LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler joins Honda Civic Type R TCR stable for 2022
The Honda Civic Type R TCR will race in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup for a fifth-consecutive season in 2022, with LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler the first of two teams confirmed to campaign the model in the series.
Honda Racing drivers Tiago Monteiro and Attila Tassi will compete for Honda’s new customer racing outfit, while Esteban Guerrieri and Nestor Girolami also remain part of the driver line-up for 2022.
The identity of the customer racing team the Argentinian team-mates will drive for will be announced at a later date.
LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler’s arrival pairs a serial race-winning team and title challenger in the WTCR with a car that has scored 20 victories in four seasons at the highest level of touring car competition.
Based in Wiggensbach in Germany, LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler will enter its third year in the WTCR in 2022, having previously been a mainstay of the FIA World Touring Car Championship until 2014.
The team and its Civic Type R TCRs will carry title sponsorship from LIQUI MOLY, a long-time supporter of Team Principal, WTCC race winner and Independents’ Champion Franz Engstler.
The agreement with LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler represents a statement of intent and trust in both Honda’s values and the credentials of the Honda Civic Type R TCR, built by Honda’s motorsport partner JAS Motorsport.
Though the team is new to the Civic Type R TCR, it will be able to count on the experience of Tiago and Attila, who are paired as team-mates for a fourth season in a row.
The 2021 campaign was one of mixed fortunes for Tiago, who sensationally won the opening race of the season at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport but was forced out of the final round of the season at Sochi Autodrom with a bacterial chest infection.
The Portuguese driver spent the month of December recovering at his home after he was discharged from hospital, having previously been repatriated on a privately organised medical flight from Russia. He has since begun to train once more in preparation for the 2022 campaign.
Like his team-mate, Attila also won with ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport in 2021 - becoming the series’ second-youngest winner by triumphing at Estoril in June - and scored four more top-10 finishes.
Still only 22, the Hungarian has experience that belies his age as he enters his fourth season as a Honda Racing driver.
LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler and Honda’s second customer team will be offered technical support by JAS Motorsport, including a supply of spare parts and technical assistance at each event, with the aim of helping all Honda drivers with their title challenges.
It's great to welcome LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler to the Honda family, I'm looking forward to this new challenge. I'm really happy that I will be able to help their transition; with my experience I'm eager to help them integrate with Honda quickly. I’d also like to thank ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport for the highs we shared over the past two years. It's a very proud feeling to continue with Honda into an 11th season, it's a fantastic relationship that we have created and I feel very fortunate to be in this position. I had the whole of December off to recover after my chest infection, and now I'm starting to push my body's limits again, so I feel really motivated to work with Attila to help get the team's engineers up to speed with the Civic Type R TCR and have a very productive winter testing period, which will be very crucial.
I am very proud to be driving for LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler in their first season running the Honda Civic Type R TCR in the WTCR; it's nice to have a new challenge and I am really looking forward to working with the team. It's also a privilege to be a Honda Racing driver for a fourth year, and to have the trust of both the brand and the team for the coming campaign. Tiago and I have built a very special relationship over the past three years, so I'm really happy that we are continuing together and hope we can get the best out of each other. I am looking forward to building on my first win in 2021 and scoring more strong results.
It is a really proud moment for LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler to get the chance to work with Honda in the WTCR, and a fantastic development speaking personally. It feels like there is a good future for this partnership and it is a great opportunity for the team to grow in the WTCR. Our driver line-up is also very strong; to have a driver of Tiago's experience brings obvious benefits, and it is also part of our philosophy to work with young drivers where we can, so Attila is a great addition. We are really motivated for the start of this new project with the Honda Civic Type R TCR and will be investing our maximum power to get the best results.
We are really excited to be working with such an established and formidable team as LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler. We've been keen to work with them for some time now, so it's great to have a team with their pedigree on board. Their decision to run the Honda Civic Type R TCR in the WTCR is a real show of confidence both in the car - which has won all over the globe, including 20 times in the WTCR, and remains a competitive force heading into its fifth season of competition - and the customer support JAS Motorsport is able to provide. They have proved already in the WTCR that they are a professional and competitive outfit, and we look forward to supporting them with their aim of adding more success in the 2022 season.
