Not content with chasing success in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, Dutch ace Tom Coronel is about to embark on the toughest motorsport challenge of them all: the Dakar.
The cross-country event, which covers a distance of 9111 kilometres in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, runs from 4-17 January and Coronel will be very much going it alone. Having partnered twin brother Tim Coronel on the event six years ago, the Coronels will each have a Maxxis Dakarteam powered by SuperB buggy of their own.
Never one to shy away from new challenges, WTCC racer Coronel will also report from the event for Dutch television. “After making it to the finish in 2009, my Dakar objective was reached and to do it again was out of the question,” Coronel told Dakar.com. “But I asked what I could add to make the adventure even more interesting. I spoke to the RTL 7 network [and] proposed to deliver daily reports filmed in the stages with several cameras that they will supply. I will be their race reporter and I will stop when I come across a nice story to tell.”