WTCR: Successful outing for Tiago on the Nürburgring

After a difficult start to the season in Zolder two weeks ago, things went far better for Tiago Monteiro at the Nürburgring last weekend. At the second port of call in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR), the Portuguese pilot, who is sponsored by Brose, not only got into the points in both races, but even finished in the top ten in them. Yet he again had to contend with adverse conditions to begin with. On his second lap during qualifying on Thursday evening, he was held up for an unusually long time by a yellow flag in the first sector, and then on his final attempt it was already so dark in the Eifel that he could hardly see a thing. All the same, he managed to capture 12th spot on the grid.

Starting from that position in the first race on the Friday, he then began the chase for a place among the top 10 and was finally rewarded. After three demanding laps on the on the Nürburgring’s legendary North Loop course, Tiago crossed the line in eighth, his best placement so far this season. That performance is all the more impressive given that the windscreen wipers on his Honda Civic were not working properly from the end of the first lap and that the track was wet from rain. “First of all, it’s good to put my first points on the board for this season,” said Tiago. “I had a good start, a decent first lap, and some thrilling fights. I really enjoyed it out there.”

The ex-Formula 1 pilot’s performance in the second race was just as convincing as in the first. Tiago again rewarded himself for a strong effort by finishing ninth and he began his move up the field after just a few meters into the race. The 44-year-old got off to a phenomenal start, set about picking off the car ahead of him in the very first bend and passed his rival on the outside coming out of the turn. He managed to pull off a similar maneuver on the second lap to move into the top 10. He then gained a further position to take the checkered flag in ninth after his eighth place in the first race.

Tiago: “Everything was better today”

“Everything was better today – the performance, the lap times, my feeling in the car,” said a delighted Tiago on the Saturday. “I was fighting and fighting during the three laps, especially with the Audis, but each time I got by I was able to pull away a little,” he said. He added that all in all it had not been the start to the season that he had wanted. “But overall it was a great weekend for the team. We captured a win and a podium,” said Tiago, referring to his two teammates Esteban Guerrieri and Attila Tassi from the ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport team. The Argentinean won the first race, while the Hungarian came third in the second.

The weekend of racing at the Nürburgring had a further highlight in store for Tiago. He lined up for the 24-hour race in the Honda Civic together with Guerrieri, Dominik Fugel and Markus Oestreich. The quartet finished 20th overall and even claimed victory in the TCR class.

Tiago can now recuperate a little from this exciting weekend before rejoining the battle for points in the WTCR at the Slovakia Ring in two weeks’ time. We wish him every success again there.