Okayama: Tiago Monteiro weekend summary

Tiago escapes the rain, but not Jorg Muller

SEAT driver forced out from the front row by the German

Tiago Monteiro left Okayama with two points and the feeling of immense disappointment. The burden of frustration was imposed on him by Jorg Muller, when the BMW driver hit him on the first lap of the second race where Tiago had started from the first row of the grid thanks to an excellent drive in the first race.

Tiago had already put his SEAT Leon into the large right hander, in second place, when Muller struck him in the rear and sent him into a spin and off the track, ending his race in the gravel trap. Jorg Muller was sanctioned by the stewards for his actions, but the penalty will not put Tiago back into a points scoring position which the German stole from him.

In the morning, Tiago had made a cautious start from 8th on the grid. The violent downpour that hit the Japanese circuit had encouraged the race officials to start the event behind the safety car. Three laps later, the true start was given and Tiago did what it takes to help the cause of SEAT Sport by protecting their two lead drivers who are in contention for the crown, Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller.

After the earlier warm up where he outpaced them, Tiago recorded similar lap times as the two title contenders at SEAT and crossed the finish line in 7th place, in the wake of his teammates.

For Tiago, disappointment was the call of the day... "I can't understand that such an experienced driver tried, as soon as at the first turn, a manoeuvre which obviously couldn't work, especially in a race where it's pouring and where you can expect a million things to happen between the start and finish!," Tiago regrets. "This attempt was useless and stupid and it prevented me from getting a good result because the SEAT Leon TDIT was very strong in the wet and I was planning not only to help SEAT Sport secure some good points that would have been precious for both championships, but also to climb into 8th position in the drivers' championship as I was only needed 3 points to do that. The positive side of the weekend is that SEAT Sport leaves Okayama leading both championships even though the track suited BMW better. I hope that in Macau I'll have the opportunity to end the season on a high and that no impatient and impetuous driver will break my car in two..."

The final round of the World Touring Car Championship, WTCC, will be disputed on the Guia circuit in Macao, on the 21st and 22nd of November.

-credit: tiagomonteiro.com