Tiago Monteiro tested for SEAT SunRed at the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit yesterday (14 February) at the invitation of the team, driving the car which he used in the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship, where he finished sixth overall in the Championship.
The Portuguese driver is yet to announce his plans for the 2012 campaign, but he hopes to announce his intentions as soon as he can. He took the opportunity to get back behind the wheel after a three month break, to get back into the rhythm of racing.
For SEAT and SunRed, the Valencia test was of paramount importance as they have a lot of new parts on the SEAT Leon 1.6 turbo, which needed to be validated. For Monteiro, he was pleased to accept their invitation.
“It was with great pleasure that I accepted SEAT SunRed’s invitation. They were good tests, very profitable for everyone,” said the former Formula One racer.
He went on to add: “I did forty laps with very competitive times. The car is very high-performance, it has considerably improved since the last leg of the 2011 championship. All the changes we tested were positive both in terms of performance as well as reliability. Three months far from the circuits is very long and these tests were a big plus for me because I was able to get back into the rhythm and it was a major first step toward the 2012 season.”
The 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship gets underway in four weeks time, at Monza in Italy over the 10/11 March, the first of twelve race weekends with the season finishing at Macau in November.