Tiago Monteiro heads to China and the Shanghai International Circuit for the penultimate weekend of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship, after his double points score in Japan.
The Portuguese racer, who has swapped from the SunRed SR Leon 1.6T to the Honda Civic S2000 TC for the final three weekends of the season, took the brand new car to points in both races at Suzuka.
Heading to the home of the Chinese Grand Prix, Monteiro is looking to continue the progress from Suzuka and prepare the JAS Motorsport team ahead of the full campaign in 2013.
“The Suzuka test was of utmost importance because it was our first encounter with the competition in race conditions,” says Tiago Monteiro, “We’ve collected a lot of information and got two good results, but we must not forget that Suzuka is an unusual, very short and very fast track. Shanghai is a more traditional one, it is more akin to the other circuits on the calendar. It will be a new challenge.”
The former Formula One driver knows what he has to do during the final weekends of the 2012 campaign.
“We’re working on the chassis, engine and brakes. The sporting result is secondary to this,” warns Tiago Monteiro. “We must continue the process of discovery and analysis. We should not take our attention away from this. Of course, after the top 10 in Japan, the wait will be huge, but honestly, a repeat of the results from Suzuka here in Shanghai will be quite difficult.”