Tiago Monteiro will hope to repeat his podium result from the previous round in Belgium this weekend at Monza, but admits that he is unsure how competitive he will be in the Italian round.
Unlikely to be racing with the new 1.6 litre turbo engine that is being prepared for use in SUNRED's SEAT Leon, Monteiro could find he is at a disadvantage against his rivals in terms of pace.
“We do not yet know if we are going to be racing with the SEAT Leon 1.6 litre turbo engine,” said Monteiro. “If we have to race with the SEAT TDI, we will have a 40 hp deficit that would be a serious handicap on this circuit which has more than its fair share of very high speeds.”
Despite this, Monteiro still hopes that he can get a decent result out of the weekend, both by getting the right setup on the car and also by being given a hand by the weather.
“Obviously we can try to take advantage of the slipstream in Monza’s long straightaways, by lightening the aerodynamic package to minimize our handicap, but it won’t be as easy as just that. The forecast for the weekend calls for rain and if that happens, it would certainly be a little nudge in the right direction to levelling the playing field.
“We know the final result is a big unknown. Given the circumstances, it would be dangerous to try and make predictions and set precise objectives. Therefore our main objective will be to score points.”
