Tiago Monteiro, competing in front of his home crowd in Porto, was second fastest in this morning’s warm-up session and so he finally was able to show the kind of performance that eluded him yesterday.
A blown turbocharger in the second Free Practice led to a frustrating Qualifying session and so the Castrol Honda team must have been relieved to see their local hero back to his usual form and posting a lap of 2:07.238.
Fastest in warm-up was another Honda Civic, driven by Norbert Michelisz (2:06.305). Rob Huff’s SEAT (2:07.442), James Thompson’s LADA (2:07.482) and Pepe Oriola’s Chevrolet (2:07.496) filled the position from third to fifth.
Seventh-fastest Fredy Barth (2:08.042) was the quickest BMW driver despite an early scare when his car’s bonnet flapped open as he exited the pit lane.