A hot weekend of top class racing at the Portimão Motor Park saw home favourite Tiago Monteiro triumph during the fifth round of the World Touring Car Championships (WTCC).
The Portuguese Seat Leon TDI pilot, who benefitted from Briton Andy Priaulx’s (BMW 320si) earlier crash, proved fastest in final qualifying before going on to comfortably hold off France’s championship leader Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze) during Sunday’s race proper for his first win of the season.
Crowd attention at the new multi-discipline state-of-the-art Algarve motor racing Mecca was also captured by the official inauguration of the international standard kart track.
The Kartodromo (KIA) boasts three simultaneously functioning circuits as well as one designed for use by children – the longest extends over 1.6kms and the facility has around 60 karts at its disposal for hire to the general public.
Last weekend’s big occasion was marked by the staging of the first round of the WSK Championship featuring four distinct categories, the principal of which (Super KF) was won by 15-year-old Dutch prodigy Nick de Vries.
Belgian Jonathan Thonon (KZ2), England’s Chris Lock (KF2) and Romanian Robert Visoiu (KF3) were the others making a great start to a season which next moves to New Jersey in the US and closes with its last round in Egypt on October 28.
“We are very satisfied to have welcomed one of the top events in world karting at the KIA,” Parkalgar managing director and track administrator Paulo Pinheiro said afterwards.
“All the pilots praised the track and the spectators present became involved with the action at every stage. We are very happy with this beginning.”
There is more action at the Motor Park this weekend with the arrival of the Algarve Classic Cars Festival while the local Parkalgar-Honda racing team is looking to reinforce its World Supersport Championship lead in the Czech Republic on Sunday.
Manager Simon Buckmaster feels that No1 rider Eugene Laverty’s progress has been so impressive that a jump up to the Superbike category (SBK) is not unthinkable next year.
