Tiago Monteiro’s 2021 season could certainly have been much more positive in terms of results, but this does not necessarily mean that it should be dismissed as a failure.
Returning to racing after the terrible accident of 2017 in which he seriously risked his life, the Portuguese inaugurated the FIA WTCR year with a huge victory obtained at the Nordschleife, but the encore was only missed due to a technical problem (semi-opening of the bonnet ) when he was in command at Estoril, forcing him to the pits.
Despite this, its performance was good, despite having a Honda Civic Type R which on the grid is in fact the oldest TCR, in construction.
“Every year you can always try to improve something, even if you get to a point where you can’t work that much – says Monteiro with a hint of regret at the press conference attended by Motorsport.com – During the winter we brought updates to the car and improvements that made us start the season very well. “
“I managed to win at the Nordschleife and we were strong also in Portugal, unfortunately I had the problem with the bonnet, otherwise I would have certainly achieved success”.
“At that moment I was fighting for the title, unfortunately the car was subsequently burdened with the ballast due to the Balance of Performance and we struggled to be competitive compared to the others. We lost a lot of points, but despite everything we are still in contention. for the title with our drivers “.
“Slowly we are returning to fight for the top, unfortunately we had a couple of technical problems and some contacts that put us out of action, making us lose many points. There we say that I lost the train for the title, but we are ready to support the other Honda riders who will be able to fight for the championship “.
The winner Tiago Monteiro, ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR
Photo by: WTCR
At the gates is the Adria event, the first in Italy for the WTCR and a sort of ‘second home’ for the Honda Racing / JAS Motorsport standard bearer.
“I have been working in Honda for over 10 years now and the relationship with their technical partner, JAS Motorsport is very strong, dating back to the WTCC days. I had the opportunity to learn a lot, including Italian and it is nice to be able to return to racing in this country. seeing many friends and Italian fans “.
“Before starting the season we tried once in Adria, it is a particular track, very technical, narrow compared to the others and which requires an accurate approach, also because we are fighting for the championship”.
“The goal is obviously to win with one of our drivers, I expect a lot of battle. We are convinced that we can be competitive, even if we will not be fully advantaged by the BoP. But I think doing a good Qualifying will give us good opportunities”.
Finally, the Porto veteran, to a question posed by Motorsport.com about the future, also revealed that the work with the Italian-Japanese team is not only aimed at obtaining the maximum possible in 2021, but that there is something in the pipeline. for tomorrow.
“In 2022 we will move forward with this car, but we are already working on the new 2023 TCR. It is not yet 100% sure it will be a totally new car, but that is the goal.”
“In the meantime, let’s think about finding something to try to win with this one, because it is still possible. It is true that 3-4 years in this world is a lot of time, talking about ideas, technologies and ways of working. It is undeniable that I respect to others, today we have limits. But this winter we changed some things and the evolution took place, which made us competitive at the start of the season “.
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