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Monteiro’s heroic return wows WTCR media

Tiago Monteiro’s heroic return to racing following serious head and neck injuries sustained in a testing crash in September 2017 achieved a clear majority when journalists reporting on the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO were asked to vote for their moment of the year.

Amid emotional scenes at WTCR JVCKENWOOD Race of Japan in late October, Monteiro’s rivals formed a guard of honour in the Suzuka pit lane to welcome the Portuguese ‘home’. They then watched the Honda driver take to the track for Free Practice 1 before following him out on to the 5.807-kilometre circuit.

“It was a massively important moment for motorsport in general,” reckons TouingCarTimes.com’s Neil Hudson. “After a year-long and incredibly arduous rehabilitation period, Monteiro’s return was welcomed by all. Many had feared he’d never race again, but not only did he make it back, he was competitive right from the first practice session.”

After watching the guard of honour, Markus Lüttgens of Motorsport-Total.com wrote: “anyone who didn’t get goosebumps in this moment must have a heart of steel.”

Mattias Persson, a reporter for the Swedish magazine Bilsport, said: “Monteiro’s return to racing in Japan was the kind of story we all enjoy to report on.”

Monteiro’s return also wowed Eurosport France commentator Jacques Leunis, Fortylaps.com’s Jean-Luc Taillade, Fábio Mendes from Portuguese title AutoSport, Belgian photographer David Noels, A Bola and Autofoco’s José Caetano, plus Motorsport Aktuell’s Michael Bräutigam.

Eurosport’s Jean-Christophe Labrunye thought Yann Ehrlacher’s 360-degree spin in Macau was worthy of mention, while András Lantos (WTCblog.hu) and Autosprint’s Antonio Caruccio were swayed by Mato Homola’s perfect use of the ‘joker’ lap to claim his maiden WTCR OSCAR victory in Portugal.

Visit FIAWTCR.com tomorrow (21 December) to find out who members of the WTCR media fraternity voted as their World Touring Car rookie of 2018.

Zdroj: fiawtcr.com