Esteban Guerrieri back in for Tiago Monteiro at Qatar finale

Tiago Monteiro’s title battle is now formally at an end after it’s been confirmed that Esteban Guerrieri will again deputised for the Portuguese driver at the season finale next weekend at Losail in Qatar.

The Argentinian, who is 50.5 points behind championship leader Thed Björk and has an outside shot at the title himself, with fill in for Monteiro for the third consecutive race weekend at Honda.

Monteiro will however be present at the season finale, supporting the team as they fight for both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles.

“While I’m obviously disappointed not to be driving in Qatar, I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of Norbi and Honda becoming WTCC Champions and simply wouldn’t dream of not being there with the team and my incredible mechanics to witness what could be an historic moment,” said Monteiro.

“I’ve been part of Honda’s line-up since the inception of the project in 2012 and feel like I’ve made a large contribution; all of which leads up to this moment. Realistically, despite having led the championship for much of the year, I knew my title hopes were over when I was unable to race in Macau, so this one feels like less of a blow. With a full winter ahead of me to continue my recovery, I’m not going to take any unnecessary risks and instead aim to return to the cockpit of a racing car next year.”