Vila Real WTCC: Monteiro keeps Muller at bay to take home win

The Honda driver led the race throughout from pole position in the Honda ahead of the Citroen of Yvan Muller, with the Frenchman unable to find a way past the Portuguese driver, just as he had predicted after qualifying.

The race echoed the first in terms of racing action, with almost no passing moves made at the tight street circuit outside of the start despite some close battles.

Nicky Catsburg was the driver who made the most from the start, jumping from ninth to seventh, while his Lada teammate Hugo Valente was up to ninth from 13th on the grid, but the two drivers made no further progress throughout the race.

Monteiro maintained a short lead of a second over Muller throughout the race, while the two Hondas of Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff fell back during the final stages as they battled each other.

Championship leader Jose Maria Lopez followed up his podium-less Moscow weekend with another in Portugal, finishing fifth after backing off late which a potential issue in the race to finish 16 seconds behind the winner.

Thed Bjork picked up points for Polestar Cyan Racing with sixth in the Volvo S60, while teammate Robert Dahlgren retired on lap two with an overheating issue.

Monteiro’s win moves him back to second in the drivers’ standings, which was lost after Honda's exclusion from Marrakech earlier in the month, and he is now 101 points adrift of Lopez heading to the Argentinian’s home race at Termas de Rio Hondo in August.

Main race results:

Cla	Driver	Car	Laps	Gap
1	Tiago Monteiro	Honda	14
2	Yvan Muller	Citroen	14	0.821
3	Norbert Michelisz	Honda	14	2.181
4	Rob Huff	Honda	14	3.402
5	Jose Maria Lopez	Citroën	14	16.164
6	Thed Björk	Volvo	14	17.374
7	Nicky Catsburg	LADA	14	17.904
8	Mehdi Bennani	Citroën	14	21.614
9	Hugo Valente	LADA	14	23.054
10	Tom Chilton	Citroen	14	23.364
11	James Thompson	Chevrolet	14	28.125
12	Grégoire Demoustier	Citroen	14	33.547
13	Gabriele Tarquini	LADA	14	34.675
14	John Filippi	Chevrolet	14	47.223
15	Ferenc Ficza	Honda	14	47.654
16	Tom Coronel	Chevrolet	13	1 Lap
R	Daniel Nagy	Honda	3
R	Robert Dahlgren	Volvo	1