In its first World Touring Cup Championship (WTCC) event, Honda has already scored points, which is a first in the history of this championship.

During the two races at Suzuka in Japan on Oct. 21, Tiago Monteiro managed to rank in the top 10.

“We’re very pleased with this first result,” said the Portuguese driver. “A few weeks ago, we barely hoped to finish in the top 10 and that’s exactly what we achieved this weekend. But we’re continuing to learn and managed to find better set-ups during the races,” Monteiro added.

Alessandro Mariani, the director of Honda Racing Team JAS which is supported by Motul said, “I’m very satisfied because we had the opportunity to show our level during the races, and our lap times were very good and regular. Unfortunately, it was difficult to pass and our qualifying time affected our final result. But finishing in the top 10 in the two races — not far from the leading cars — is a good result.”

Meanwhile Daisuke Horiuchi, chief engineer in charge of developing the Civic WTCC said, “The car and the engine behaved well, but a lot remains to be done to improve things. Despite the short tuning time available, we showed a very satisfactory level.”

The penultimate round of the WTCC championship will take place at the Shanghai circuit on Nov. 4.