Civic Supercars to make 5 Nations BRX debut with Murray Motorsport
Irish drivers John McCluskey and Gary Donoghue will race a pair of Honda Civic Coupe Supercars in rounds of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy this year with Murray Motorsport.
The team has switched from running the OlsbergsMSE-built Ford Fiestas it has campaigned in recent seasons to the four-wheel-drive, 600BHP Civic Coupes that were originally developed between Swedish rallycross powerhouse OMSE and Honda Performance Development in the United States for the American-based Global Rallycross Championship, in which it claimed outright event wins.
The cars have since achieved success in Europe, claiming multiple RallyX event victories and a Swedish Championship title alongside racing in FIA World Rallycross Championship events.
Multiple motor sport title-winning outfit Murray Motorsport took delivery of the cars to its Dublin base last month and are preparing to embark on a maiden competitive outing at rounds five and six of the Irish Rallycross Championship on March 7th-8th at Mondello Park, beginning a season of mixed events.
The MurrayMotorsport.Com team will then compete in the opening weekend of 5 Nations BRX at Lydden Hill on Easter Bank Holiday Weekend [April 5-6], and the joint 5 Nations BRX / IRX event at Mondello Park on May [23-24], before also racing in the Irish round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Mondello Park in July. Subsequent 2026 plans will be determined following assessment of the first period of the season.
British and Irish Rallycross event-winner McCluskey is revelling in the opportunity to race the Civic in 2026, having returned to rallycross in 2023 following a 14-year hiatus.
“I’m stoked to be competing in the fresher OMSE-built Honda this year. We looked at a lot of options for upgrading from our Fiestas, and we think the Civic is a good package, especially on the faster tracks,” said McCluskey, who enjoyed multiple 5 Nations BRX podiums last year. “It will be a very interesting to race the car for the first time at Mondello in March and it’s always a pleasure to race at Lydden Hill so we will be in the opening rounds of 5 Nations BRX at Easter, where we are quietly confident of a good result. Racing at Mondello in the BRX Vs IRX weekend will be really good preparation for the Euro RX round in July. Murray Motorsport is a great team, supported by Mountune on the engine side and with a closer collaboration with OMSE this year. Everyone involved intends on proving the Hondas can compete with the latest RX equipment.”
Donoghue, who like McCluskey started raced in rallycross on the back of a strong rally career, is a rally event-winner in America and commutes from his home in New York to compete in rallycross in Europe.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time racing in rallycross since I first drove the Fiesta a few years ago, the cars are just insane and you never get out of one without having had great craic,” said Donoghue who claimed a maiden Supercar final win in the Irish Championship last year. “The Civics are proven to be very good cars, it makes a lot of sense for us to run two cars that are exactly the same in the team and I think they will suit a lot of the circuits we go to. I’m going to be having a bit of a mixed programme myself due to personal commitments I have back home but I’m really looking forward to race the Civic in a few weeks at Mondello.”