Tiago Monteiro 4th and 5th in Hungary

The Hungarian weekend of the FIA World Championship Touring Car Championship, WTCC, was very productive for Tiago Monteiro. The Portuguese driver finished the two races on the famous Hungaroring circuit in 5th and 4th position after making up a position on the starting grid in both events. This excellent overall result allows him to move up to 4th place in the championship battle.

Third fastest in free practice and constantly competitive in qualifying, Tiago missed out on the top 5 by a mere 56 milliseconds. Tiago and his Honda Civic were high achievers in the race despite precarious conditions, including light rain just moments before the start of race one. Tiago finished the first event in 5th place just one second off the podium. In the second round, he resisted the Citroëns who led the chase behind him. “We are clearly more efficient in terms of aerodynamics and chassis,” admitted Tiago. “We worked well in race trim and even if there still remains a lot to do, the first part of our development program has been successful and that gives us confidence for the future. We managed to be more aggressive and more competitive in the races and the best proof of that is the victory from Norbert Michelisz, who benefited from the reverse grid on his 10th place in qualifying. We must make further progress in qualifying, but I think we have the potential to get there.”

The 22 points scored in Hungary allows Tiago to climb up to 4th place in the championship, ahead of one of the Citroen drivers. “It’s good to fight up at front with the best. It is important to be consistent and collect points because Citroën are not the only strong ones. Chevrolet is also very competitive and they will take some too. We will now focus on what will probably be the most difficult race of the year at the Nordschleife,” concluded Tiago.

The next race of the FIA WTCC will take place in two weeks time on the legendary Nordschleife circuit in Germany.