Tiago Monteiro had a successful outing at the second round of the 2010 WTCC in Morocco, piloting his SR-Sport Seat León TDI to 3rd and 4th place finishes.

Over the course of the weekend, the narrow Marrakech street circuit wreaked havoc on the WTCC field, with the marshals and safety car working overtime dealing with a series of racing incidents that left cars and oil strewn across the track.

In Race One it was Monteiro’s teammate, polesitter Gabriele Tarquini who led from start to finish in what was an action packed contest. After qualifying in 4th place, Monteiro took advantage of his other teammate Jordi Gene being hounded by fellow SEAT driver Michel Nykjær, Monteiro seizing 3rd place as Gene dropped down the order.

In what was an anticlimactic end Race One, the field took the checkered flag led by the safety car after marshals were unable to clear Andrei Romanov’s BMW 320i which came unstuck at Turn 15. As they crossed the finish line it was Tarquini 1st followed by Robert Huff in his Chevrolet Cruze 2nd and Monteiro in 3rd.

More carnage was to come in Race Two. While BMW’s Andy Priaulx made a clean start from pole position, chaos ensued when Norbert Michelisz stalled his SEAT on the other front row slot causing a multiple car incident involving among others Tarquini and Huff. As a result, the safety car was deployed once more, staying out until lap seven until yet another incident between Alain Menu’s Chevrolet and Augusto Farfus’ BMW required the safety car to take over proceedings until the penultimate lap.

After the smoke had cleared, it was Priaulx who came home victorious, ahead of Yvan Muller and Tom Coronel who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Monteiro’s 4th place in Race Two netted him a 27 point haul for the day, which saw him move up to 5th place in the championship standings.

The WTCC circus now heads to Monza, Italy with the next race scheduled for May 23rd.