Slovakia Ring, Race 1: Monteiro takes WTCC triumph for Honda

A new win for Tiago

By Franck Drui

17 April 2016 - 13:00
Slovakia Ring, Race 1: Monteiro (...)

Honda driver Tiago Monteiro claimed victory in the Opening Race at the FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia, passing Mehdi Bennani after applying race-long pressure to the Moroccan.

Hugo Valente started from pole position for the second consecutive Opening Race, but once again he made a poor start as Bennani took the lead ahead of Monteiro. Valente meanwhile tried to fend off Huff, but contact was made and the LADA driver fell down the order.

From there, Monteiro and Huff pursued Bennani, who was always going to struggle with tyre wear as the race went on due to the 80 kilograms of compensation weight the Citroëns are carrying.

Eventually on lap 9 of 11, Monteiro found a way past at Turn 8 and opened up a margin of 2.5 seconds prior to taking the chequered flag. “I tried to put pressure on him and when I saw the opportunity I went for it,” he said.

Huff was unable to follow his team-mate through and had to make do with third, half a second behind the WTCC Trophy winner Bennani.

Gabriele Tarquini soaked up race-long attention from Citroën pair José María López and Yvan Muller to finish fourth. Lopez lost fifth to Muller when he ran wide on lap two, but reclaimed the position with a forceful move on lap seven. As López looked for a way past Tarquini on the last lap, Norbert Michelisz came around the outside of Norbert Michelisz and even challenged the reigning champion, allowing Tarquini to escape.

Thed Björk finished eighth, with his Volvo Polestar Racing team-mate Fredrik Ekblom 10th behind Tom Chilton. Valente ended up 12th behind fellow LADA driver Nicky Catsburg, who also found trouble on the first lap.

There was a disastrous end to Ferenc Ficza’s first WTCC race, his Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic catching fire in a gravel trap three laps from home.

Muller starts on pole for the Main Race at 14h15.

Pos. Driver Team Car Time
1 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda 11 laps
2 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +2.526
3 Rob Huff Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +3.119
4 Gabriele Tarquini LADA Sport Lada +9.247
5 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +9.453
6 Norbert Michelisz Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +10.085
7 Yvan Muller Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +10.659
8 Thed Bjork Polestar Cyan Volvo +11.129
9 Tom Chilton Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +11.606
10 Fredrik Ekblom Polestar Cyan Volvo +12.567
11 Nicky Catsburg LADA Sport Lada +14.766
12 Hugo Valente LADA Sport Lada +18.505
13 Grégoire Demoustier Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +22.752
14 John Filippi Campos Racing Chevrolet +23.189
15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet +25.262
16 James Thompson Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet +25.743
17 Ferenc Ficza Zengo Honda DNF

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