Tiago Monteiro says the Honda team still has work to do ahead of the start of the new 2013
FIA World Touring Car Championship season at Monza this weekend.
The Portuguese racer heads into the season opener on the back of a solid test at the Italian circuit last week, where he posted the third fastest time at the wheel of his Civic.
In total, Monteiro and team-mate Gabriele Tarquini have now completed more than 700km with the new car during winter testing but the former F1 racer insisted there was still room for improvement when the real action gets underway in Italy this weekend.
“It's been a long and intense winter,” he said. “Over these two days, we mainly focused our work on race simulations and qualifying - I focused on qualifying and Gabriele on race simulations.
"I think we are on the right track, but we still have work ahead of us. There are countless alternatives that we have not had time to test yet and we'll look at them at Monza.”
Monteiro added that he was keen to see how Honda shapes up against its rivals when the cars hit the track for practice at Monza, with the whole team motivated for the challenge that lies ahead.
“After so much hard work and dedication, we are really looking forward to the competition we measure and see where we stand,” he said. “The first race in Monza will be crucial to assess the quality of our work and identify areas for improvement.
"This year, the development will be constant. We are all, without exception, highly motivated and confident.”