Honda Racing narrowly misses a podium in Mondello

An eventful weekend for Honda Racing at Mondello Park, Ireland saw the team again robbed of an imminent podium finish after impressive drives from both Andy Priaulx (Guernsey) and Alan Morrison (Ulster).

Qualifying: After an encouraging start to the race weekend with Andy Priaulx posting second and fourth fastest lap times during the morning's two free practice sessions, both Priaulx and Alan Morrison were disappointed with their qualifying positions, feeling that they did not reflect the increasing competitiveness of the two Honda Civic Type-Rs. Thwarted by changeable weather both immediately before and during the first half of qualifying, Morrison gained eighth and seventh positions on the grid for rounds nine and ten respectively. Priaulx was forced to start both races from the back of the Touring car grid after being disqualified from the two sessions for narrowly failing checks on front ride height having slightly damaged the Type R's suspension during the early qualifying laps.

Sprint race: In dry but overcast conditions, both Priaulx and Morrison started higher up the grid than expected after additional disqualifications reshuffled the grid positions. From a strong start in fourteenth place, Priaulx put in an impressive drive, using both safety car sessions to his advantage to move up to an encouraging sixth-place finish, a mere 2/10 of a second behind the MG of Anthony Reid. Oil pressure problems on lap twelve forced Alan Morrison to retire from tenth position in order to protect his engine for the upcoming feature race.

Feature race: A downpour immediately before the start of the feature race prompted a fierce debate over tyres and a delayed start to allow teams to change onto wets. A last minute decision change from the front three teams resulted in Morrison crossing the start line in third with Priaulx in ninth. Both cars had an eventful first few laps but as the track dried out, lapped faster and faster until Priaulx claimed a fastest lap on lap 11. By the time the safety car came out on lap 22 of an extended 30-lap race, Priaulx had charged into an impressive third with Morrison close behind in sixth. As the safety car left the track on lap 25 and with Honda Racing's first podium finish within reach, Priaulx was forced into a furious scrap for third with Anthony Reid's MG and Matt Neal's Vauxhall which resulted in Priaulx receiving a series of shunts that smashed the exhaust and cruelly forced him out the race. Morrison drove steadily over the last few laps to take sixth place.

Alan Morrison - Driver, Civic 27: "I am a little disappointed what with this being my home race but we always knew that the car wasn 't totally suited to this circuit and at the end of the day we scored points for the team, which is what matters."

Andy Priaulx - Driver, Civic 28: "I think we proved again that we're on the pace and I was pleased with the way the feature race was shaping up. We made the right decision to change to slicks when we did and by the mid-point of the race we were well in contention. By the time I reached third and the safety car came out I was confident that I could hold the position to the finish. I had no idea that I was about to face six shunts in three corners! I'm disappointed but feel that a lot of positives have come out of this weekend and we have all to race for in Croft."