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BMW driver Tom Coronel scores valuable points in Morocco WTCC races (+Video)

The Moroccan round of the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) was held at the Moulay El Hassan street circuit in Marrakech. For Tom Coronel, racing ROAL Motorsport's BMW 320 TC, the weekend got off to a good start as he claimed third place on the starting grid for the first race. Unfortunately, the 40-year old Dutch driver wasn't able to hold on to his good position. Right after the start, Spaniard Oriola overtook him and two corners after that, the impact with which Alex MacDowall (Chevrolet) hit the rear bumper of Tom's car was so hard that the Dutchman dropped back to twelfth. A strong and above all clever driving style in the remainder of the race still allowed Coronel to make his way back up into eighth place. For the second race, Coronel started from eighth position on the grid. He had more than a good start and was third going into the first corner. He defended his position until the Chevrolet armada closed up and moved up into the first three positions in closed formation with all three cars. After that, fourth place was the maximum result Tom Coronel could achieve. "Once again, best of the rest", was his comment, summing it up in his usual poignant style. In the drivers' standings, Coronel is also fourth.

Tom Coronel's verdict of the weekend: "In qualifying, I had to fight for it. Every now and then, you have one of these really fantastic laps when everything comes together and you are able to set a time that puts you on top of the list. Just look at it: my time was only six hundredths of a second behind the fastest Chevy. I even was on provisional pole for a long time. Street circuits, like here in Morocco, are never easy. When you are out in front, you have only few problems, but when you want to overtake, it is difficult. Moreover, the kerbstones here are very high."

"At the flying start into race one, I had problems seeing the starting lights, so that Oriola was able to overtake me on the outside. Soon after that, MacDowell ran into the back of my car big time. I dropped back to twelfth place. Fortunately, I managed to get the car back into first gear again and I managed to close up. After that, the only thing you do is try to make up for ground lost, looking for opportunities to overtake and to make up positions. I managed quite well, but this type of circuit is less suited for rear-wheel driven cars. When you have two wheels off the ground after hitting a kerbstone, the front wheels hit the asphalt first and then the rear wheels. That explains why the front-wheel driven cars often are just that little but quicker here. Anyway, we have got the maximum out of the first race."

"At the standing start of race 2, I had a really good getaway. I found my way through traffic and ended up behind Nash's Ford. That battle took me slightly too long, which allowed the Chevrolets to get past, too. The ease with which these guys can close up and overtake makes it clear that it is impossible for me to keep up with them. We did our utmost and that was also what our team boss Roberto Ravaglia said afterwards. I definitely have enjoyed it. Too bad for the collision in the first race, but apart from that, I had nice races. Let's go and move on to the next ones!"

A video with Tom's race weekend in Morocco is available HERE.

Result Race 1:

1.Alain Menu 12 laps in 22:28.931
2. Robert Huff +1.074
3. Yvan Muller +1.554 (all Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 T)
4.Pepe Oriola (SEAT Leon WTCC) +2.268
5. Stefano D'Aste (BMW 320 TC) +5.713
and 8 .Tom Coronel (ROAL MOTORSPORT BMW 320 TC) +16.069

Result Race 2:

1. Yvan Muller 11 laps in 19:36.836
2. Robert Huff +0.381
3. Alain Menu +0.970 (all Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 T)
4. Tom Coronel (ROAL MOTORSPORT BMW 320 TC) +2.153
and 5. Stefano D'Aste (BMW 320 TC) +2.641

Drivers' standings after 6 of 24 rounds;

1. Yvan Muller 130 points
2. Robert Huff 106
3. Alain Menu 97
and 4. Tom Coronel 77

In the 2012 FIA WTCC season, Tom Coronel is being supported by: McGregor, TW Steel -big in oversized watches-, AkzoNobel stickerfix^tm , De Wild signing, Loading Systems, Boretti, Intrax, Holiday Cars, Saarloos, Hanscan and Beelen.