TCR / 26 September 2025

Honda Civic Type R TCR FL5 to make Nurburgring Nordschleife debut

The latest version of the Honda Civic Type R TCR will make its Nordschleife debut this weekend as the first stage of a plan to contest next year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.

A single Civic Type R TCR FL5 will compete in the TCR class of the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS). It will be run by the Estonian ALM Motorsport team with support from JAS Motorsport and will be driven by Formula 1 podium-finisher Tiago Monteiro and TCR ace Mike Halder.

Monteiro is no stranger to the Nordschleife, having contested multiple FIA World Touring Car Championship and World Touring Car Cup races on the ultra-challenging circuit, often known as ‘Green Hell’ as well as numerous NLS events in a variety of race cars.

Significantly, the Portuguese driver was part of the Castrol Honda Racing line-ups that won the TCR division at the 2019 and 2020 Nurburgring 24 Hours at the wheel of a previous-generation FK7 Civic Type R TCR.

His team-mate Mike Halder has won more TCR races in Europe than almost any other driver over the past decade.

Following a victory at Jerez last weekend, he is on course to become TCR Spain Champion for a second time and has also been a series runner-up in TCR Denmark, TCR Germany and TCR Europe.

He currently holds the record for most victories by a Civic Type R TCR driver with 44 – one of which came in the NLS at the Nurburgring in 2023 aboard a Civic prepared by his family-run Halder Motorsport team; the last time he contested an event in the series.

ALM Motorsport, who will run the car, have been one of the world’s outstanding TCR teams of the past few seasons. In 2024 the team took 17 outright victories plus 23 additional class wins and 10 major titles. Among these were the Teams’ titles in both TCR Europe and TCR Italy and the Touring Car Gold Medal at the FIA Motorsport Games.

The objective of the NLS event on September 27 is to gather information ahead of a proposed entry in the TCR class for next year’s 24-hour race, which is set to feature a grid of more than 140 GT and touring cars in total.

The race will be broadcast live on the NLS YouTube channel from 1200 CET on Saturday 27 September with a choice of either English or Germany commentary.

Tiago Monteiro said: “It’s great to be racing in a Honda for the first time since 2022 and for the first time ever in the FL5 Civic. I’m proud to be a part of this project from the starting point, and to be sharing the car with Mike, who has a lot of experience of the car and the circuit. It’s a totally different philosophy at the Nordschleife to any other track and we’re very aware that we are at the beginning of this programme with a lot to learn. I was part of the winning team at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2019 and 2020 so the aim is to be in good shape for next year’s race so we can go for the hat-trick. This event is a test first and foremost and we expect some teething issues, but I’m looking forward to seeing what we can learn so we set ourselves up for more next time. A huge thanks to both JAS Motorsport and Honda for the opportunity.”

Mike Halder said: “I feel very proud to have been chosen to be a part of this project with JAS Motorsport and ALM Motorsport right from the start. The Honda Civic Type R TCR is a fantastic TCR car and one I’ve won a lot of races with this year already, but we have never run the car on the Nordschleife so this weekend is being used as a test to gather as much information as possible about the car and the stress levels the high speeds create, as well as to gain experience of endurance racing and the event format for the team. I’m looking forward to racing with Tiago, who shared a car with me in the NLS for a race in 2020. He’s a very experienced driver and someone who will be a great asset to this project.”

Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsport TCR Project Leader, said: “We’re very pleased to see the Civic Type R TCR compete again at the Nordschleife, although this is the first time for the FL5 model. This is purely a test event for us to learn about how the car behaves on this legendary circuit as we target a return to the Nurburgring 24 Hours next year with the Civic to try to add to the class victories we took in 2019 and 2020. In ALM Motorsport we have one of the best TCR teams on the planet involved and in Tiago and Mike we have two drivers who have been members of the JAS Motorsport family for many years and have won more than 60 races in that time.”