Photo: Jacques Letihon Photographe

Tom Coronel doubles up at Zolder, closes up on championship lead

Tom Coronel took his third win in the space of 18 hours in the second sprint race at Zolder, leading from the start in his Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda Civic, decimating the championship lead of SEAT’s Guillaume Mondron.

Tom Coronel kept the lead at the start this time, while DG Sport Compétition’s Kevin Abbring moved up to second from fourth on the grid in his Peugeot 308, as the two Team WRT cars fought each other, with Maxime Potty moving to block Sam Dejonghe from moving up the inside into Earste.

Abbring held on to second for two laps as Coronel broke away, before Potty blasted past Abbring’s Peugeot under power on the way into the Villeneuve chicane, though nearly lost control of his Volkswagen on the exit.

By now, Coronel had built a safe margin over Potty, who now began to pull away from Comte, who was now under attack from Sam Dejonghe’s SEAT.

Stefano Comini had jumped up to fifth at the start in the Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 and was defending against championship leader Guillaume Mondron’s Delahaye Racing SEAT throughout the race, but Mondron couldn’t find a way past the International Series champion.

The other Delahaye Racing car of Giacomo Altoè joined the race after missing the first race from the pit lane, and closed up on Paul Sieljes’ Audi in the final stages, but had to settle for ninth in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, picking up two points to his championship tally.

Coronel’s win elevates the Dutchman to a clear third in the drivers’ standings, 42 points behind Mondron, while his co-driver Benjamin Lessennes also scores and is now just two points behind heading into this afternoon’s races, when he starts from pole position for the third sprint race.