Behind the wheel of Honda’s 2017 BTCC car

Latest Civic Type R thrills and chills in equal measure

Taking someone else’s racing car for a spin around a motorsport circuit must be up there with life’s all-time humiliating experiences – or at least, returning to the pits afterwards is. There’s the fact that all the mechanics don’t say a word to you. Even worse, the car’s regular driver can’t help asking why you were braking 200 yards earlier for corners than he does. The answer to that question may possibly be because he’s much more used to the car than you are…

We’re talking about Matt Neal here, though, so we’ll let him off. After all, he and team mate “Flash” Gordon Shedden have been kind enough to allow our man Matt Prior to take one of their 2017 BTCC Honda Civic Type Rs for a drive. Yes, an actual Civic that’s being campaigned in this year’s series, by team Halfords Yuasa Racing. The actual 365bhp machine driven by the current British Touring Car Championship title holder…

The sore subject of braking points was brought up during the day Prior spent pre-season testing with the crew at Parcmotor Castelloli, near Barcelona in Spain. Further hard truths came in the form of questions of visibility – or the lack of it – from behind the wheel. But it was all done with our man’s best interests at heart, and the learning curve was well worth it for him to get behind the wheel of a supremely competitive car from one of the world’s most exciting racing championships.

Our video camera joins Prior behind the wheel – and will continue to do so throughout the BTCC season. Keep on watching…

Sarah Bradley is a writer for AutoCar.