Tom Coronel says there’s more in store following promising display in France

Tom Coronel had a strong first weekend of the 2016 World Touring Car Championship at the Circuit Paul Ricard, qualifying fourth and following that up with an exciting battle with fellow Dutch driver Nicky Catsburg’s Lada in the opening race, but threw away his great main race grid position with a stall.

The ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet driver fought for what would end up being ninth in the first race with Catsburg, after losing eighth position to him on the final lap, while he could only manage 11th in race two after his stall on the grid, but still leaves France second in the independents’ standings.

“Now that was some really cool racing,” said Coronel. “(In race one) I had a rocket start and I was in contention for a good result right away. It was real touring car racing including a little bit of contact. A great feeling to be able to race like that again! At the end of the race, defending my position became more and more difficult. I had a fierce battle with Nicky Catsburg with the Lada and there were absolutely no presents given.”

Reflecting on race two, the 43-year-old laments messing up the start from the second row of the grid, which ruled out his chances of an overall points finish.

“At the start of the second race, I had a poor getaway. I wanted to keep the revs as low as possible to prevent the turbo from kicking in, but this time that didn’t work as well as in the first race.

“After that, it was important to make up as much ground as possible. Initially that went well, but the power steering failed with three laps remaining and it was a close call whether I would be able to make it to the finish at all. With a lot of effort, I managed, but unfortunately, I finished just outside the top ten.

“All in all, it was a good weekend with a second and a third place in the privateers’ classification, which also made me score the necessary points. When we continue like this, there absolutely is more in store.”