Tom Coronel gets maximum score from WTCC races at Slovakia-Ring

Bratislava – Within his current possibilities, Tom Coronel delivered his maximum performance in the eleventh and twelfth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the Slovakia-Ring in Bratislava. On both occasions, he had to start from 15th place and try to make his way into the point-scoring positions. With some luck and clever driving, the Dutchman managed to score one ninth and one tenth position with his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet Cruze and thus managed to add further valuable world championship points to his tally.

"At the moment, we really are in survival mode," Tom Coronel starts his report after the races. "This was another really tough weekend, during which we didn't manage to stay in the midfield. The front runners really are too far off, but I definitely would like to be a little bit further up the ranks in qualifying. Once again, we tried everything, but we can't get the set-up as it should be, while the other Chevrolets do have the speed.

What I am missing is traction while accelerating out of the corners and that is the reason why I am also lacking speed on the straights. On top of that, we also have 50 kilograms extra handicap weight in the car, which doesn't make things any easier either. I am also happy that team-manager Roberto Ravaglia informed us this afternoon that we will be testing the day after the next round at Paul Ricard in order to improve the set-up. Now, we really have some work to do!"

"Looking back on this weekend at Slovakia-Ring, I am happy with the world championship points we have scored here. To be honest, that wasn't entirely my own achievement, because the main reason we could score was the fact that others retired. But you have to be there to score at times like these and that was the case. Towards the end of the first race, it went pretty well and there was also some performance left in my tyres. At the end of the second race, it was an entirely different affair. I was stuck between three Hondas and I hardly had any grip. I left a slight gap between me and Michelisz and Monteiro in front of me to be able to benefit when things would go wrong between the two of them and to use some of the downforce. Like that, however, Nestor Girolami got closer and closer and I really had to work hard to defend my tenth place. Once again, I managed to score points and with the prospect of a test after the next races, I am looking forward to a nice second half of the season," Tom Coronel says.

Result race 1: 1. Yvan Muller 11 laps 23:19.032; 2. José Maria López +1.749; 3. Sébastien Loeb +2.868 (all Citroën C-Elysée WTCC); 4. Rob Huff, (Lada Vesta WTCC), +12.282; 5. Hugo Valente, (Chevrolet RML Cruze WTCC) +16.882 and 9. Tom Coronel, (ROAL Motorsport-Chevrolet-RML Cruze) +27.040.

Result race 2: 1. Sébastien Loeb 11 laps; 2. José Maria López +3.188; 3. Yvan Muller +7,626 (all Citroën C-Elysée WTCC); 4. Gabriele Tarquini, (Honda Civic WTCC) +12.144; 5. Hugo Valente, (Chevrolet RML Cruze WTCC) +16.266; 6. Jaap van Lagen, (Lada Vesta WTCC) +16,634 and 10. Tom Coronel, (ROAL Motorsport-Chevrolet-RML Cruze TC1).

Tom Coronel