Honda and Tiago Monteiro lead the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship after storming to another superb victory at the second round of the season at the Slovakia Ring on Sunday.
Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team driver Tiago’s opening race victory, coupled to a second place in the main race, ensured that a Portuguese driver leads a motorsport World Championship for the first time.
His results, plus an opening race podium for team-mate Rob Huff and two solid points finishes for Norbert Michelisz, also increased Honda’s lead in the manufacturer’s championship to three points over their nearest rivals.
Tiago made a superb getaway as the lights went out at the start of the day’s opening race and rocketed up from fourth on the grid to take second place before the pack reached the first corner.
Confidently biding his time and benefitting from superior tyre management to long-time leader Mehdi Bennani, Tiago pulled off a superbly-timed overtaking move to snatch the lead with just two laps of the race remaining.
The victory was the eighth of his WTCC career and he followed it up with a battling runner-up spot in the main race; missing out on victory by less than a second after an entertaining late-race battle for the top spot.
Like Tiago, Rob made significant gains off the line in the opening race and reached the first corner in third place two spots higher than where he started.
The Briton held the position to the finish and looked set for a possible repeat in the main race before a puncture; caused by damage sustained during earlier contact with Yvan Muller, led to the 2012 WTCC champion going off the circuit and out of the race.
Norbert, who started seventh, pulled off the move of the opening race to take sixth place from Yvan Muller, the Hungarian going around the outside of his French rival during the closing stages to claim a useful points haul.
He was on course for fourth in the main race, but dropped a position at the penultimate corner of the race after being pushed out of the way by an aggressive move from Thed Bjork.
Norbert’s pair of points finishes moved him up a place in the championship to third overall, one spot ahead of Rob
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team: “This has been an amazing weekend both for myself and for the team. I made two fantastic starts, which were the key to both races and put me in a position each time to battle for victory. Mehdi Bennani drove really well in the opening race and made no mistakes, so it was tricky to judge when to make my move, but when I did, it worked and we were able to take the victory. I could smell the win in the main race too, but we just couldn’t quite make it. To have a first and a second though means this is my best weekend of my WTCC career and I’m the first Portuguese driver to ever lead an FIA World Championship, so I’m really, really delighted.”
Rob Huff, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team: “Race day began with a terrific start in the opening race and a very strong podium finish. We knew there was still a bit of speed left to find in the Civic WTCC overnight and the team found it, so that result was for them. Unfortunately, there was a bit of contact between myself and Yvan Muller while we were battling for position in the main race, which damaged my front-left tyre and led to it failing and putting me out a few laps later. It’s a shame to lose points that way, but I’m still in a strong fourth place in the championship and Honda leads the manufacturers’ standings, so overall the feeling is a positive one as we head to Hungary next weekend.”
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS: “Overall it’s been a very good weekend for the team. We’ve once again shown very strong race pace, Tiago has won and taken the championship lead and Honda leads the manufacturers’ standings too. For me personally, I’m a little disappointed with sixth and fifth places. My starts were not good and because I was in traffic during the races, I wasn’t able to show the kind of race pace I know the car was capable of. It was quite unfortunate to have a puncture and to receive the push from Thed Bjork on the final lap, but that’s racing sometimes. I’m hoping for much better at my home races in Hungary next weekend.”
Alessandro Mariani, team principal: “I’m happy with the weekend. Tiago won the opening race and we have had three podium finishes, so that continues our record of finishing in the top three in every race this season. It could have been even better because an opportunity for Tiago to win race two, but it wasn’t quite possible because the tyre degradation for our rivals wasn’t quite as bad as we’d expected it to be and we weren’t quite able to capitalise. We are leading both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships, which is very good for the whole team and exactly where we hoped to be at this stage of the season.”
Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project Leader WTCC Development, Honda R&D: “We arrived in Slovakia one point ahead in the manufacturers’ championship and we leave it three points ahead, so from that point of view, we’ve achieved our aims for the weekend. Tiago drove fantastically well to finish first and second and both he and Rob made very good starts in both races. We’re aware that our performances here and in France mean the Civic WTCCs will be given compensation weight for the next race, which will increase the challenge against our rivals, but we will never give up.”
