The Honda Civic Type R has broken another front-wheel-drive lap record to add to its growing list of records it already has under its belt. This time around, the Civic Type R went to Silverstone in the U.K. to claim a new lap record for a front-wheel-drive production car with a time of 2:31.320, beating the previous record that was held by the previous-generation Civic Type R.

The Honda Civic Type R continues to terrorize race tracks all over the world. As if breaking the production car lap record for FWD cars at the Nurburgring, Spa, and Magny-Cours weren’t enough, the hot hatch went to Silverstone and added another lap record on its mantle. Three-time British Touring Car Championship winner Matt Neal sat behind the wheel of the Type R and was quickly convinced with the capabilities of the Civic Type R. "Where I found the real advantage of the Type R was in the high-speed corners – the stability which is a combination of the aero and the new advanced suspension system,” he said. “Into corners like Copse and Stowe at the end of the Hangar straight, you can carry big entry speed with supreme confidence."

By my count, that’s four lap records that the Honda Civic Type R now owns. It set the Nurburgring lap record back in April 2017 with a lap time of 7:43.800. A few months after that, it went to Magny-Cours in France to set a record there with a time of 2:01.510. From there, the hot hatch’s globe-trotting tour took it to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium where it set a lap record of 2:53.720. Now, the Silverstone lap record has fallen to the mighty Civic Type R. To be fair, though, it actually beat the lap record that was previously held by its predecessor.

Moving forward, the Civic Type R will continue hitting race tracks all over the world as part of the Type R Challenge that Honda set up. Former F1 world champion Jenson Button and former Jordan F1 driver Tiago Monteiro are still scheduled to have their own runs with the Civic Type R as it continues its quest to hold as many production car lap records for FWD vehicles in as many tracks as possible.

It’s an incredible achievement and a testament to the capabilities of the Civic Type R that these lap records are all falling by the wayside. But now’s not the time for Honda to start celebrating its success because it looks like Renault’s cooking up a new version of the Megane RS Trophy that’s going to give the Civic Type R a run for its money. Word has it that the French automaker is developing its hot hatch with the intention of reclaiming the production car lap record for FWD vehicles at the ‘Ring. If Renault somehow gets the job done, we could be looking at the start of a hot hatch rivalry the likes of which we haven’t seen in quite some time.

For now, though, it’s the Civic Type R’s moment in the spotlight. It’s a well-deserved achievement, too.

Honda Civic Type R Performance Specifications

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2017 Honda Civic Type R.

Read our full review on the 2018 Honda Civic.

Read more Honda news.