Feature

Tackling the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique with Takuma Sato

HRC Executive Advisor and two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato took on the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique with the Honda Technical College

"The cars are beautiful; true historic rally cars, meticulously restored by the students. It’s amazing to think these CIVIC RS models were originally built half a century ago. I'd never experienced rallying before, so it was a real challenge for us, and most of the students had never been out of Japan before, so this was an incredible experience!"

Takuma Sato

Celebrating 50 years of the Honda Technical College, the students of the Honda-owned college in Saitama, Japan, recently undertook a very special challenge – rebuilding a pair of 1975 Honda Civic RS models to take on the 2026 Rallye Monte Carlo Historique.

Starting from Reims, in the north of France, the 28^th edition of this demanding event took two Honda Civics south through France all the way to Monaco from 29 January to 7 February, taking in over 2,000km of beautiful mountain passes, stunning landscapes, snow, ice, the odd accident, and long nights on the road.

Not only was it mechanically demanding, testing the students’ work on the Civics including necessary road-side repairs, it was the student team who were responsible for all the planning too. From organising all the travel from Japan to France, via Honda Motor Europe’s logistical centre in Belgium, to booking the hotels, servicing the cars at all hours, preparing the roadbooks and co-driving the whole route, the students were really put to the test.

Starting first on the road, the #1 Honda Civic RS was driven by two-time Indy 500 winner and HRC Executive Advisor Takuma Sato, and co-driven by Sota Kawashima.

The second Civic, wearing #176, was driven by Honda Technical Collage Principal Keisuke Katsuta and co-driven by Taiyo Oshima.

“This is a massive story for the students of Honda Technical College in their 50th anniversary” said Takuma Sato. “Not only rebuilding these beautiful 1975 Civic RSs, but actually participating in Rallye Monte Carlo Historique.

“About 10 months ago the college offered me to drive and of course I said yes. I'd never done any rallying so it was a lot of challenge for me too. The cars are beautifully maintained - it’s a proper three pedal, H pattern gearbox, and I absolutely loved it. This engine singing is absolutely beautiful.

“For the students, this is a once in a lifetime experience. They’re all teenagers or in their early 20s, and when the 30 students made the trip all the way from Japan to France most of them had never been out of Japan before. They travelled abroad for the first time, so this is already a huge task for them on its own.”

The Honda Technical College exists to nurture and inspire the next generation of engineers, who can play a role in shaping the Honda of tomorrow.

“It's a very special event from the Honda Technical College. It’s just a perfect showcase of Honda's commitment not just to building cars but educating young technicians and developing the Honda people of the future.

“For the students, to challenge something in the real world, in real racing, particularly at one of the toughest rallies, has been an incredible experience. You can see how they developed individually even in a really short period. Every single day you can see that their faces are different - they always have the passion but now they can realise this dream they become more confident because they see that they can make this incredible achievement.

The Honda Technical College team at the finish of the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique

“To do it all - completing all the preparation by themselves, understanding the French regulations, building the cars, arranging carnets, exporting the cars and in fact booking all the hotels as well - the students did everything and it's a huge achievement" continued Takuma.

“I'm entirely proud of what everyone did not just in these two weeks but for last year since the two Civic RSs were donated by owners and the preparation started.”

Having worked all hours, following the Civics south through France, both cars successfully made it to the finish in Monaco to an emotional welcome by the students and teachers in the early hours of Saturday 7 February.

As was worn proudly on the side of each Civic RS, the message from the Honda Technical College summarised the underlying principle of this event beautifully: ‘Thank you for the last 50 years. Let’s move you to the next era.’