Double win for Harris and Civic Type R
TCR in Australia

A dynamic double win by Brad Harris in TCR Australia was the highlight of the weekend for JAS Motorsport customer teams, but there were strong performances on three other continents and a pole position for JAS Development Driver Ignacio Montenegro.
 
TCR Australia
Brad Harris, already the dominant driver in the new Challenge Class in 2024, had his best-ever weekend in the series at Phillip Island as he qualified second to complete an all-Honda front-row and then won twice on Sunday.
 
Aboard his Wall Racing-run Exclusive Switchboards Honda Civic Type R TCR, he dropped to third early in Race One but made a daring move on the last lap to recover second by the flag.
 
He then drove superbly in the remaining races to score a double success and claim his first ever ‘event win’ as the highest scorer across the weekend.
 
Brother Will finished second in the Challenge class – behind Brad – in all three races to make it an even better weekend for Wall Racing.
 
Tony D’Alberto made it two pole positions in a row as he topped qualifying, but the Honda Wall Racing driver was biffed off the track at the first corner and dropped to the tail of the field; which was where he finished.
 
He recovered from last to eighth in Race Two and then made more progress in the finale to come home fourth.
 
TCR South America/TCR Brasil
JAS Development Driver Ignacio Montenegro combined with full-season Squadra Martino driver Juan Manuel Casella to qualify on pole position for the opening race of both series at Interlagos.
 
The endurance format featured Casella starting the opening 40-minute race, which set the grid for the 40-minute finale that Montenegro would take part in.
 
Casella gradually dropped from first to fourth, but Montenegro asserted himself in Part Two; getting back into third and closing on the leaders thanks to a late safety car.
 
However at the restart with five minutes left he was an innocent victim as three cars behind collided and collected him as he braked for the Senna S; Montenegro suffering broken suspension as a result.
 
That incident rounded off a luckless race for Martino. Rodrigo Baptista/Diego Nunes suffered a puncture while Fabio Casagrande/Franco Coscia and Enrique Maglione /Rodrigo Aramendia had technical issues.
 
TCR UK
The opening round of the season at Brands Hatch featured a strong sixth-place finish for Civic Type R TCR newcomers Go-Fix Honda by 77Sport and Will Powell.
 
Powell’s error-free Saturday performance netted him his best result of the weekend. That was added to with eighth and ninth-place finishes on Sunday; Powell running as high as fourth in Race Two after a lightning start.
 
Super GT
Team UPGARAGE duo Takashi Kobayashi and Syun Koide began the new season in the GT300 class with their NSX GT3 Evo 22 at Okayama; the track where they kicked off 2023 with a race win.
 
This time the pair qualified 16th as the new qualifying format did not favour them. They made progress in Sunday’s race until a final-lap puncture ensured they finished where they started.
 
The NSX was competing as part of the NSX GT3 Customer Racing Programme; a global collaborative project with JAS Motorsport responsible for assembly of all cars.
 
Honda Performance Development (HPD) and M-TEC handle sales and technical support in North America and Japan respectively, with JAS responsible for these areas across the rest of the world.

Main Brad Harris, Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR Australia, Phillip Island, Australia (credit: Wall Racing); Lower 1 Brad Harris, Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR Australia, Phillip Island, Australia (credit: Wall Racing); 2(L) Will Harris, Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR Australia, Phillip Island, Australia (credit: Wall Racing); (R) Tony D'Alberto, Honda Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR Australia, Phillip Island, Australia (credit: Wall Racing); 3 Juan Manuel Casella/Ignacio Montenegro, Squadra Martino Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR South America, Interlagos, Brazil (credit: TCR South America); 4(L) Enrique Maglione/Rodrigo Aramendia, Squadra Martino Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR South America, Interlagos, Brazil (credit: TCR South America); (R) Fabio Casagrande/Franco Coscia, Squadra Martino Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR South America, Interlagos, Brazil (credit: TCR South America); 5 Rodrigo Baptista/Diego Nunes, Squadra Martino Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR South America, Interlagos, Brazil (credit: TCR South America); 6(L) Will Power, Go-Fix Honda by Sport77 Honda Civic Type R TCR, TCR UK, Brands Hatch, UK (credit: JEP/TCR UK); (R) Takashi Kobayashi/Syun Koide, Team UPGARAGE Honda NSX GT3 Evo 22, Super GT, Okayama, Japan (credit: HRC). 

About JAS Motorsport