Tiago Monteiro praised the development of Honda’s World Touring Car Championship engine at Monza, after the Portuguese driver qualified on the front row of the grid for the Main Race.
Having not shown strong pace in the official pre-season test at Monza in March, Honda openly headed into the second round of the season in a cautious mood.
However Monteiro not only went fastest of all in first practice, but the 40-year-old then made it through to the Q3 shootout on Saturday, before putting his Civic in second for the Main Race.
“I’m delighted to qualify on the front row,” said Monteiro. “We tested here six weeks ago and our lap times were nowhere, so to come from there to here shows the incredible job Honda and JAS have done on, respectively, the engine and aero package, since then.”
Championship leader Monteiro believes that the high-speed slipstreaming nature of the Monza circuit will lead to a pair of exciting races on Sunday.
“Anything can happen on race day. Monza is a circuit where you can overtake more easily than other places; the slipstream is very important and so is looking after the tyres. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Honda went on to lose out in the manufacturers’ MAC3 challenge by just over two seconds, and combined with Norbert Michelisz qualifying in sixth and missing out on Q3, Honda Team Principal Alessandro Mariani admitted he was a little disappointed with the team’s overall results.
“If you’d told me yesterday that we’d be on the front row, I’d have been delighted,” admitted Mariani. “But after we showed such excellent pace in free practice, I’m a little disappointed we couldn’t convert that speed into a stronger all-round performance.
“I’m especially sorry for Norbi and Ryo [Michigami], because they only missed out on much better fortunes by fractions. But we’ll review everything this evening and come back stronger tomorrow, when the big points are there for the taking.”
The Opening Race takes place at 11:15 BST (12:15 CEST) on Sunday, with the Main Race at 13:15 BST (14:15 CEST).