irish soil last summer.

Although new to the action, the two Civics have already shown plenty of promise and both drivers, Alan Morrison and Andy Priaulx, have scored impressive top six finishes in the opening eight races of this year's 20-round series. Last time out at Silverstone, Priaulx came within a few hundred yards of posting Honda's first podium finish of the campaign and the team will be hoping for better luck in Ireland. Hailing from Killyleagh in County Down, Morrison in particular will be keen to impress on what could be called home territory.

"Oddly, I've never been to Mondello but, for sure, it will be good to be racing in Ireland," says Morrison. "Hopefully I can get a good result both for the team and local fans."

"It's never easy to go to a new circuit with no past experience and with its tight layout, Mondello will present its very own unique challenges," warns Mike Earle, Honda Racing team principal. "However the Civic has got stronger and stronger with each appearance and I'm confident our first podium finish is just around the corner."