Tiago Monteiro prepares for a double difficulty on the Spanish circuit
After his historic win at Puebla (Mexico), Tiago Monteiro is preparing to meet a difficult challenge this weekend at Valencia (Spain). The other side of the coin from Tiago's Puebla triumph, the Portuguese driver's SEAT León TDI will carry 32 kg of ballast. Furthermore, after conducting some meticulous tests, Tiago knows that the Spanish circuit is not as favorable to his diesel engine as the first two racetracks visited by the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
"The tests that we conducted at Valencia confirm that this is not the best circuit for us," Tiago explained, "It is complicated maintaining the car on the ideal trajectory in its fast corners and the tires suffer a lot. My strategy will be based on the search for the most appropriate adjustments to a good position on the starting grid, and then to contest both races while not losing site of the fact that in my case, with 32 additional kilos, being in the top ten would already be a good finish. Scoring points at Valencia would have a particular significance for me and would help SEAT in both championships."It will be a double difficulty for Tiago. In fact, the third stage of the WTCC, from May 16 to 18 on the Ricardo Tormo circuit, will also see the new FIA rule take effect, limiting the engine RPM's of the SEAT León TDI. After the unshared domination of SEAT in the first four races at Curitiba and at Puebla, expectations are high among adversaries who wish to approach SEAT's pace.
Tiago recells the special taste of his first win in Mexico, "It was an unforgettable weekend where the team found the right adjustments that helped me to always be in the right times. From Mexico, I am keeping the emotion of the win, the feeling of reward for all those who are with me, but also the fervor of the fans. Our objective is to keep on working to climb the podium and conquer other wins. But you have to learn to attack at the right time. The WTCC is becoming more and more competitive and each car has circuits that are favorable to it. So it is very important to calm things down on the circuits that don't smile upon us."In Spain, the World Touring Car Championship will increase its interest because Honda and Lada are joining the pack which includes twenty cars in the same second. Valencia will also mark the arrival of the championship in Europe. After the Mexican sun, the meteorological conditions for this weekend are uncertain and unstable: fog and rain could interfere with qualifying and the races.The Valencia races will be rebroadcast direct on Eurosport, Sunday May 18 at 10:45 AM and 2:00 PM UK Time.
