Monteiro celebrates home victory

Date published : 04 Jul 2010 - 11:39:46

Tiago Monteiro clinched his third World Touring Car victory by controlling the first race of his home round at Portimao.The former grand prix driver has now taken two of his three wins on home soil, following his success at Estoril in 2008.Monteiro led comfortably from pole in the early stages, but came under increasing pressure from Yvan Muller as the race wore on.Gabriele Tarquini and Augusto Farfus closed up to make it a lead quartet for the closing laps, but none were able to make a move.Rob Huff had been running fourth but exited the race dramatically with a puncture, skipping straight on over the gravel and into the wall. He was able to rejoin but only to finish 18th, one lap down.Jordi Gene and Mehdi Bennani stopped out on track during the race, while Andy Priaulx retired in the pits with a left rear punture and bodywork damage following contact on the first lap.Alain Menu was a quiet fifth after fending off early pressure from Tom Coronel.Fredy Barth will start race two from pole position after finishing eighth, Norbert Michelisz will be alongside him on the front row.Colin Turkington was denied victory in the independents class when, while leading easily, he passed Barth and was shoved off the road by the SEAT.Sergio Hernandez inherited the class win, ahead of Darryl O'Young, Kristian Poulsen and the recovering Turkington.Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 21m38.194s 2. Yvan Muller Chevrolet +1.032 3. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT +1.587 4. Augusto Farfus BMW +1.826 5. Alain Menu Chevrolet +8.807 6. Tom Coronel SEAT +11.723 7. Norbert Michelisz SEAT +12.562 8. Fredy Barth SEAT +20.173 9. Sergio Hernandez BMW +23.11310. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet +23.24511. Kristian Poulsen BMW +23.64212. Colin Turkington BMW +25.73813. Franz Engstler BMW +26.84514. Stefano D'Aste BMW +27.24815. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet +29.29516. Andrey Romanov BMW +44.11717. Michel Nykjaer SEAT +49.34318. Rob Huff Chevrolet +1 lapRetirements Jordi Gene SEAT 7 laps Mehdi Bennani BMW 4 laps Andy Priaulx BMW 3 lapsFastest lap, Stoneman 1m39.223s