Vila Real WTCC: Monteiro keeps Muller at bay to take home win
Tiago Monteiro took his second win of the season at his home race at Vila Real in Portugal in front of a passionate home crowd, and grabs back second in the drivers’ championship heading into the mid-season break.
Photo by: FIA WTCC
The Honda driver led the race throughout from pole position in the Honda ahead of the Citroen of Yvan Muller, with the Frenchman unable to find a way past the Portuguese driver, just as he had predicted after qualifying.
The race echoed the first in terms of racing action, with almost no passing moves made at the tight street circuit outside of the start despite some close battles.
Nicky Catsburg was the driver who made the most from the start, jumping from ninth to seventh, while his Lada teammate Hugo Valente was up to ninth from 13th on the grid, but the two drivers made no further progress throughout the race.
Monteiro maintained a short lead of a second over Muller throughout the race, while the two Hondas of Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff fell back during the final stages as they battled each other.
Championship leader Jose Maria Lopez followed up his podium-less Moscow weekend with another in Portugal, finishing fifth after backing off late which a potential issue in the race to finish 16 seconds behind the winner.
Thed Bjork picked up points for Polestar Cyan Racing with sixth in the Volvo S60, while teammate Robert Dahlgren retired on lap two with an overheating issue.
Monteiro’s win moves him back to second in the drivers’ standings, which was lost after Honda's exclusion from Marrakech earlier in the month, and he is now 101 points adrift of Lopez heading to the Argentinian’s home race at Termas de Rio Hondo in August.
Main race results:
Cla | Driver | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda | 14 | |
2 | Yvan Muller | Citroen | 14 | 0.821 |
3 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda | 14 | 2.181 |
4 | Rob Huff | Honda | 14 | 3.402 |
5 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroën | 14 | 16.164 |
6 | Thed Björk | Volvo | 14 | 17.374 |
7 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA | 14 | 17.904 |
8 | Mehdi Bennani | Citroën | 14 | 21.614 |
9 | Hugo Valente | LADA | 14 | 23.054 |
10 | Tom Chilton | Citroen | 14 | 23.364 |
11 | James Thompson | Chevrolet | 14 | 28.125 |
12 | Grégoire Demoustier | Citroen | 14 | 33.547 |
13 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA | 14 | 34.675 |
14 | John Filippi | Chevrolet | 14 | 47.223 |
15 | Ferenc Ficza | Honda | 14 | 47.654 |
16 | Tom Coronel | Chevrolet | 13 | 1 Lap |
R | Daniel Nagy | Honda | 3 | |
R | Robert Dahlgren | Volvo | 1 |
Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes
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