Monteiro takes home win in race two

The win is the SEAT man's second of the year after a reverse grid success in the second round in Mexico.

Starting from the front row, Monteiro immediately set about challenging poleman Spaniard Felix Porterio for the lead, trying a wide variety of opening lap moves before finding a way past the ROAL BMW driver at the start of the second lap.

Monteiro edged to Porteiro's outside approaching the left-hand Parabolica Interior corner, stayed alongside the BMW right around the corner, and completed the manoeuvre by placing himself on the inside line for the following right-hand Ovelha turn.

He then pulled away to take a comfortable victory, which was met with rapturous delight from the grandstands.

"This is a very special weekend, especially coming off three bad meetings with lots of crashes and no points," said Monteiro. "To be honest, qualifying didn't go well either, but I would like to thank the team for their never give up approach."

From sixth on the grid, Yvan Muller scored his second podium of the weekend with a late move on Porteiro for second.

The Frenchman produced deft passes on Robert Huff on the opening lap; Jordi Gene at turn one on lap two and Andy Priaulx into turn one on the next tour. Priaulx had moved defensively across the track towards the pit wall in attempt to stifle Muller's advances, but was handicapped by an electrical problem that cut his engine and steering under braking.

Porteiro's seemingly safe second position was then wrestled from him by Muller at the tight VIP corner on the penultimate lap, with Priaulx making an opportunistic move to follow the SEAT through and claim the final place on the podium.

Huff finished fifth ahead of Chevrolet stable-mate Nicola Larini.

Yvan Muller now closes to one point off the championship lead, which is still held by his SEAT Sport teammate Gabriele Tarquini, who failed to score in either Estoril race.

Pos  Driver                Car                Time
 1.  Tiago Monteiro        SEAT Leon TDI      22:06.495
 2.  Yvan Muller           SEAT Leon TDI       +  2.635
 3.  Andy Priaulx          BMW 320si           +  2.921
 4.  Felix Porteiro        BMW 320si           +  3.578
 5.  Robert Huff           Chevrolet Lacetti   +  4.028
 6.  Nicola Larini         Chevrolet Lacetti   +  4.466
 7.  Jorg Muller           BMW 320si           +  6.242
 8.  Rickard Rydell        SEAT Leon TDI       +  7.495
 9.  Jordi Gene            SEAT Leon TDI       +  9.833
10.  Augusto Farfus        BMW 320si           + 10.042
11.  Gabriele Tarquini     SEAT Leon TDI       + 11.130
12.  Tom Coronel           SEAT Leon           + 12.848
13.  Alessandro Zanardi    BMW 320si           + 15.007
14.  Alain Menu            Chevrolet Lacetti   + 15.154
15.  Sergio Hernandez      BMW 320si           + 16.043
16.  Stefano D'Aste        BMW 320si           + 18.126
17.  Tom Boardman          SEAT Leon           + 22.318
18.  Franz Engstler        BMW 320si           + 23.096
19.  Pierre-Yves Corthals  SEAT Leon           + 24.048
20.  Andrei Romanov        BMW 320si           + 32.211
21.  Jaap Van Lagen        Lada 110            + 32.554
22.  Kristian Poulsen      BMW 320si           + 37.856
23.  Ibrahim Okyay         BMW 320si           + 42.899
24.  Viktor Shapovalov     Lada 110            + 45.867