TCR / 26 January 2026

HART put Civic Type R TCR on Daytona podium

HART gave the Honda Civic Type R TCR a strong start to the 2026 racing season as the team, staffed entirely by Honda employees in their spare time, finished a magnificent second at the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge opener at Daytona.

Tyler Chambers, Chad Gilsinger and Cameron Lawrence lost a lap to a technical issue, but recovered as some clever strategy decisions allowed them to regain the lead lap around a succession of mid-race Full-Course Yellow periods.

Having saved his tyres for a late charge, Lawrence – running fourth with an hour to go – turned a six-second deficit to the TCR class leaders into nothing as the race’s final three laps began.

A strong pass around the outside of one of his chief rivals wrested second spot on the final lap and he took his JAS Motorsport-built touring car over the finish line just half a second from victory.

Sixth was the KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Civic driven by Tim Lewis Jr and new co-driver Rocco Pasquarella, the teenager who had stunned onlookers by qualifying second on his TCR debut.

After running in the top positions through the first stint, Pasquarella was forced into recovery mode after he emerged from his first fuel stop in 15th, but he and Lewis rallied hard to gain nine spots over the remaining three hours.

Their joy contrasted greatly with the emotions of Pegram Racing, who were racing a Civic Type R TCR for the first time. Riley Pegram climbed from 13th on the grid to seventh by the end of her stint and co-driver Mario Farnbacher magnificently continued the climb.

The German hit the front just beyond the half-distance mark, but heartbreakingly suffered a right-front puncture with 20 minutes to go while leading, leading to a slow lap back to the pits and an eventual 11th-place finish.

That was one spot ahead of 2025 title challengers Montreal Motorsport Group, who ran inside the top three for the first hour, but saw Louis Philippe Montour fired into the tyre wall at Turn 2 by a rival – who was penalised for his actions soon after.

More than 10 laps were lost in the pits while the car was repaired. Montour, Karl Wittmer and Dai Yoshihara finished 12th.