For the first time in his motorsport career which is already rich in experience from various championships, Tiago Monteiro took to the wheel of a powerful V8 Supercar from the Centaur Racing Team on the Winton Raceway in Victoria Queensland. The Portuguese driver had his first taste of the contender he will control during the upcoming Armor All Gold Coast 600 in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland this coming October, an event he has been invited to take part in as a distinguished guest.
Tiago completely roughly 50 laps of the Winton circuit and adapted quickly to the car despite the fact that he is used to racing cars that are radically different to the V8 powered machine. "To run with several other drivers on the track was very good because it helped me to measure my progress," Tiago said. "At the end of the day the team was really happy and my lap times were great and very encouraging."
Before the Surfers Paradise event gets underway on the 24th of October, the SEAT driver from the FIA World Touring Car Championship will have one more day of testing. Meanwhile, the tests carried out over the past few days have been of major importance. "I will only have one more experience of the V8 Supercars, the same week as the one when I will race and it would have been perilous to go on a street track with no knowledge of the car’s behaviour and of its power (650bhp). I liked the car a lot but it is totally different to my SEAT Leon. From what I’ve seen, I think the championship is on par with the Europeans ones."
Tiago Monteiro will now concentrate on the next round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, which will take place at Zolder (Belgium), on the 19th and 20th of June.