Tiago Monteiro will return for a sixth campaign in the FIA World Touring Car Championship after announcing that he will drive a SEAT Leon for the SEAT Tuenti Racing Team, and is hoping to get a test in at Imola before the opening weekend of the season at Monza over the 10/11 March.
“I can’t wait to get back to competition in the strictest sense,” explained the former Formula One racer. “Next week, the Imola tests will be very important for preparing for the start of the season. These tests will be brief but no stone will be left unturned. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to my participation in the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and who continue to believe in my potential and above all in my professionalism.”
The deal which sees Monteiro remain in the WTCC means his collaboration with the SEAT brand continues for a sixth season, having first driven for the manufacturer in the 2007 campaign. During that time Monteiro has secured four victories and fifteen podium finishes. Two of his four victories have come at home, in 2008 and 2010, and the 2012 race of Portugal takes place at Estoril over the 2/3 June, the final leg of the European season.
The Portuguese will continue his association with SUNRED which has run for the past two seasons, with the Spanish team running the car under the ‘SEAT Tuenti Racing Team’ banner. Monteiro is partnered by young Spaniard Pepe Oriola for his second season in the WTCC.
Monteiro heads into 2012 hoping for a better season than in 2011 and with the new SEAT developed 1.6 litre turbocharged engine, he hopes to reward his friends, family and sponsors with reasons to be cheerful.
Monteiro explained: “I am very pleased to be renewing my contract with SEAT Tuenti Racing Team. Its an extension that is pretty obvious from a competitive and commercial standpoint. The brand is increasingly committed to the championship and the best proof of that is that the improvements made to the car this year are significant: a new engine and several major technical developments.”