Autosport choose Tiago as Rookie of the Year

Picture © Huw Alban
By Phil Giles
December 8 2005

After 18 finishes from 19 Grand Prix starts, what everyone considered a given was confirmed by the readers of Autosport.com. On Sunday night at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Tiago Monteiro was confirmed as their Rookie of the Year.

For most of the Jordan Fans who followed the team last season, Tiago was a clear choice for Rookie of the Year. Having this confirmed by Autosport must strengthen his position as first in line for the second seat at Midland for the 2006 season.

Tiago Monteiro said: "After such an amazing season with a lot of records and prizes, it is a honour to win this award. It is probably one of the most important ones
as it reflects the best rookie all over the world in the leading motorsport categories. Therefore this is the award I wanted to win the most of all. I remember a few years ago, when I was not even racing, I was already looking at the Autosport Awards. I was dreaming of being here one day and now being elected the best rookie is overwhelming. I am very proud but I also realise you can never achieve this on your own. There are a lot of people involved. The team did an amazing job to help me go through a difficult first season and I can only thank them. I would also like to thank my family, friends and sponsors who have been supporting me throughout the years. It was also particularly important as this was the last season for Jordan and for the first time, it is also the first big award for Midland. I want to dedicate that prize to all of them."

Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager, commented: "Last night's award for Tiago was very well deserved. He did a fantastic job this year. The consistency
showed that he was very good in being able to look after the car and bring it home. He was very unfortunate with the problem he had in Brazil but which was no fault of his own. I think he has just proved that he has a lot of talent especially in the races, which is the most important part of a Grand Prix weekend. Hopefully in the future this will be something he could use to his advantage to further his career in Formula One."