WTCR: Tiago celebrates first podium this season

A huge success for Tiago Monteiro! The Portuguese pilot, who is sponsored by Brose, captured his first podium placement of the season in the World Touring Car Cup on the Hungaroring near Budapest. He came second in the third race on the course where he chalked up a top-ten finish in Formula 1 fourteen years ago. It was not only crowned the weekend for him, but also for the entire ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport team: It meant the outfit took all the places on the podium in the third race, which Esteban Guerrieri won ahead of Tiago and Nestor Girolami.

“I’d first like to congratulate Esteban, Nestor and Attila not only on this result, but our performances the whole weekend,” said Tiago after the races in Hungary. “The entire Münnich Motorsport team was fantastic, and we showed how teamwork should be done. I’m very proud of that.” The outfit dominated qualifying on the Saturday in a manner that has been unprecedented so far this season.

All four Honda pilots from the Münnich Motorsport team – Guerrieri, Tassi, Tiago and Girolami – took the first four spots. “We all deserved it. We’ve worked so hard, and today we were able to show that we have a great chassis. All we had lacked up to now is top speed,” said Tiago. “We showed here on a course with a lot of bends and in damp conditions that we can get the best out of the chassis.” The 44-year-old added that he was delighted to have made it to Q3 for the first time this season.

Tiago improves from race to race

However, Tiago was not able to line up in third on the grid, i.e. the place he had actually captured in qualifying, in the first race on the Sunday: He had to change his engine and so was handed a penalty by the stewards and had to start from the back. Yet thanks to his driving skills and a much improved Honda Civic, Tiago was able to make a couple of positions good and even get among the points by crossing the line in 14th. He then improved on that placement in the second race, in which he finished ninth.

However, Tiago saved up his highlight on the Hungaroring for the afternoon. In the final race of the weekend, he was finally able to benefit from his strong performance in qualifying and start from third position. Thanks to his – customary – strong start, he was able to pass his teammate Tassi at the beginning of the race and capture second. The stalwart held on to that placement to take the checkered flag behind his other teammate Guerrieri.

“We came through some challenges in the first two races, so it feels so good to finally show our true potential with a podium in race three,” said a happy Tiago. “I got off to a good start and was able to take the position from Attila. After that, I just followed Esteban’s rhythm.” Tiago has now moved up into 13th in the drivers’ championship and is 17 points off a place in the top ten. He still has two weekends of racing to close that gap. His next opportunity is in Spain in a fortnight’s time. We wish him lots of success again!