Coronel seals WTCR deal with Boutsen Honda squad
WTCC veteran Tom Coronel has secured a deal to race in the new World Touring Car Cup in 2018 with the Boutsen Ginion Honda squad.
Coronel contested every season of the WTCC and its ETCC predecessor since first joining in 2002, and achieved a best finish of fourth in the championship in 2011 at the wheel of a ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC.
He raced for Roberto Ravaglia's team from that season until the final season of the WTCC's most recent guise last year, and drove a TC1-spec Chevrolet Cruze for the previous four seasons.
Coronel also contested TCR Benelux races in 2016 and '17 and made an appearance in the TCR International Series last year, making 13 of his 15 total starts in TCR machinery for Boutsen Ginion at the wheel of a Honda Civic.
He has now joined the team for an assault on the new WTCR world cup, and joins former SEAT WTCC teammate Tiago Monteiro at the Belgian outfit.
“Many people know that this is a development I hoped to see two years ago already," said Coronel.
"The FIA WTCR is a worthy successor of the FIA WTCC in which I participated every season, but it is fair to say that, from a sporting perspective, I was often making up the numbers in the most recent years.
"Now, we are facing a new challenge with identical equipment for everybody, at tracks all over the world and for me an excellent situation with a brand-new Honda Civic built by JAS Motorsport and run by Boutsen Ginion.
"[It's] a car that has specially been built for this championship and that allows us to take on the other brands at a level playing field.
"Personally, I reckon that this could very well be the best season start of my entire career in touring car racing. It certainly is the best package I have had in the last 10 years.
"I dare to predict that this year, I will be at least able to match the total number of trophies I have scored over the last five years in the FIA WTCC.”
2018 WTCR grid so far:
| Team | Drivers |
|---|---|
| Comtoyou Racing (Audi) |
|
| WRT (Audi) |
|
| BRC Racing (Hyundai) |
|
| Sebastien Loeb Racing (VW) |
|
| Yvan Muller Racing (Hyundai) |
|
| Boutsen Ginion (Honda) |
|
| Munnich Motorsport (Honda) |  Esteban Guerrieri |
| Romeo Fеrraris (Alfa Romeo) | TBA |
Aurelien Panis
Denis Dupont
Gordon Shedden
Norbert Michelisz
Gabriele Tarquini
Mehdi Bennani
Thed Bjork
Tiago Monteiro
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