The summer break in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) comes to an end this week. After five weeks of rest that were used to recharge their batteries and work on the reliability and competitiveness of their packages, the teams will return to competition in Valencia Spain. For Tiago Monteiro, who did not achieve the results he was expecting or worthy of in the past two meetings, the plan for Valencia is centered on recovering his fourth place standing in the drivers’ championship.
One year ago, Tiago Monteiro shined with the light of a thousand flames on the Costa del Azahar, bringing home a win, a fastest lap in race, and his best points total for the 2010 season. The SEAT Leon #18 car driver knows that it won’t be easy to repeat the feat this year, but he is not ruling out a good performance in Spain. "Valencia is the type of track where anything can happen. Theoretically, it is a circuit that is favorable to our rivals, but we will have to fight this natural trend!" explained Tiago, "Last year, the Valencia meeting was a great success and, while being aware of the value of the Chevrolets and BMWs, I hope that we will have all we need to answer back to them."
From his early days in the World Touring Car Championship, Tiago has been one of the best drivers in the series, and he has been very competitive early in the season in particular. His objective is to finish the season with the same level of competitiveness. "This break allowed us to regain our strength and I am ready to tackle the four meetings that remain to be played out. My main objective for the end of this season is to get back into 4th place in the championship and to be the best driver out of those who aren’t driving Chevrolets. They were the fastest in the first part of the championship and I would like to be the fastest in the second part," declared the SEAT Sun-Red driver, who is currently in 6th place in the championship.