Tiago Monteiro is predicting a ‘hard weekend’ in the World Touring Car Championship races at Monza, as the Honda Civic is expected to struggle due to its less aerodynamic body shape.
After the season opener in Morocco, Monteiro heads t Italy as the championship leader thanks to taking pole position and the Main Race win last time out.
The Honda driver will also be free from compensation weight, with the system not set to be recalculated until after the second meeting of the season this weekend.
Despite the lack of weight, compared to the Citroën cars having to carry 50 kg, Monteiro still believes that Monza will be a struggle due to the less aerodynamic shape of the Civic compared to its rivals and the importance of slipstreaming and straight-line speed at Monza.
“We arrive at Monza in the best possible position; leading the championship and with a car free of compensation weight,” admitted Monteiro. “But I think this could be a hard weekend because, by default, a hatchback, like the Civic, is at a disadvantage to the saloon-bodied cars at tracks like Monza with very long straights.
“I think we’ll just have to take every point we can get and be satisfied. But the team have worked incredibly hard over the winter to improve the aero package, and develop the engine into the best it’s ever been.”
Monteiro says he will aim to work together with team-mates Norbert Michelisz and Ryo Michigami in qualifying to ensure the strongest possible starting position.
“Qualifying will be crucial and we’ll have to work as a team to maximise our performance, but Norbi and Ryo are very good at this, so I’m sure we’ll be strong.”
Monteiro’s comments come despite Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton having said that he feels Honda weren’t running with their engines on full power during the official test at the circuit last month.
Monteiro leads the drivers’ standings on 43 points, whilst Honda and rival marque Volvo Polestar are currently tied in the manufacturers’ standings on 96 points each.