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BMW driver Tom Coronel very happy after Monza WTCC season opener (+ Video)

This year, the FIA World Touring Car Championship season got underway in Europe. A total of 22 cars from four different brands were on the grid at the famous Italian Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Among the competitors was 39-year old Dutch driver Tom Coronel, who again is racing a ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC this year. The Dutchman was on the pace from the very beginning and qualified sixth for both races. He ended up fifth and fourth in the two races of the opening weekend of the season, so that he is currently fourth in the drivers' standings with 22 points. Just like last year, the Chevrolet works team dominated both races, but its drivers gave each other a hard time. As a result, the classification of the second race remains provisional as the stewards of the meeting still have to decide about some on-track antics of the drivers.

Tom Coronel commented: "Now, one our after the race, I haven't heard anything about it yet, so we will have to wait and see. When I look at the weekend in general, I really have enjoyed it. It went great! Unfortunately, I still don't have a trophy yet, but I came quite close. Having the season opener in Europe is quite special, too. Normally, the car would already have been on its way to the first race for one month. Now, we were in the home country of our team ROAL Motorsport, and that allowed the team to work on the car until the very last minute. For the team members, this is their home base and I couldn't do anything wrong when I gave Tarquini a slipstream in qualifying which allowed him to claim pole position. We hadn't planned anything like that beforehand, it just happened that way while we were driving and I was happy for him. Of course, it was also great for the crowd. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out the other way after Gabriele made a mistake, so a pair of sixth places was all I could manage. In the first session, I was slowed down a bit by Sabatino, so that I had to change tyres. Actually, that was the only issue, because my car was really great."

"In the first race, I managed to steer clear of all the turmoil in the opening stages and I was able to close up to the front runners. I had a battle with Rickard Rydell in a Chevy as he tried to keep me at bay after a safety-car intervention. I also enjoyed the fight with Dudukalo in a SEAT. He was on my rear bumper for quite a while and passed me once, but I didn't see him anymore after I had re-passed him."

"I had a fantastic start into race two and I was behind Michelisz in the BMW right away. According to me, he could have been a little bit faster to pull an even bigger gap over the others in the opening stages. We managed to stay ahead until the halfway point, but then, the dominance of the blue brigade (Chevrolet works team, ed.) became bigger and bigger. I couldn't hold on to my position, but I managed to slot in right behind them. At the end, I made one more attempt, but they are just too quick for me. Fourth position as the best-placed BMW driver was all that I could do, but even more important is that everything feels well: co-operation with the team, the car and myself. Team principal Roberto Ravaglia was very happy with this weekend, so together, we are looking forward to the next race!"

Result race 1:

1. Yvan Muller 12 laps in 26.01.705
2. Robert Huff +0.446 (both Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 T)
3. Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT Leon WTCC) +2.305
4. Rickard Rydell (Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 T) +2.745
5. Tom Coronel (ROAL MOTORSPORT BMW 320 TC) +3.796
6. Pepe Oriola (SEAT Leon WTCC) +6.111

Result race 2:

1. Yvan Muller 10 laps in 20.07.643
2. Alain Menu +0.307
3. Robert Huff +0.613 (all Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 T)
4. Tom Coronel (ROAL MOTORSPORT BMW 320 TC) +0.993
5. Stefano D'Aste (BMW 320 TC) +6.125
6. Franz Engstler (BMW 320 TC) +6.705.

Standings after 2 of 24 rounds:

1. Yvan Muller, 54 points
2. Robert Huff, 35
3. Alain Menu, 26
4. Tom Coronel, 22
5. Gabriele Tarquini, 20
6. Rickard Rydell, 14

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.