Although Tom Coronel’s ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet WTCC car will indeed start this Sunday at the FIA WTCC races in Hungary, the Chevy will probably not be ready on Friday to participate in the free practice sessions. Meaning that after its heavy crash in Marrakech the car will drive its first kilometers again during qualifying at the Hungaroring.
The heavy damage Tom’s car experienced in Marrakech forced the Dutch driver to miss rounds 3 & 4 at Paul Ricard. "On top we also lack spare parts, causing an even bigger delay in repairing the car," Tom Coronel explains. "Despite all efforts by ROAL Motorsport to get the car ready in time, we will probably not make it to the free practice. Meaning that the shakedown of the car is scheduled for the qualifying sessions, which is not the most ideal preparation for Sunday’s races. But we will have to deal with that and I’m already satisfied being able to race again in Hungary."
The tight schedule of the WTCC championship, with four race weekends in a time frame of just five weeks, resulted in both RML and ROAL Motorsport working around the clock to get Tom’s Chevy ready in time. "RML did a fantastic job. It was quite a challenge to transport the car from Marrakech via Paul Ricard to RML’s workshop in Wellingborough, where they completely repaired the body in just three days. Last Sunday evening the structure arrived at ROAL Motorsport in Italy, where Roberto Ravaglia’s guys immediately jumped on it and started rebuilding it. Respect for the way how everybody is doing his utmost to get me racing again this weekend!" says Tom.
Tom Coronel in European Clio Cup?
For a moment it appeared as if Tom exchanged the WTCC for a career in the European Clio Cup last weekend, when during the World Series by Renault at Motorland Aragon a Rangoni Corse Clio appeared on the starting grid completely in the livery of Tom’s WTCC car. And it won both European Clio Cup races there. But fortunately looks can be deceiving. "My brother Tim drove for Rangoni Corse at various occasions, amongst others in the Leon Supercopa. And I myself met Luca Rangoni in the past in the ETCC as well. The contact with the team and team owner Michael Rangoni has always remained great and they came with the idea to design Oscar Nogues’ car in my livery for the 2014 season. Off course resulting in additional media awareness for my sponsors. But on top it truly is a team with a passion for motorsport and therefore I simply had to cooperate in making this partnership work. I have supplied the team with two of my WTCC racing overalls to complete the package. Personally I know Oscar Nogues well, a great driver who will probably conquer the championship title in the European Clio Cup this year. A nice initiative, and I would like to congratulate Oscar and Rangoni Corse with their first two victories of the season!"