FIA to look into the causes of Tom Coronel’s truck crash at Vila Real

The FIA have confirmed the Circuito Internacional de Vila Real was not “in its licenced configuration” when ROAL Chevrolet driver Tom Coronel left the circuit and collided with a support vehicle last week, and that work is ongoing to ensure the error will not happen again.

Tom Coronel’s race weekend ended as early as the first practice session, when the bolts on the front-left wheel of his Chevrolet Cruze sheered, with the Dutchman heading down an escape road and into a fire truck.

The damage to Coronel’s car was severe enough to rule him out of the rest of the weekend, with his car shipped to competitor Campos Racing’s workshop on Saturday night in order to give his Italian team to repair it before it’s sent in freight to the next round in Argentina.

Questions were immediately raised about how Coronel’s car was able to reach a manned vehicle next to the track, with spectators also not far from the point of contact, as well as a bank behind the truck which led down to the river.

A barrier was quickly put in place before the following practice session, with the FIA now confirming that the barrier should have already been in position before the first session took place.