Tiago Monteiro has called the Hungaroring a ‘significant track’ for himself ahead of the second FIA World Touring Car Cup event of the year, with the KCMG Honda driver having last tasted World Touring Car victory at the circuit.
Monteiro last won at the Hungaroring in the WTCC in 2017, before his testing shunt in September 2017.
As such, the Portuguese driver considered his return to the Budapest circuit to be a significant one, with the 42-year-old also predicting that the weekend could be a strong one for the Civic Type-R.
“The Hungaroring is a significant track for me because it’s the last circuit at which I stood on the top step of the podium in World Touring Cars,” said Monteiro.
“I’ve driven the Civic Type R TCR here in testing and it feels strong. The long corners should suit the Honda, which is a very well-balanced car, and I think we can do something pretty good.
“It’s a technical circuit with fast, long corners that suit our car well. It’s on this circuit where we will be able to better understand where to place ourselves in relation to our competitors.
“Our Honda Civic has very good balance and I hope our performances will be as good as they were in Morocco.”
Monteiro took two top ten finishes away from Morocco, before retiring in race three when he was involved in an early accident.
“Marrakech was a strong debut and we proved a lot of people wrong who doubted we could run right at the front.
“The result in the last race was tough, but that’s racing, and we definitely have the ability to stay strong this weekend.
“We are only at the beginning of the season, but we must seize every opportunity to score points. In the end, the difference is in the minor details.
“Fighting for the title is our goal this year and every race must be tackled as a finale.”