First images of Tiago Monteiro back behind the wheel of a Honda at Monza

Tiago Monteiro was back behind the wheel of the Honda Civic touring car in testing today at the Monza circuit, completing his first laps since his season-ending crash in Barcelona last September, completing ten laps of a short, focussed test plan in the JAS Motorsport-build Civic TCR.

Monteiro shared driving duties with JAS development driver and two-time TCR Germany champion Josh Files behind the wheel of the car, reporting he felt good after his first experience of a racing car in over six months.

The test wasn’t an official one, so teams weren’t obliged to run transponders, with Honda, along with the Hyundais of Yvan Muller Racing, and BRC Racing Team – with Norbert Michelisz now joining Gabriele Tarquini, all keeping their performance secret.

Romeo Ferraris were back on track again, with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Kevin Gleason both splitting their time in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR.