Tom Coronel: “I did all I could to keep them behind”

Tom Coronel admitted that he had done all he could to try and keep Lynk & Co pair Thed Björk and Yann Ehrlacher at bay after finishing fifth in the opening race of the weekend at the Nürburgring.

The Comtoyou Racing driver held third place through the opening two laps of the race behind Yvan Muller, but faced increasing pressure from Björk behind, with the Swede eventually making a move for position on the Grand Prix loop on the final lap.

That move opened the door for Ehrlacher to follow him through and left Coronel to nurse the car to the finish through the final lap when he started to suffer with driveshaft problems – dropping back from the podium fight to cross the line in fifth spot.

“There were a few places where I could make a little gap, but I was really concentrating on myself and Yvan,” he said. “I felt the gap was bigger but then I looked in my mirror and Thed was in my ass – so we weren’t quite quick enough!

“There are some interesting parts I should look back at on the video, but I thought the speed was good. I could see the Lynk & Cos were very fast, so they could get my draft really well, but Thed was fair, really fair. I could see it was coming at some stage and I saw Yann moving with him, so I could not close the door completely when he made the move.

“Everybody wants to finish at the beginning of the season, the fights are a little bit more clean than in the end. But we got good points and I’m happy to be fifth here at the Nordschleife. Of course, I would like to win but you also have to be realistic. But the next race I will try again.”