Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship media co-ordinator Simon Moss sampled Oaktec's Honda Civic Hybrid on the Roskirk Stages Rally in Wigan last weekend.
Oaktec's Paul Andrews and Bill Meeson, who have pioneered the Honda Hybrids in rallying, were also out in the Insight Hybrid that inspired the 'green' rally project two year ago.
It was the first event for both cars competing against each other and even experienced rally engineer and stand in co-driver Mark 'Haggis' Gilmour was impressed by the experience.
"We were delighted to be invited to be part of this successful team," said Moss, "and it was a fantastic result to get both cars to the finish on their joint debut.
"The cars both run the same Honda Hybrid system coupled to CVT (automatic) transmissions, which took a few stages to get used to. But the Civic was very easy to drive and the hybrid system worked faultlessly."
The Energy Efficient Motor Sport (EEMS) supported Hondas have had the performance enhanced by tuning the petrol-electric hybrid drives; the tweaks retaining the ultra-low C02 emissions of the standard road cars.
Andrews commented: "We are considering fielding the Civic on some BRC Challenge events later in the year that run alongside the main championship. We are talking to a former factory driver with a view to contesting an asphalt event like the
Jim Clark Rally."
"It would be great to involve environmentally sensitive projects like this in the BRC in the future," added Moss, "and the BRC Challenge is a great introduction to the main series."
