Tiago Monteiro wins home race in Portugal

Tiago Monteiro won his FIA World Touring Car Championship race of the year in the first race of the day at his home track Portimão. The SEAT driver won a close race just ahead of Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini.

Muller and Tarquini had a hard fight in the early stages of the race, but the championship leader managed to stay ahead despite some challenges from Tarquini in the end.

Rob Huff was involved in the fight for the top positions in the beginning, but had to retire from a puncture.

And the tyre wear in the heat was an issue for many drivers. Monteiro dropped his pace considerably towards the end of the race, presumably to save the tyres. That, combined with a couple of mistakes, made Muller able to close in and just finish a second behind Monteiro.

Augusto Farfus Jr. closed in on the top three at the end of the race, but was unable to get past.

Alain Menu came home in fifth, eight seconds behind the top four. Tom Coronel claimed sixth after a strong drive from 15th on the grid due to his engine change ahead of this race.

Norbert Michelisz was the best of the Rookie Challenge drivers in seventh. The SEAT-driver had a long fight with manufacturer colleague Michel Nykjær, but was left alone as Nykjær suffered from a puncture.

Fredy Barth finished eight ahead of top privateers Sergio Hernández and Darryl O’Young. Newcomer Colin Turkington finished 12th behind Kristian Poulsen.