Power steering issue spoils Monteiro’s chance to win in Macau

A late race mechanical issue for Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team’s Tiago Monteiro robbed the Portuguese driver of a perfect finish to his strongest season in the championship, with a suspected power steering issue eliminating him from the race with one lap to go whilst in the lead.

Chasing his first win since Shanghai 2013, and also to recover fourth place in the standings from the independent Honda driver Norbert Michelisz, Monteiro slowed on the penultimate lap of the second race at Macau, after having led the way after catapulting into the lead at the start from fourth on the grid.

“The luck I had at the beginning of the season went completely the other way for the last half,” said Monteiro to TouringCarTimes. “This was the fifth opportunity I’ve had to win this year, which was lost due to a mechanical issue, or a safety car, or a cancelled race, there’s always been something. To win the last race in Macau, the last race of the year and keep fourth in the championship would have been amazing, and to stop because of a problem like this is very frustrating.

“We still don’t know exactly what happened, but we think it’s temperature related. The safety car slowed everything down and we think the power steering box overheated. In both races I was very happy with the car. In the first race it was very difficult to overtake Gabriele (Tarquini), but the pace was there, and in the second race, I had a great start, went straight to the front and then I was just managing the gap to Rob (Huff). He was fighting with Yvan (Muller) which made my life a bit easier so I could manage my tyres and keep them to the end.”

Monteiro finishes the 2014 season fifth in the standings, matching his previous best from the 2010 season with SUNRED Engineering, but ahead of his team-mate Gabriele Tarquini for the first time.

Gabriele Tarquini finished on the podium in race one, but was forced to miss race two after suffering exhaustion.