Today Honda unveiled the new racing livery for its Civic Red Bull Global Rallycross racecar, announcing plans to campaign the all-new turbocharged 2016 Civic Coupe in the 2016 series in partnership with Red Bull and championship-winning race team Olsbergs MSE. The Honda Civic Red Bull GRC team will begin racing on May 21 in Phoenix at the first event of the season.
Developed from a production-model 2016 Civic Coupe chassis by renowned builders and racers Olsbergs MSE (OMSE) with technical assistance from Honda Performance Development (HPD), the all-new Civic Red Bull GRC car is built to withstand the rigorous demands of racing in a series that emphasizes repeated aggressive acceleration and varied terrain. The car will boast more than 600 horsepower, turn in a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds and is designed to handle the 70 foot table-top jumps featured on each racetrack.
"Global Rallycross is seriously extreme racing, and it's a terrific platform to showcase the new Civic Coupe to an enthusiastic, performance-minded young audience," said Nick Lee, National Advertising Manager, American Honda Motor Co, Inc. "We won't encourage our customers to take 70-foot jumps out on the street, but we will use this platform to tell people about all the incredible technology and performance capabilities of our new Civic Coupe."
Driving the 2016 Honda Civic Red Bull GRC car for Team Honda are experienced competitors and former teammates Sebastian Eriksson and Joni Wiman. Eriksson, from Sweden, and Wiman, from Finland, have both made their mark in the series, with Wiman winning the 2014 Global Rallycross Championship and Eriksson finishing second in 2015. The two met in competition during the 2013 GRC Lites season, where Eriksson finished runner-up to Wiman, who swept the series.
Honda's entry into Red Bull Global Rallycross is the latest in a diverse portfolio of North American professional and grassroots auto racing programs supported by Honda that include the Verizon IndyCar Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge, United States F4 Championship and multiple Touring Car and Rally Car series.
Red Bull Global Rallycross is designed to produce some of the fastest and most exciting racing in motorsports, pitting small production-based cars against each other in door-to-door racing featuring dirt, asphalt, and table-top jumps. The 2016 Honda Global Rallycross Civic will make its racing debut on May 21 and May 22 with a double header event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information visit www.RedBullGlobalRallycross.com.
About Honda Civic
The Honda Civic Sedan, recently named the 2016 North American Car of the Year, leads a Civic lineup that is America's top retail selling compact car1 and the most popular vehicle in America with U.S. millennials2. The sporty and sophisticated 10th-generation Civic lineup features new Honda turbo engine technology, class-leading EPA fuel economy of up to 42 MPG and the latest in connected-car technology, including both Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™. This completely reimagined Civic lineup kicked off last fall with the launch of the 2016 Civic Sedan, followed by the arrival of the seriously sporty 2016 Civic Coupe. The all-new Civic 5-Door hatch will launch later this year, followed in 2017 by Civic Si variants and a radical new Civic Type-R, topping off the sportiest, most expansive model lineup in the 44-year history of Civic.
About Honda
Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies through approximately 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic and Accord passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot sport/utility vehicles, and the Odyssey minivan. The next generation Ridgeline pickup truck is set to debut later this year.
Honda has been producing automobiles in America for more than 30 years and currently operates 16 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2015, more than 99 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.
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1 Based on IHS Automotive, Polk new retail vehicle registration data in the Non-Luxury Traditional Compact Car segment for 2010-2015CY.
2 Based on IHS Automotive, U.S. new retail vehicle registrations by volume for all models in industry and the age of head of household data for 18-34 year olds for CY2015.
