Tiago Monteiro heads to the Salzburgring circuit in Austria, host venue of rounds 11 and 12 of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship; looking to replicate his double top five finish during the previous round at Hungaroring.
The Portuguese ace is still driving the SunRed powered SEAT Leon and despite the disadvantage of having the underpowered engine, he is still pleased with the progress made by the SEAT Tuenti Racing team outfit.
“Since the start of the championship, we have made progress race after race and, thanks to the remarkable work of the whole crew, bit by bit we are reducing the gap between us and the other SEAT cars with the new engine,” explains the former Formula 1 driver.
“We are starting to reap the rewards of the team’s labor and until I can use the latest version of the engine, I will do my best with the equipment we have available. I am very proud of everyone on the team because we have made great progress and we secured excellent results in Hungary. They increase my motivation tenfold,” added Monteiro.
Salzburgring makes its debut in the World Touring Car Championship this week and the 4.225km circuit marks the end of the opening half of the 2012 campaign.
Monteiro heads into the weekend looking forward to the challenge of learning the circuit, which is one he has never experienced before.
“I love to have to adapt to a new and unknown situation,” continued Monteiro, who currently sits 11th in the outright drivers’ Championship.
“Generally, that suits me well. It is a circuit that looks very fast and demanding, but I hope that we will be competitive there. Once again, we will concentrate on qualifying, because it is essential to start from the front lines on the grid in order to be able to secure points. That will be my objective.”