Civic Type R

Make
Honda
Segment
Hatchback

The Honda Civic Type R has a lot going for it, but what it doesn't have is a lot left to prove. It has, after all, claimed the front-drive lap record at the Nürburgring, and a handful of other circuits as well. And now it can add one more to its trophy cabinet.

This time the Japanese automaker took its world-beating hot hatch Down Under to one of Australia's greatest race tracks. And it didn't just hand it to any ordinary driver, either. Former F1 champ Jenson Button took the wheel once more, setting a blistering lap time of 2:35.207.

That may seem like a long time, but the Mount Panorama street circuit – home of the Bathurst 1000 endurance race – is a long one. It runs over 3.8 miles, with 23 corners and gradients of over 16 percent, rising 570 feet from its lowest to highest points along the way.

Button is no stranger to the circuit in Bathurst, having set the unofficial lap time at 1:48.8 in an F1 car back in 2011. And he's no stranger to the Civic Type R either, having driven it to the front-drive lap record last year at the Hungaroring as well.

"Anything you drive around Mount Panorama is pretty amazing. Up across the top of the mountain, the Type R is so fast through there, so once I got into a rhythm and got used to the speed you can carry, it was really good fun," said Button after returning from his final time-attack run. "The Honda Civic Type R really is the perfect car for a time attack challenge like this. And it's 100 per cent a road legal car that's straight off the production line, so to do a 2 minute 35 second lap is fantastic."