Tiago Monteiro was behind the wheel of the SEAT Leon 1.6 liter turbo, Thursday March 8 on the Monza circuit, in preparation for the first race weekend of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), which kicks off this weekend on the Autodrome Nazionale di Monza.

The Portuguese driver successfully completed the scheduled shakedown of his SEAT Leon and is impatiently awaiting the start of hostilities. The day was divided into several one-hour sessions in which it was hard to evaluate the competition. "We are mainly worried about preparing our car for the upcoming weekend," Tiago Monteiro explained, "We have many things to test and we covered a large number of laps. It was a full day and I hope it will pay off in the race."

The first race of a new season is traditionally a chance to make predictions, but Tiago felt it was premature to put forward personal and collective goals. "It's the first time we will know where we stand compared to the competition. I think the team made the right choices over the winter, but we will now have to turn that work into performance. We won't have a real idea until Saturday. Until then, my objectives will be to secure points in both races on Sunday," Tiago Monteiro concluded.

The Monza races will be broadcast direct on Eurosport, on Sunday March 11 at Noon and 3:45 PM.