Cube Controls, the Italian sim racing peripheral manufacturer, has revealed it will supply steering wheels for Honda’s latest TCR race car.
The news arrives as Honda’s 2023 TCR challenger was unveiled by the car’s builder, JAS Motorsport. The reveal featured a snapshot of the vehicle’s interior, highlighting the Cube Controls logo on the steering wheel.
Judging from the shape and button placement, the wheel appears to be an all-new design, albeit similar to the company’s existing Formula Sport steering wheel. With at least 16 face buttons and just two rotary switches the Honda TCR wheel’s bold design has clearly been created with ease-of-use in mind.
The Honda TCR steering wheel also is distinct to Cube Controls’ recently revealed pair of AMG-Mercedes steering wheels that Traxion.GG sampled at the ADAC SimRacing Expo. Does this mean Cube Controls will sell a Honda-branded sim racing wheel in future? We hope so.
The new-for-2023 Honda Civic Type R TCR is based on the FL5 Honda Civic Type-R road car, sharing its four-cylinder, two-litre turbocharged engine. The FL5 replaces the outgoing FK8 model and was given an initial shakedown by works driver Nestor Girolami at Circuit Tazio Nuvolari in Italy.
Nestor Girolami and Cube Controls
Girolami, who finished second in the 2022 FIA World Touring Car Cup standings, has been a Cube Controls ambassador since 2019, carrying the firm’s logo on his overalls throughout his WTCR campaigns with Hyundai and Honda:
“As a sim racer fan, I always look for the best possible quality and I pay special attention to every little detail in simulators and steering wheels. It is the best way to prepare my WTCR races and I believe that with Cube Controls, I will have the great advantage of being at the closest level of perfection when comparing the performance in the sim with the track duties,” said the Argentinian back in 2019.
Girolami is a passionate sim racer and drove for Spanish team Drivex eSports using his own professional-grade sim cockpit. No doubt he will feel right at home with the Cube Controls steering wheel in his new race car.
His brother, Franco, is also a Cube Controls ambassador and successful TCR driver. The younger of the siblings, Franco claimed the 2022 TCR Europe championship driving an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR for the Comtoyou Racing Team.
Would you like to see an official Honda TCR steering wheel commercially available from Cube Controls? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured image courtesy of JAS Motorsport
