Tiago Monteiro was 5th in Hockenheim
Portuguese driver gets first points of the season

Tiago Monteiro drove a fantastic race, getting a good start but then losing some places to finish back in ninth by the end of the first lap. When he was lying in eighth position he passed Muller and was looking to get into the points. He moved up to sixth when Ricardo Sperafico was given a stop-go penalty and then inherited another position when Pizzonia retired on the last few laps to collect his first two points of the year.

“I had a good start, it was a lot better than at Magny Cours and I was up to sixth but then lost a few places at the second turn. Then at the hairpin I braked really late and I had to run wide and lost a some places again, so when I saw I was ninth on the pit board I was a bit annoyed. The car felt really good, it was oversteering most of the time, but I could deal with it okay. We were using less wing than lots of the other cars so they were quicker in the straights but sliding in the corners and this made me feel more confident as I could see they were struggling. I overtook Muller and I was lying in seventh place but I had to push like crazy to catch up with Mario and pressure him. When I realised I was fifth I still wanted more so I kept trying but I was really, really happy when I passed the chequered flag, it felt like I had won a Formula Three race like last year”, said Monteiro.

“Tiago Monteiro scored his first points of the year with an excellent fifth place. Tiago has worked really well with the team all weekend with no distractions and hopefully this will continue for the last three races of the year. If Tiago can collect some more points we will have met the team targets for his first season and it will also help Super Nova in the Teams Championship", said the Team Manager David Sears.

Race results: 1º Girogio Pantano, 34 laps; 2 Björn Wirdheim, plus 8,7 s; 3º Rodrigo Sperafico, plus 23.4 s; 4º Mario Haberfeld, plus 26,2 s; 5º Tiago Monteiro, plus 27,3 s; 6º Ricardo Sperafico, plus 37,8 s.

Championchip standings after nine races: 1º Sebastien Bourdais, 46 points; 2º Tomas Enge, 41; 3º Girogio Pantano, 34; 5º Rodrigo Sperafico, 20; 6os Antonio Pizzonia e Mario Haberfeld, 18; 7º Bjön Wirdheim, 16; 8º Patrick Friesacher, 13; 9º Ricardo Sperafico, 12; 10º Ricardo Maurício, 8;... 12º Tiago Monteiro, 2.

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