WTCC – Monteiro wins at home

Tiago Monteiro (Honda) won the main race in Vila Real, on his home soil in Portugal, taking advantage of his pole to maintain the advantage over Yvan Muller (Citroën) who failed to find the opening on the Civic on a circuit where overtaking is difficult.

The winner, however, suffered from problems with his engine preventing him from outpacing the four-time world champion who ultimately failed by eight tenths. The Honda driver becomes the closest rival to Championship leader José Maria Lopez (Citroën) who leaves Vila Real with a 111-point lead after finishing in fifth place.

Norbert Michelisz (Honda) completed the podium after resisting attacks from Rob Huff (Honda). Thed Björk (Volvo) secures sixth place ahead of Nicky Catsburg (Lada) who precedes Mehdi Bennani (Citroën) and Hugo Valente (Lada). Tom Chilton (Citroën) completed the top ten.

Grégoire Demoustier (Citroën) finished in 12th place while his compatriot John Filippi (Chevrolet) took 14th place. Tom Coronel, the winner of the first race, finished in last position after receiving a penalty for an early start.

Race 1

Tom Coronel won the first WTCC race at Vila Real, his second success of the season, by winning by half a second ahead of Tom Chilton. The Briton managed to take the advantage over Nicky Catsburg during the first round.

José Maria Lopez took fifth place behind Mehdi Bennani after overtaking Thed Björk at the lights. The Swede finally finished seventh behind Rob Huff, while Yvan Muller took ninth place, finishing between the Hondas of Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro. John Filippi took 15th place ahead of his compatriot Grégoire Demoustier.

WTCC race results in Vila Real

Discover the WTCC report in Vila Real in AUTO issue 2069hebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.