21 November 2010
Tom Coronel ends WTCC season with points in Macau
SEAT driver Tom Coronel had a weekend with ups and downs during the season finale of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the Macau street circuit. He set fast lap times in the free practice sessions, but in qualifying, he crashed twice. In the two races, he again showed a strong performance and was able to make up quite a few positions. In the second race, he scored eight points for the world championship. “It was a very special weekend again, just what Macau is like. Here, something unexpected always happens,” said Tom Coronel. With his SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel, he ended up eighth in the final WTCC standings.
“Macau is very special time and again,” said Tom Coronel, who already arrived in Macau on Tuesday in order to acclimatise. “The weather is fine there and nowhere else can you find so much action around the race. The city itself, with its casinos, its huge hotels and many restaurants is special. On top of that, racing at the circuit here is like a lottery. You can win a lot, but you also need a little bit of luck, and sometimes you can lose a lot, too.” These would turn out to be prophetic words…
In testing on Thursday evening, Coronel ended up fourth fastest as the best-placed SEAT driver with a lap time of 2:34.116 minutes. “All the drivers in front of me had new tyres while I drove with used tyres. The car felt very well, things went fine and I felt at home as ever”, he said. One day later, the two free practice sessions took place. In first free practice, Coronel was eighth fastest with a time of 2:33.676 minutes. In second free practice, he was classified fourth with a time of 2:33.484 minutes. “I only did six laps. I was happy with the set-up, everything went fine.”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
Qualifying took place on Friday afternoon. In the 20 minutes’ session, Tom Coronel again experienced the particular characteristics of Macau. At the end of his first flying lap, he hit the concrete wall with the left-hand side of his car. “I was on a good qualifying lap,” he reported afterwards. “I was following Andy Priaulx and went a little bit too wide, maybe I was a little bit too closely behind him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t avoid the impact.” The left front wheel broke off and the car was significantly damaged.
The accident happened close to the pit lane entry, so that Coronel was able to deliver the damaged car to his team. He was fortunate that in the accident, not only his car, but also the wall was damaged. Repair work lasted about 50 minutes, which allowed the mechanics of the Sunred team to repair Coronel’s car in such a way that Coronel was able to get out onto the track again once the session was re-started. With the repaired car, he was able to complete a few timed laps, the fastest of which in 2:34.191 minutes. That was the 13th time in the 27 car field. After a few laps, however, trouble struck again, as Coronel hit the Armco barrier with the left-hand side of the car at Moorish Hill. “Sorry guys, it happened again,” Coronel informed his team on the radio. He returned to the paddock, shaking his head. “Twice in a session is quite a lot…”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
In warm-up on Sunday morning, Coronel ended up ninth with a repaired car. “The car is feeling great again. Hopefully, I can still make up a couple of places during the race. Often, staying out of problems already helps here at Macau.” In the first race, Coronel already made clear how true these words were. Right after the start, some drivers crashed coming out of the first corner. Coronel indeed succeeded to steer clear of the problems and thus was already ninth after the opening lap. After four laps behind the safety car, Coronel collided with Darryl O’Young, who was driving in front of him. “The data after the race revealed that O’Young braked significantly earlier than before,” said Coronel afterwards. For the incident, Coronel was given a drive-through penalty, after which he dropped back from sixth to twelfth place. “That showed that race control didn’t really have a good view of the situation, but there is nothing you can do about such a decision,” Coronel said.
Following a multiple car pile-up on the first lap, the second race had to be interrupted for almost half an hour, because the track was totally blocked by crashed cars. This accident didn’t cause any problems for Coronel either. Again, he was able to make up quite a few places and eventually was classified sixth. “It was a fine race, I had some good fights and I also scored some points. It was a special weekend again, but that is what you can expect in Macau.”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
Generally, Coronel draws a positive verdict of the 2010 season. “At last, I had a car with which I was capable to race at the front end of the field and battle with drivers like Tarquini, Farfus, Priaulx, Monteiro. Indeed, I didn’t win a race, and I had quite a few problems, but all in all, I have been able to show that I can do well. I will try everything to ensure that I am racing in this championship again next year, because I am convinced that the WTCC is the place where I belong. Thanks to my sponsors and to the team for a good season.”
31 October 2010
Okayama didn’t bring the expected result for SEAT driver Tom Coronel
16th place in the first race and ninth place in the second race was all that SEAT driver Tom Coronel managed to achieve in the penultimate season weekend of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at Okayama in Japan. Both races were held in the pouring rain, which made it quite difficult for the drivers. In the first race, Coronel was hit on the left front wheel of his car by an opponent who spun. With a seriously damaged left front wheel suspension, he still made it to the finish in 16th place. In the second race, Coronel made up a few positions and crossed the finish line in ninth place with his SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel. “I had hoped for more in Japan, but it wasn’t to be,” said Coronel.
Tom Coronel flew to Okayama via London and Seoul. “It was quite a long journey, but every time when I arrive in Japan, I feel at home right away,” he said. “People are friendly, the culture over here, it is all so familiar because I raced here for so many years.” The Okayama circuit that also hosted the Formula 1 World Championship in 1994 and 1995 (back then, the track was still called TI Circuit Aida) is also quite special because most drivers and team members are staying in little houses at the circuit. Catering for everyone is located in a large tent in the paddock, and for any further needs, there are vending machines all over the place. “Very special: hot and cold drinks, rice, noodles and even warm French fries from the machines,” said Tom Coronel with a smile.
Friday was the day of the traditional test that always takes place whenever the WTCC is racing at a new circuit or when the cars, like in this case, have been shipped to another continent. For Tom Coronel, the 30 minutes’ session on Friday afternoon, usually referred to by the drivers as ‘free practice zero’, was the first time he sat in his SEAT Leon TDI again after the WTCC races at Valencia in mid-September. In the test, Coronel set a time of 1:39.453 minutes, the seventh fastest time among the 27 drivers. “The track still had very little grip, but generally, the car felt quite good,” Coronel reported afterwards.
Foto: FIA WTCC
Prior to the race weekend, there were rumours in Okayama about the typhoon Chaba that is heading from the Philippines towards Japan and that was expected to reach the Okayama region on Saturday. Plans to change the time schedule were discussed, but eventually, the two free practice sessions and qualifying could take place on Saturday as planned. In first free practice on Saturday morning, Coronel set the tenth fastest time of 1:38.937 minutes. In second free practice, he was the fastest driver in the field, just like at Valencia last month. His time of 1:38.943 minutes remained unbeaten. “That makes me feel optimistic for qualifying,” he said.
Nevertheless, qualifying didn’t quite bring the result that Coronel had expected. “My first outing was quite good. The balance of the car felt well and I was 100 percent certain that I would make it into the top ten and thus would be able to compete in the second qualifying heat,” Coronel said. Reality, however, was different: Coronel just had to make do with 17th place on the grid. “When I went out with fresh tyres again, Alain Menu was in front of me, which was the reason that I lost time. And for the rest, I didn’t manage to get it right, although I have to say as well that the lap times were incredibly close together, that really surprised me. But of course, the result wasn’t what I had hoped for,” he said.
Foto: FIA WTCC
Warm-up on Sunday morning, in which Coronel ended up third fastest, was still held in dry conditions, but like so often in Japan, rain set in before the race. This made the clerk of the course decide to start the race behind the safety car. For Coronel, the race wasn’t fantastic either: in the opening stages, his car was hit on the left front side by Kristian Poulsen when the Scandinavian spun on the soaked track. This made Coronel’s SEAT rather difficult to drive. He still had a battle over several laps with privateer Yukinori Taniguchi, but eventually, 16th place was all the Dutch driver managed to achieve. “Because of the collision, the mount of the left front shock absorber was broken. My car was five centimetres lower on the left-hand side. I still managed to finish the race, but it wasn’t fun,” said Coronel.
Strangely enough, Coronel was instructed to put his car in 21st place on the starting grid for the second race. Protests by the driver and the team remained fruitless. “The time keepers had omitted one lap in my result for the second race, so that I suddenly was 21st instead of 16th. Later, they apologised for the mistake, but that didn’t really help me,” Coronel said afterwards. In the second race, he gradually moved up the ranks and crossed the finish line in ninth place, still scoring some points for the drivers’ standings. Coronel: “The lap times were good: I was the fastest of the SEAT drivers, so the speed was definitely there, but there just was nothing more I could do.” Now, Coronel is looking forward to the WTCC season finale at the Macau street circuit, his favourite track, in three weeks’ time. “Hopefully, we can close the season there in a nice way.”
25 October 2010
Send Tom Coronel to the Race of Champions
Race fans will have an unprecedented chance to decide the line-up for Team Benelux at the 2010 Race of Champions in Düsseldorf on November 27-28 – via a vote available now at www.raceofchampions.com.
Foto: Race of Champions
The annual end-of-season competition brings together the world’s greatest drivers from motor sport’s most prestigious disciplines and pits them head-to-head in identical machinery. This is the first time in ROC history that fans will have the power to decide who will take part. The vote will decide which drivers will represent Belgium and the Netherlands – the two largest nations in the Benelux region – next month.
The Dutch choice will be between former F1 driver Robert Doornbos, WTCC racer Tom Coronel and Porsche Supercup champion Jeroen Bleekemolen. The Belgians will be selected from rally ace François Duval, F1 veteran Eric van de Poele and Indycar racer Bertrand Baguette.
Anyone with a different favourite will have the chance to vote for them too – and any fan participating in the vote has a chance to win a passenger ride at The Race of Champions.
Check all the info on the Race of Champions and vote for Tom Coronel on the Race of Champions website.
23 October 2010
Introducing Rocco Cruz Coronel
Dear all, I would like to introduce myself: my name is Rocco Cruz Coronel, brother of Carmen weighing 3590 grams. Arrived on planet Earth today at 14.52. Healthy and happy that my mother Paulien and father Tom put me in this adventurous place. Very cold brrrr and a lot off light in the beginning. I would love to meet you for tips and tricks how to live to the max. Sincerely yours, just born Rocco Cruz Coronel 23-10-10.
19 September 2010
Tom Coronel gets maximum result from Valencia races
“Actually, you should deduct ten places from the two results, and then you know that a podium finish certainly would have been within reach.” That was Tom Coronel’s comment after the two races of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the Valencia circuit. Following an engine chance, Coronel had to start from 16th instead of sixth place into the first race with his SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel. In the first race, Coronel finished tenth. In the second race, he was classified ninth. “In these conditions, that was the maximum possible result,” the driver said.
“It is always nice to be here.” Tom Coronel visibly felt well in Valencia, the Spanish coastal city with its modern architecture, its nice harbour district and its excellent opportunities to go out. The nice weather in Valencia did the rest, making the last European WTCC event of this season a success. However, not everything was perfect, because the weekend started off with bad news for Tom Coronel: during the final test of his car prior to the weekend, there turned out to be an oil leak in the engine. This made an engine change unavoidable, and that meant that Coronel dropped ten places on the starting grid for the first race, according to the WTCC regulations. “On Thursday, I was at Circuit Park Zandvoort for the presentation of the book by Rob Kamphues on his season in the SEAT Leon Eurocup last year, and there, I got the news by SMS from my team boss,” said Coronel. “Of course, it was bad news, because dropping ten grid positions means that you are almost without a chance of getting a good result. But that is just the way regulations are and that can happen.”
Picture: SEAT Nederland
In spite of this setback, Tom Coronel started his work highly motivated, as ever, in order to still score the best result possible. In first free practice, early on Saturday morning, he set a lap time of 1:46.179 minutes, the tenth fastest time of the 21 participants. Around noon, Coronel even managed to establish the outright fastest lap time with his SEAT Leon TDI: with 1:44.537 minutes, he was more than one tenth of a second ahead of the second fastest driver and six tenths of a second faster than the third fastest. “Things are going well. We have the set-up of the car right and everything is working as planned,” Coronel reported afterwards. “I am also pretty confident for qualifying.”
Picture: SEAT Nederland
In the first qualifying heat, Coronel set a lap time of 1:44.789 minutes, which put him in fourth place. In the subsequent second heat, he set a personal fastest lap time of 1:44.525 minutes, ranking sixth. “On my fastest lap, I made a slight mistake in the second corner after which I lost some time, but as a whole, things went well. Initially, I was quite glad when I came out of the car, because a place on the third row of the grid is not bad. But then, I realised again that I had to drop ten places, so I would be starting only 16th.” Still, the sixth fastest time was his best qualifying result of the season.
Picture: SEAT Nederland
In warm-up on Sunday morning, Coronel ended up eleventh with a lap time of 1:45.363 minutes. In the first race, he had an excellent start after which he moved up from 16th to tenth place right away. “The start was perfect and I was also really quick in the first two laps, but after three laps, I had a lot of wear on the front tyres,” said Coronel. “That also became apparent by the lap times, because I did laps of 1:48 minutes, four seconds slower than in qualifying. I locked up under braking twice, losing one place each time. Thus, I eventually ended up tenth.”
Picture: SEAT Nederland
Because of the tyre problems in the first race, Coronel decided to change the set-up of the car for the second race, together with his team. “That indeed led to the result we wanted, because the road-holding of the car was much better in race two. On top of that, it occurred after the race that one of the injectors of the engine didn’t work, so that I was lacking speed in race one. In race two, my start was rather poor, after which I got stuck behind Nykjaer. I was much quicker, but I couldn’t find a way past, which was to be expected due to the track characteristics at Valencia. I locked up once under braking on the penultimate lap. Due to that, Farfus was able to overtake me and I finished ninth.”
With four races remaining, two at Okayama in Japan and two at the Macau street circuit, Coronel is in eighth place of the drivers’ standings. “In fact, I had expected a podium finish here, but after dropping ten places on the grid, I knew beforehand that that would be impossible. Now, I am looking forward to the races in Asia. At Okayama, I won two years ago and Macau is my favourite circuit, so I am really eager to go to Asia!”
17 September 2010
Tom Coronel hopes for success in SEAT's home race
“I have a Spanish car, a Spanish team and we are racing in Spain this weekend, so that must be okay!” SEAT driver Tom Coronel is looking forward to the last European event of this season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the circuit of Valencia this weekend (September 18th and 19th). After the meeting at Oschersleben, where Coronel scored points in both races with his SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel, he wants to show a good performance again during the Spanish world championship round.
Valencia enjoys the luxury of having two circuits: the street circuit in the harbour district that has hosted the Formula 1 Grand Prix every year since 2008 and the `Circuit de la Comunitad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo', some 20 kilometres outside of the city, which is frequented by Formula 1 teams for winter test sessions and where the MotoGP is one of the biggest events. This is the circuit where the WTCC is racing, too. Since the revival of the series in 2005, there has been a WTCC event there every year. In the first years, the Spanish WTCC round was usually held in the autumn, while the races at Valencia took place in spring from 2007 till 2009. For this year, the Valencia round moved back to its traditional weekend in the closing stage of the season.
Picture: SEAT Nederland
“Naming a favourite for the races in Valencia is difficult, because all cars have won there in the past years, including our own SEAT Leon TDI last year,” says Tom Coronel. “For spectators, the circuit is great, because it has been built like an arena: from the grandstands, you can watch almost the entire track. Valencia itself is quite pleasant, too: a nice city with a lot of modern architecture, the harbour where the America's Cup boats were, the Formula 1 circuit and many good restaurants and places to go. Plus usually nice weather, which is quite important, too. So there are plenty of reasons to really look forward to this weekend. Bring it on, I am ready for it!”
Picture: SEAT Nederland
The races at the Valencia circuit will be held on Sunday, September 19th, at 13.05 h and 15.20 h CET. The races are broadcast live on Eurosport.
12 September 2010
Spyker Squadron finishes seventh in season finale
Peter Dumbreck and Tom Coronel finished in seventh place in today’s Autosport 1000 KM of Silverstone, the final round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season.
On the opening lap Dumbreck lost a few places but as the race progressed the car picked up the pace and showed its reliability once more. There was contact with an LMP car twice and in the heat of a battle between Coronel and Jean Alesi the two briefly went off. But the car kept going and gradually moved up towards the front of the strong GT2 category.
In his final stint Dumbreck pushed hard to keep the BMW Team Schnitzer car behind him. With Spyker Squadron eventually finishing one place ahead of the BMW it also means that Spyker has taken third in the constructors championship, ahead of BMW, Aston Martin and Lamborghini.
Finishing at Silverstone also meant Spyker Squadron finished all races this season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R finished all races it took part in since the 1000 KM of the Nürburgring in August of 2009.
Tom Coronel: “To be honest I expected a bit more. I thought we could fight with the front runners, but we couldn’t. I didn’t have the cleanest of races, due to some incidents I lost some 30 seconds. The car was solid, super stable and very steady! Last year we finished second here, this year nobody made a mistake. It was a pity I went off the track with Alesi.”
Peter Dumbreck: “For me it has been a good weekend. I am happy with my performance and it was all we could do. Unfortunately I lost some places on the first lap but we were able to claw back some positions during the race. I really had to push in my last stint to secure the third place in the constructors championship.”
Peter van Erp, Managing Director: “A seventh place finish. Eventually we have had a good weekend. In the practice sessions, qualifying and warm-up we were right up there. The start of the race was somewhat disappointing as we did not have the pace of the other teams, but we managed to get back during the race.
It wasn’t an easy season for us. Fortunately we had more speed and more reliability than we had last year, no race excluded. Due to the increased competition a higher classification at some events was simply not possible. My compliments to the team and to the drivers, who managed to get the best out of themselves and out of the car. Special thanks to the sponsors and partners of Spyker Squadron and of course the management in Zeewolde! As for the championship I can only say that it is a great championship now, there isn’t a better platform for the promotion of your brand. All the factory teams and drivers are here!”
11 September 2010
Spyker Squadron eighth on 1000km Silverstone grid
Spyker Squadron will start the Autosport 1000 KM of Silverstone from eighth place on the GT2 grid. While rain was predicted for Saturday the session was driven on a dry track, which resulted in yet another close fight in the strong GT2 class. After 20 minutes of qualifying Peter Dumbreck had posted the eighth fastest lap time, just half a second from pole position.
On Friday track activity at the 5.891 km long Silverstone circuit began in the afternoon with two free practice sessions. The Spyker Squadron mechanics and drivers used the first session to get the best set-up for the car, to check some different gear rations and to get used to the new circuit layout. Around the new Arena Layout the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R was able to compete with the front runners, like it was in recent years, although changing weather conditions, a safety car period as well as a red flag led to some odd sessions on Friday.
Prior to qualifying the team went out for a third and final free practice session, which resulted in a fourth fastest lap time in the fourteen car strong field. The gap to the quickest GT2 car was just three tenths of a second.
Dumbreck was given the task to qualify the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R for his home race and supported by friends and family the Scot went out for his qualifying run. He completed six laps, in which he posted a 2:03.877 as his fastest lap time, just 0.030 seconds slower than the fastest time in the morning practice. The strength of the 2010 Le Mans Series GT2 category was shown again as Dumbreck's fastest time meant an eighth place on the grid for Spyker Squadron at just a few tenths of a second from pole position. The team was satisfied with the result given the fact that they had not been this close in qualifying so far this year.
Action at Silverstone will resume on Sunday morning with the warm-up session at 9:00. Tom Coronel will be behind the wheel of the black and red Spyker in this session. The race is set to start at 11:55 and it is Dumbreck who will start the race for Spyker Squadron.
9 September 2010
Spyker Squadron 1000 km of Silverstone preview
The final round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season will take place this weekend at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. Spyker Squadron will again enter its Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R for Peter Dumbreck and Tom Coronel.
Picture: Spyker Squadron
Spyker Squadron has good memories of the British Grand Prix circuit after taking a third place finish in 2007 and a second place in 2009. After finishes in all the Le Mans Series races this season as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans the team hopes to end 2010 on a high.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director: "We are on the eve of the final race of the Le Mans Series season. In the past three years we took a top four finish here at Silverstone, including a double podium finish. It will be an interesting race weekend because the series will use the new circuit layout - the Arena Layout - and this race is the first of three races for the Intercontinental Le Mans cup, which means there will be a large number of cars again. Of course we hope to get a good result to end the season on a high."
Peter Dumbreck: "It is always good to race at home as I know the Silverstone circuit very well. The last 2 races were in heat over 30 degrees so the British round of LMS is guaranteed to be cooler and I think the layout of the circuit will suit the Spyker more than the twisty Portuguese and Hungarian tracks before." "Last year's result of second in Silverstone raises the Squadrons' expectations so we will be pushing hard for a good result. 2010 has shown to be a very strong year in GT2 so everyone has to be on top form to get back on to the podium. So far we have finished every race this year including the 24 hours so above all I would like to have a 100 percent reliability record and see the chequered flag at the end of race in Silverstone... hopefully high in the points!"
Two free practice sessions are scheduled Friday afternoon at 13:15 and 17:00. On Saturday the team will have another practice session at 9:00 while qualifying for the GT cars starts at 13:10. The race itself will start at 11:55 on Sunday and will run over 170 laps or six hours. Eurosport and Eurosport 2 will be broadcasting live from Silverstone for over four hours.
5 September 2010
A good score for Tom Coronel at Oschersleben
With sixth place in the first race and fifth place in the second race, SEAT driver Tom Coronel again scored well in both races of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at Oschersleben. With three events remaining, the Dutch driver with his SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel is now tied in eight place in the drivers’ standings. Coronel was quite happy with his score of the weekend in Germany: “It went very well and I scored quite a lot of points. We knew beforehand that we wouldn’t be the fastest with our diesel-powered cars at this circuit, but the overall score is fine.”
Prior to the weekend, Tom Coronel was already looking forward to the races at Oschersleben. “There is not particularly much to do in the region around the circuit. The track is located in the former DDR and sometimes you have the impression that time has stopped when you are driving through the villages. But the track itself suits me: a technical circuit where I have done quite well in the past.” One activity which Coronel was looking forward to in particular, however, had to be cancelled due to the rain: the planned acceleration battle between Coronel with a SEAT Leon Eurocup race car and Dutch motorcycle ace Jurgen van den Goorbergh riding a KTM 1190 RC8R superbike couldn’t take place because of safety reasons. “Such a session on a wet track, without any preparation, would indeed have been somewhat risky on a motorcycle,” Coronel admitted.
Picture: SEAT Nederland
Action started early on Saturday morning with the first free practice session, in which Coronel ended up ninth fastest with a lap time of 1:37.354 minutes. In the second session around noon, the track was damp, so that lap times were slower as a result. This time, Coronel was classified eighth with 1:38.845 minutes. In the top speed rankings, he was among the fastest drivers all the time. “In terms of set-up, we are definitely on the right way. I am happy with the way things are going and it is looking pretty good for qualifying. Making it into the second qualifying heat for the ten fastest drivers should definitely be possible,” Coronel announced optimistically.
In qualifying, later in the afternoon, he kept his promise: with a lap time of 1:36.509 minutes, his fastest lap time of the day, the Dutch SEAT driver was classified ninth in the first heat, which again allowed him to take part in the session for the ten fastest drivers. The thick, dark clouds that came up over the circuit in the break between the two heats, didn’t look good at all and indeed, all competitors tried to get at least one flying lap in as quickly as possible once the second heat got underway. Coronel came to a lap time of 1:38.810 minutes, with which he qualified seventh for the fourth time this season already. On the starting grid for the race, he even moved one place further ahead, because Hungarian driver Norbert Michelisz still had a ten-place grid penalty because of an infringement during the previous WTCC event at Brno. Coronel’s comment after qualifying: “My lap time could even have been much better, because Gabriele Tarquini came off the track while I was immediately behind him. I had to avoid him and probably lost half a second as a result. I am quite happy with my starting grid position, it went quite well.” In warm-up on Sunday morning, Coronel was ninth with a lap time of 1:36.947 minutes.
Picture: SEAT Nederland
In the first race, as usual in the WTCC with a rolling start, Coronel managed to steer clear of the just as usual chaos in the first corner, gaining a few positions right away. “I had an excellent start and managed to stay out of troubles. Eventually, Farfus was a little bit quicker and later on, I made a slight mistake myself, after which Yvan Muller went past, but for the rest, it was a good race,” said Coronel after the first race, in which he crossed the finish line in fourth place as the best-placed SEAT driver. However, after the second race the Stewarts decided to give 15 drivers, including, Coronel, a 30 seconds penalty because they drove faster than the allowed 90 km/h during the rolling start. Because of this Tom dropped two places, finishing in sixth position.
In the second race, he had problems getting off the line from fifth on the grid, dropping back to eighth. “The start was bad, no discussion about it,” Coronel admitted. “After that, I thought: ‘Shall I try something in the first corner’, but there were too many people around me and I didn’t want to take too many risks. After that, I overtook Poulsen and due to accidents further in the field, I gained another couple of places, so that I eventually came home fifth. All in all, I am very happy with this weekend. We scored quite well and the speed was okay.”
4 September 2010
Tom Coronel wants to be back on the podium at Oschersleben
After the summer break in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the final and decisive stage of the season starts at the German circuit of Oschersleben this weekend. “From now on, things are going quickly: after this one, there are only three events left, at Valencia, Okayama and Macau,” says Tom Coronel, who is competing with the SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel. “But first, it is Oscherleben, a circuit where things went pretty well for me the last few years. As far as I am concerned, it can be a podium finish again.”
The Oschersleben circuit is located halfway between Hanover and Berlin near Magdeburg in the former DDR. The circuit, officially called ‘Motorsport Arena Oschersleben’, was opened in 1997. It is one of the tracks to have hosted the WTCC every year since the series was revived in 2005. “Oschersleben is a rather technical circuit,” says Tom Coronel. “Overtaking is quite difficult there and there usually is a lot of turmoil in the first corner, so a good result in qualifying and a good grid position are all the more important, because they are the best way to stay out of trouble. I definitely don’t want anything like in Brno again, where I was hit right after the start and had to retire.”
Foto: SEAT Nederland
In 2008, Coronel finished second at Oschersleben and last year, he was classified fourth. “The circuit suits me. The area is not really spectacular, but it is a nice thing that I can just drive there by car. Usually, there are also numerous fans and friends coming to the circuit,” he says. “With our diesel cars, the chicanes are particularly important. During changes of direction, it is crucial to keep the car in control in order to carry enough speed with you. I am looking forward to this weekend!”
The races at the Oschersleben circuit will be held on Sunday, September 5th, at 13.05 h and 15.20 h CET. The races are broadcast live on Eurosport.
23 August 2010
Another finish for Spyker Squadron in Hungary
Tom Coronel and Peter Dumbreck took a ninth place finish in the fourth round of the Le Mans Series season at the Hungaroring near Budapest tonight. Having started from eleventh place on the grid the Spyker Squadron drivers fought hard but eventually had to settle for ninth in the ultra-competitive GT2 field.
Both Tom and Peter drove a very consistent race but it soon became clear that the narrow and twisty Hungaroring track did not really suit the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R and it would almost be impossible to get a top result without other teams hitting trouble. Both Spyker Squadron drivers gave everything but none of the other teams got into serious trouble and after six hours Tom crossed the finish line ninth in class.
The team will now return to Zeewolde where they will prepare the number 85 car for the final round of the Le Mans Series season at Silverstone. The Autosport 1000 KM of Silverstone will be held on September 12th and unlike the last two races it will be a race on Sunday afternoon.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: “It was really competitive again, incredible. I think today an eighth or ninth place was the maximum we could have achieved. Our drivers worked so hard and still you see that on average we are about a second a lap slower. In the dark we managed to get a bit closer, but this really was not our race weekend. We have worked incredibly hard, but we simply lacked speed here in Hungary. Unfortunately we did not have all the luck during the race as Peter was hit by an LMP car and we lost some 45 seconds in the following pitstop and then we also lost some time during the safety car period because the rules were not carried out as they should have been. But even if we would not have had those issues I think we would not have finished much higher.”
Peter Dumbreck: “It is clear that we did not have the pace today. We made the best of what we had and we both drove pretty consistent. There was one problem when I was hit by a prototype, but to be honest that was not a big issue. We simply did not have the pace of the front running guys today. The priority was to make it to the end and it would be nice to finish every single race this season, we are only one away from that so hopefully we can finish Silverstone as well. As that tracks suits us a little bit better and it will be a bit cooler I hope we can take a top five there, we will see!”
Tom Coronel: “We pushed very hard. Nobody else made mistakes. We were a little bit unlucky with the pit stops as the other ones came through. Normally during a safety car the pit exit should be on red, maybe this could have helped us for two places. Anyway, I am satisfied, the car was strong and we had a good pace at the end as normal. We made it, we finished in front of the Hankook Ferrari of Allan Simonsen, which was the goal from about half of the race. I am happy, there was nothing else I could do. One more to go, Silverstone.”
22 August 2010
Spyker Squadron upbeat after Budapest qualifying
Spyker Squadron is full of confidence and fully prepared for today's 1000 KM of the Hungaroring. After three practice sessions on Saturday Tom Coronel was only just over a second behind the pole position in qualifying this morning. The Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R will therefore start from eleventh on the grid.
On Saturday the Spyker Squadron team worked hard to get the set-up of the car right for the 4.381 km long Hungaroring circuit. The straights and slow corners were giving the brakes and tires a very hard time and the team did everything possible to create the best possible set-up for the car. The gathered information and changes in set-up resulted in a lap time in qualifying on Sunday that was over half a second quicker than the fastest time on Saturday and only a few tenths clear of the front of the GT2 grid. The team will now prepare the car for the 1000 KM of the Hungaroring which starts at four o'clock this afternoon.
Tom Coronel: "I think qualifying went fine. I had a flawless lap, no mistakes, no problems at all. The car felt really strong and I positioned it on the track where I wanted it. I asked the mechanics before the session "What if we set a 1:47.8?" Their response resulted in me having a good feeling afterwards. The time is good, it is so close to each other, if you find a few tenths you are up a few places. I am confident for the race. Everybody is in a good vibe, it feels strong. At the beginning of the race our pace will be ok and if we don't have any failures or whatsoever we could get a good result.
The set-up was a slight guess. We made a couple of set-ups before the weekend. One set-up Peter was more confident with and I was more confident with another set-up. For qualifying we made the car quite stiff and we got it on the track in the right spot, so as for the set-up I am really satisfied. We made the right choice at the right time."
Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: "Eleventh place. The car was perfect and it was all the car could do at this moment. We are only a few tenths of a second behind the top cars. We have to be smart and sneaky during the race, aggressive during the pit stops, aggressive on our in- and out laps. I hope we can win some time on that. Maybe we will have some luck during the safety car periods, we will certainly get a few, but that is always a lottery. Without evolutions and testing this is just it. Fortunately we have made a lot of progress during the weekend. Tom was really satisfied with the car. The lay-out of the track however causes the tires to have more drop-off as they don't have time to rest, but I have already heard that more GT2 teams have this problem. Hopefully we can limit it during the race. Whatever happens we will do our best to get a good result, we will just fight for it!"
20 August 2010
Spyker Squadron Hung(a)ry for a new challenge
Spyker Squadron will venture into unknown territories this weekend as it takes part in the fourth round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season. The team has travelled to Budapest for the 1000 KM race on the Hungaroring Formula 1 circuit.
Picture: Spyker Squadron
The twisty, narrow and bumpy circuit just outside the Hungarian capital will host a Le Mans Series round for the first time in its existence. The drivers will have to tackle sixteen corners on the 4.381 km / 2.722 mi long circuit, that was purpose-built for Formula 1 and opened back in 1986. The fact that the race will finish at night makes it even more interesting for the teams
As the race will be held in August the team will prepare for a hot and dry race weekend in Central Europe. Tom Coronel, back with Spyker Squadron for the first time after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has already raced at the Hungaroring before, but Peter Dumbreck and the Spyker Squadron team have not. The team will therefore use the practice sessions to get to grips with the circuit and to work on the set-up of the car.
On Saturday there will be three free practice sessions on the Hungaroring. On Sunday morning the teams will go out for qualifying, followed by a warm-up session and the race The race will start at 4 p.m. and will finish no later than 10 p.m. Eurosport will show the last 30 minutes of the race live around Europe
Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: "It is the first time the series visits this circuit so for the team and the drivers there is a challenge ahead to find the right set-up in the three practice sessions. We will have to concentrate on creating a car that will do well over a stint."
1 August 2010
Join Tom Coronel at the Nordschleife
Recently Tom Coronel raced the Toyo Tires Porsche in the Nürburgring 24 hour race. Unfortunately technical troubles caused an early end to the race for Tom, who shared a Lammertink prepared Porsche 997 GT3 with Duncan Huisman and Yasushi Kikuchi. Despite that the team of Clashproduction managed to shoot some spectacular onboard footage which is really worth watching.
18 July 2010
Tom Coronel scores very well at Brands Hatch
“I would have signed up for this result immediately,” said Tom Coronel after the sixth race meeting of the season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the circuit of Brands Hatch in the UK. At the former Grand Prix circuit, located south-east of London, the Dutch driver ended up fifth in the first race and fourth in the second race with his SEAT Leon TDI sporting the colours of McGregor and TW Steel. Thus, he scored valuable championship points in both races, allowing him to move up to sixth place in the overall standings.
“Brands Hatch certainly is one of my favourite circuits,” said Coronel before the event. Here, he had his first WTCC race with the SEAT Leon four years ago after having raced the SEAT Toledo before. A nice surprise, which only materialised on Friday afternoon, was that his twin brother Tim Coronel was also racing in the WTCC at Brands Hatch. “Tim got the chance to drive for the Engstler team after the team’s regular second driver, Romanov, couldn’t enter the UK due to visa problems,” Tom Coronel explained. “Tim was here anyway because he would compete in the SEAT Leon Eurocup, and that was how he came to drive in WTCC, too. This again shows how things can sometimes happen quite spontaneously.” It wasn’t the first time for the twin brothers to race in WTCC together as they already did to at the circuit of Brno in the Czech Republic last year, both driving a SEAT at the time.
Picture: SEAT Nederland
Contrarily to the two previous rounds at the circuits of Zolder and Portimao, both venues being new additions to the WTCC calendar, Brands Hatch was familiar territory for teams and drivers from the WTCC. This meant that there wasn’t a test session on Friday and the action started with first free practice on Saturday morning. Tom Coronel only arrived in the UK late on Friday evening after a busy test session with a Porsche at Circuit Park Zandvoort on Friday. “I did a lot of driving this week, because we also had a test with the Porsche on Tuesday, which went very well,” Coronel reported.
In first free practice, he was eleventh fastest with a lap time of 1:34.405 minutes, while in second free practice, he was classified sixth with a lap time of 1:34.051 minutes. This made him the second fastest SEAT driver. “The free practice sessions went according to plan. There were no problems, the speed was there and that makes us optimistic for qualifying,” Coronel said after the two heats.
Foto: SEAT Nederland
In the first heat of qualifying, Coronel was among the top ten, which would have automatically qualified him to take part in the second heat for the ten fastest drivers. However, in the final seconds, he was toppled from the top ten. Still, he was allowed to start in the second heat a few minutes later as, all of a sudden, not ten, but eleven drivers were taking part. What had happened? Coronel: “That was because of Robert Dahlgren, a guest driver who took part here, but is not eligible to score championship points. Just in case Dahlgren would have been among the top ten, the clerks of the course wanted to admit eleven cars for the second heat to make sure that there would be ten regular WTCC drivers. Eventually, Dahlgren didn’t make it into the top ten at all, but they still admitted eleven cars, so that I was able to have a run, too.” Coronel eventually set the seventh fastest time, but was even allowed to start the race from sixth place because Andy Priaulx dropped ten grid positions following an engine change. “Eleventh or sixth, that is quite a difference,” said Coronel, smiling. “Of course, I was lucky, but can I have a little bit of luck sometimes, too? I have had more than enough bad luck!”
Picture: FIA WTCC
In the first race, Coronel crossed the finish line in a fine fifth place. “I drove a good race. It was a close call in the opening stages only after Monteiro hit me twice and my car got completely sideways, but fortunately, I was able to keep the car in control. I was behind Gabriele Tarquini, who didn’t make a mistake, so I couldn’t pass him, but in turn, I was able to defend my fifth place against Farfus. I saw where he was faster and there I was able to keep him behind me without further ado,” the driver said after the race.
In the second race, Coronel was classified fourth. “I had a fairly good start and after that I was able to defend my position. Huff was behind me, but he wasn’t quicker and didn’t start any attacks. After the safety car phase, I made a slight error coming onto the main straight where I had a little bit too much oversteer, but fortunately, my position wasn’t in danger. In the closing stages, I was able to close the gap to Gabriele Tarquini, who was in front of me, and thus, I crossed the finish line in fourth place. It was a great weekend, I would have signed up for this result right away!”
Picture: FIA WTCC
17 July 2010
Coronel seventh in Brands Hatch qualifying
Tom Coronel will start from sixth place on the grid for tomorrow's first of the two FIA WTCC races at Brands Hatch. The SR-Sport SEAT driver managed to get through to the second qualifying session despite missing out the initial top 10 cut. The reason for this one time change is the participation of the Volvo C30 in the event, which is not homologated to the current FIA WTCC specs. The decisive Q2 session was dominated by the three works Chevrolets who scored a 1-2-3 result. Tom Coronel seventh quickest and the second fastest SEAT runner, headed only by his teammate and reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini. As sixth placed Andy Priaulx will drop 10 places on the grid due to an engine change Coronel will move one place up to sixth.
picture: FIA WTCC
Of course Tom was more than happy with his surprise participation in Q2. "I thought it was over. Franz Engstler went quicker shortly before the end en bumped me out of the top 10. After that I had one last chance just before the flag to do a final run, but I was blocked so my lap was ruined. When I came back to the pits we learned that we could still go to Q2. Apparently the organizers thought that Dahlgren in the Volvo would easily make it to Q2, so the top 10 was expanded to a top 11. Q2 was OK. At first I was seventh, but Andy Priaulx will move back a he is penalized for an engine change. So I will line up on the third row of the grid next to my teammate Gabriele Tarquini", Tom said
Picture: FIA WTCC
Tim Coronel was less fortunate. After he missed most of the free practice session due to a broken drive shaft he ran into trouble again in qualifying. On his opening lap a shock absorber broke, which meant that he could not set a time. Therefore Tim will start from the back of the grid tomorrow.
16 July 2010
Tim and Tom again together in the FIA WTCC
Tim Coronel will again race in the FIA WTCC this weekend. The twin brother of SEAT driver Tom reached a last-minute agreement with Engstler Motorsport to replace Andrei Romanov. The Russian, who is normally behind the wheel of the second Engstler car has to skip the race at Brands Hatch due to problems with his visa application. As Tim was already at the circuit for the SEAT Leon Eurocup a match was quickly made. "We know Tim since long time, as he has raced for us sometimes in the past and we were talking to bring him to the WTCC", Engstler teammanager Kurt Treml explained.
Foto: FIA WTCC
Tim will partner teamowner Franz Engstler in a BMW 320i, which will be fitted with a sequential 6-speed gearbox. It will be the second outing in the FIA WTCC for Tim, after his prize drive at Brno last year. On that occasion he drove a SEAT Leon TFSi prepared by SUNRED with the identical 'twin look' livery to the car of Tom.
Foto: SEAT Nederland
13 July 2010
International award for Tom Coronel
Racing driver Tom Coronel, competing in this year’s FIA World Touring Car Championship with his SEAT Leon TDI in the livery of McGregor and TW Steel, has won a prestigious international award. The visitors of the Touring Car Times website (www.touringcartimes.com) have elected Coronel as the best independent driver of last year. In this election, visitors of the website had the possibility to chose from drivers in four highly regarded touring car series: next to the WTCC, also the German-based DTM, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC).
Foto: Frits van Eldik
In the election, Coronel received 49 percent of the votes in the category ‘Best Independent Driver’. With this result, he has beaten British driver Colin Turkington, who won last year’s BTCC championship title. Turkington scored 45 percent.
Coronel appreciates the value of this award: “This prize is a very special one because it is the public who decided. Everyone was able to vote on the website. And the public is our customer base, the people that we all are racing for. Without an audience, there would be no motor racing, it is that simple. And when these people acknowledge my achievements, it makes me a little bit proud indeed!”
Touring Car Times is a British-language website initiated in Sweden that has been covering international touring car racing since 1995. Next to separate categories for WTCC, DTM, BTCC and STCC, there is also coverage of North American touring car racing and the Australian V8 Supercars. For a few years, the people behind the website have been organising a poll for the ‘Touring Car Times Awards’ in various categories at the end of each season.
4 July 2010
Tom Coronel happy after Portimao premiere
Sixth and seventh place in the two races of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the circuit of Portimao in Portugal were more than what SEAT driver Tom Coronel had expected after an oil leak in qualifying prevented him from achieving a better position on the starting grid for the first race. “I scored points in both races and I had a lot of fun, so the verdict on the weekend, the first WTCC event at Portimao, definitely is a positive one,” said Coronel, who is backed in his campaign by McGregor and TW Steel.
Next to the football World Cup, the hot weather was the main talking point during the race weekend. “When you are on holiday, that is nice, of course, but when you have to work, it is quite warm,” said Tom Coronel. But even that was thought of during the construction of the circuit: in the middle of the paddock, there is a large swimming pool where everybody comes to cool down a few times during the weekend. “Drivers, mechanics, journalists and photographers, TV people: everyone who isn't working in the pits or in the media centre prefers to be somewhere at the swimming pool, as that is the best place to be,” said Coronel.
But of course, the weekend wasn't just about relaxing at the poolside, there was also some racing to be done. Because the WTCC was at the Portimao circuit for the first time, there was a 30 minutes' test session on Friday, in which Coronel ended up eleventh with a lap time of 1:58.283 minutes. On Saturday morning, he managed to improve his time to 1:57.265 minutes, but not his position: in first free practice, he was classified 13th. In second free practice, however, Coronel set the second fastest time. With his personal best lap time of 1:56.925 minutes, he also was the best-placed SEAT driver. “This makes me optimistic”, said the driver while looking forward to qualifying and the races.
Picture: FIA WTCC
In qualifying, however, Coronel wasn't able to meet the expectations: with a lap time of 1:56.946 minutes, he was only classified 15th on the starting grid. The reason turned out to be an oil leak in the engine. Coronel: “I had an oil alarm on my dashboard all the time and the oil that leaked from the engine also came on the tyres. As a result, I couldn't get a quicker lap time.” Had it not been for the technical problem, a better result certainly would have been possible, said Coronel: “We were comfortably on the pace this morning, as our second fastest time in second free practice showed. So, we definitely expected a top ten result. We didn't put any new tyres in or something, but then, the oil alarm occurred. That was quite a setback indeed.”
Following the problems with loss of oil in qualifying, the team decided not to take any unnecessary risks and put a new TDI diesel engine into the car for race day. “They were working until late in the evening, but on Sunday, my car was perfect again for the race,” said Tom Coronel. In the 15 minutes' warm-up session, Coronel emerged 16th fastest. “I only did six laps, more wasn't necessary. The only goal was for us to make sure that everything was working as planned and that turned out to be the case, so I was optimistic for the races.” Changing the engine didn't have any negative effects on Coronel's position on the starting grid, because he had completed the races at Monza and Zolder with the previous engine. According to the WTCC regulations, engine changes are allowed without any consequences after two events.
Picture: SEAT Nederland
In the first race, Coronel already laid the foundation for a good result with a good start: after the opening lap, he was tenth. After that, he won another two places on lap seven as SEAT drivers Michel Nykjaer and Norbert Michelisz tangled and came off the track together. This already put Coronel into a promising position for a good starting grid position for the second race. After Jordi Gené and Rob Huff also retired, Coronel was already sixth and that was also the position in which he crossed the finish line, which not only brought him valuable championship points, but also a position on the second row of the starting grid for the second race. “Initially, I was quite aggressive, which allowed me to make up places already, but then I saw that Huff was getting problems with his tyres and that that would probably be an issue. Therefore, I didn't take too many risks and eventually I came sixth,” Coronel said. “That was definitely much more than what I had expected after qualifying yesterday.”
Picture: SEAT Nederland
In the second race, Coronel ended up seventh. He started third, but already lost a place at the start as Fredy Barth stalled on the grid in front of him and he had to avoid him. In the following laps, he was hit by several drivers and lost a few paces, after which he was classified seventh. “That was quite bad. Tarquini hit me twice, Muller twice, Monteiro twice and Priaulx once. Nobody overtook me, for instance, by outbraking me, but only by running into me. I lost the rear bumper and the exhaust was damaged, due to which I lost speed. But that is the way it is. All in all, I am quite happy with this weekend. I scored points twice, which was the goal, and I had a lot of fun during the races. And the results are better than what I had expected after yesterday's qualifying.”
2 July 2010
Tom Coronel is looking forward to Portimao
Following the successful premiere of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at Zolder in Belgium, where 23,000 spectators came to watch the races, this weekend (July 2nd till 4th) yet another new circuit is on the calendar of the top-level global touring car series: the `Autodrómo Internacional Algarve' at Portimao in Portugal. Tom Coronel, who is competing in this year's WTCC with a SEAT Leon TDI in the livery of McGregor and TW Steel, is looking forward to the event: “Portimao is a great new circuit in a beautiful surrounding and I think that we can do well there with our SEAT Leon TDI.”
The 4,654 kilometres long circuit of Portimao on the coast in the south of Portugal was opened last year. In its first season, the circuit already hosted various international events. Tom Coronel also raced there last year with the Le Mans Series. “That was a 1,000-kilometre race that started on Saturday evening and went into the night. Very nice,” he recalls. “So I know the track quite well, and Portimao is a great circuit. The track is quite undulating and especially in the uphill parts, we can benefit from our car's superior torque.”
Tom Coronel is very relaxed prior to the Portimao race. “I left for Portugal a few days earlier, together with the family, to discover something of the local culture, as people say, or, to put it differently: have a few days of holiday. That is very nice after the past few weeks that have been extremely busy with the WTCC races, the 24-hour races of Nürburgring and Le Mans and a lot of business activities, too. Now, I am really looking forward to the upcoming races, starting with this weekend's event at Portimao!”
Foto: SEAT Nederland
The races at the Portimao circuit will start on Sunday, July 4th, at 13.05 and 17.50 CET. The races are broadcast live on Eurosport.
20 June 2010
Tom Coronel scores points in home race
With his eighth place in the first race and tenth place in the second race, SEAT driver Tom Coronel scored points in both heats at Zolder in Belgium. Nevertheless, for Coronel, the first appearance of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the former Grand Prix circuit in Belgium did not quite bring what he had expected. That was mainly caused by changeable weather conditions in qualifying, after which the Dutch driver was not able to shine in the races with his SEAT in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel.
“Basically, it doesn’t really make a big difference where we race, but Zolder somehow is familiar,” says Coronel. “I have been racing here since my very first season in motorsport, I know every inch of the circuit in and out and another nice aspect is that we have many Dutch fans coming here. We had a lot of SEAT dealers from The Netherlands, but also numerous journalists, commercial partners and guests of our sponsors, including TW Steel.” Coronel is convinced that there is no particular advantage in terms of track knowledge: “At world championship level, the drivers are so professional that they only need a couple of laps and then they know the track, too. The only time when you can have a slight advantage is when conditions are changing, for instance when rain sets in.”
On Friday, drivers had the first chance to familiarise themselves with the circuit in a 30 minutes’ test session. Coronel had a good start into the weekend with the fifth fastest time, making him the best-placed SEAT driver. He completed a total of 14 laps and together with the technicians of his team SR-Sport, he worked on the right set-up for qualifying and the race. On Saturday morning, first free practice was held on a track that was wet after a downpour in the early morning hours. During the session, the racing line dried out more and more and lap times gradually became faster. That became apparent in the results, the final laps being the fastest for almost all drivers. That was also the case for Tom Coronel, who was still allowed to complete his final lap after the chequered flag was out and eventually ended up second.
Picture: Frits van Eldik
In second free practice, held on an entirely dry track, Coronel only completed eight laps, also to save the tyres with an eye on qualifying. Thus, he was classified eleventh. In qualifying, the only Dutch driver in the WTCC field ranked among the first ten and thus seemed set to make it into the second qualifying heat, especially after a slight drizzle set in during the 20 minutes’ first session. “We assumed that we were safe and nobody would improve his time, so we decided not to go out for another attempt anymore and save tyres for the second qualifying heat”, said Coronel. That turned out to be wrong, because rain didn’t become much heavier and in the closing stages, a few drivers still became faster, so that Coronel eventually ended up eleventh, failing to make it into the second qualifying heat for the ten fastest drivers. “Too bad. That clearly was a wrong gamble,” said Coronel.
In warm-up on Sunday morning, Coronel concentrated on practicing starts. “With our SEAT Leon TDI, that is mainly a matter of experience and I haven’t made so many starts with this car yet,” he said. “Now, I had the opportunity to do so. Lap times were less significant, the set-up was just right.”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
During the first race, Tom Coronel had an excellent start that allowed him to move up into eighth place right away. During the race, he lost one place to Andy Priaulx. “On the fourth lap, I noticed already that I would be having some problems with the brakes, because they locked up pretty quickly,” Coronel said afterwards. “That was the case indeed and that was also the reason that I wasn’t able to keep Priaulx behind me.” On the other hand, Coronel succeeded in defending his ninth place against a charging Augusto Farfus. “That was an exciting battle, quite some hard work,” said Coronel, who crossed the finish line in ninth place. “Too bad that I wasn’t one place further up, because that would have put me on pole for the second race, but that is the way it is,” he reckoned. Afterwards Coronel moved up in the standings to that desired eighth place after original winner Jordi Gene was disqualified. During the technical checks after the race an irregularity in the air intake was noticed by the scrutineers. Victor for race 1 went to Gabriele Tarquini. As the disqualification of Gene was done after race 2 Coronel could not take the benefit of pole position for race 2, but gained an extra point.
In the second race, Coronel had problems getting away at the standing start. “That is still my lack of experience while starting with the diesel car, which really is much more complicated than with the petrol car in the past”, said Coronel. He dropped well down the order, but was able to make up a couple of places again during the race, eventually finishing tenth. “Well, at least I scored some points, but after things didn’t go as planned in qualifying, problems continued throughout the weekend. This event didn’t quite bring what I had expected. Sometimes, that happens. Hopefully, it will be better again next race,” says Coronel.
18 June 2010
Home race for Tom Coronel at Zolder
This weekend (June 18th till 20th), the circuit of Zolder in the Belgian province of Limburg will be hosting the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for the first time. For Tom Coronel, who is competing in this year’s WTCC with a SEAT Leon TDI sporting the colours of McGregor and TW Steel, this is his home race. “The circuit is at only a stone’s throw from the Dutch border, so I hope that there will be numerous Dutch fans out there to support me,” says Coronel. In the two most recent WTCC events at the Marrakesh street circuit and at Monza in Italy, Coronel finished on the podium each time. “After third place at Marrakesh and second place at Monza, finishing first would now be logic,” he smiles. However, this will not be an easy affair as all SEAT Leon TDI have to carry the maximum amount of 40 kilograms of success ballast following the good results in previous races. However, Coronel is upbeat about his chances.
The FIA World Touring Car Championship is competing for the first time at Circuit Zolder which was the location of the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1973, from 1975 till 1982 and in 1984. The FIA GT Championship, the DTM and, somewhat longer ago, the European Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships were regular visitors at Zolder. Next to car and motorcycle events, the venue also has a long-standing tradition in cycling: the 2002 cycling world championships were held at Zolder and the cyclocross world championships were held there in the same year. This year, a UCI cyclocross world cup meeting will be held at Zolder on December 26th.
Circuit Zolder is the 21st circuit to host the WTCC since the start of the championship in its current guise in 2005. Tom Coronel says: “It is a circuit with quite a lot of corners and traction is accordingly important. That is one of the strengths of our SEAT Leon TDI. Theoretically, the circuit looks favourable to us, but you always have to wait and find out what it is like in reality.” Coronel is clearly looking forward to Zolder: “Many friends and acquaintances have announced their attendance. I know the track quite well, because in my first year in motor racing, I had a race there already and I have raced there often ever since. I am really looking forward to it!”
The races at Circuit Zolder are held on Sunday, June 20th, at 13.05 and 15.20 h. The races are broadcasted live on Eurosport.
14 June 2010
Spyker Squadron finishes ninth in Le Mans 24 hours
For the second time in a row Spyker Squadron finished the Le Mans 24 Hours in the top 10. In the 78th edition of the famous endurance race the team overcame several serious problems and eventually finished the race in ninth place in the GT2 category.
After the accident with the Norma LMP2 on Saturday, which cost the team over an hour, there was more bad luck on Sunday morning. At 8.30 a.m. Jeroen Bleekemolen got a temperature warning and he brought the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R back to the pit lane. As the team checked what the problem was exactly and eventually came up with a solution, precious time went by and only after two hours of hard work Jeroen was back in the car again and on his way out of the pit lane.
Soon after Jeroen had left the pit he reported a flat tire and came in. He went back out again with a new set of tires and fuel. At the end of his stint Jeroen handed over the car to Peter Dumbreck, who would take the finish. Peter drove a consistent stint and where other cars dropped out the Spyker kept going strong. When Peter came in just before the end of the race for a splash-and-dash he was told to do some final quick laps. After 280 laps he crossed the line and slowed down in order to celebrate the finish in front of the team.
Peter Dumbreck: “It was a bit of a tough start, bit of a baptism when I had the drama with getting pushed off by a prototype. But it was important that I got back in the car. So I am happy that my next stint went well. We ran a good pace, we were kinda given the all-clear to push a little bit. Maybe in doing so we had a few more problems with the car, like a gearbox problem. It is a little bit hard to sit in the pit box for two hours, knowing that you could acutally be fighting. So many cars had problems as well. But the end result is that we got to the end. I was able to do a nice stint at the end, bring the car back and see the chequered flag!”
Victor R. Muller, CEO Spyker Cars: “I am extremely proud of our team, which managed to overcome the severe impact of the damage caused by the crash into the wall of Peter Dumbreck and an LMP car last night. In spite of that we managed to finish in ninth place, which is quite an achievement. It is the second consecutive year that Spyker Squadron performs so well at Le Mans and if we had been a little bit more lucky we might have seen the podium from very close by. As always there is another Le Mans next year.”
11 June 2010
Spyker Squadron satisfied ahead of Le Mans 24 hours
Spyker Squadron will start the 78th Le Mans 24 Hours in thirteenth position. In the first qualifying session on Thursday Jeroen Bleekemolen managed to improve his fastest lap time from Wednesday by posting a 4:04.057. Unfortunately traffic on his final flying lap cost him the chance to gain some additional places on the grid.
Shortly after the start of the session Peter Dumbreck came in and changed from intermediates to slicks. It was still too wet at the Porsche Curves though and the team changed the tyres back to intermediates on the next stop. Peter returned to the pit after being in the car for almost one hour and handed over the car to Jeroen.
The track conditions improved when Jeroen was behind the wheel and all teams started to set quicker lap times. Even though Jeroen improved his fastest time twice his final attempt to improve was curtailed when he was caught up in traffic and the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R finished the session in thirteenth place in GT2.
As Peter missed out on night qualifying on Wednesday, he went out in the second qualifying session in order to complete at least three laps in the darkness. After doing several laps around the Circuit de la Sarthe the team brought the car in to change some bodywork parts. After another lap to test the parts, the car came in again and was pushed into the pit box where the team started to work on the car. Tonight the team will replace the engine with a new one for the race on Saturday.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: “We are satisfied how it went. All three drivers have done well, we are happy with the car. The group of cars we are in is only separated by a few tenths of a second, not much if you consider a lap here takes just over 4 minutes. The team worked well and worked very disciplined. We will now replace the current engine with the race engine and tomorrow we will prepare for the race.”
Peter Dumbreck: “My running yesterday was curtailed due to my sore head. I was much happier to get out today. I experienced some damp conditions, some nighttime conditions and was able to bring my time down. I am happy. The track was a bit more quiet tonight, so I had the time to look around as it is a really different place in the darkness. Certain corners are very difficult to see at nighttime, so you have to find new markers. Had it been dry I could have pushed a bit harder but I think we have to be happy with what we got.”
Eurosport will broadcast the entire 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as all the practice and qualifying sessions LIVE around Europe.
8 June 2010
Spyker Squadron ready for Le Mans 24 hour race
Spyker Squadron is ready for the 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R passed scrutineering on Monday morning at the Place des Jacobins in the centre of Le Mans and is now gearing up for action.
After scrutineering drivers Tom Coronel, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter Dumbreck, the Spyker Squadron team and the car then went on for the traditional post-scrutineering photo, surrounded by lots of fans and members of the media.
At Le Mans Spyker Squadron will be racing in the Snoras Bank colors again. As a result the C8 Laviolette GT2R will race in the same blue and yellow livery that was used here at Le Mans in 2008 and 2009 and not in the red and black livery that is in use in the Le Mans Series this season.
Like in the Le Mans Series Spyker Squadron will run its 4.0l engine, the 2" wider rear wheels and the larger air restrictor. This new for 2010 configuration has so far been very reliable and with reliability a key factor at Le Mans the team has high hopes for the race.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: "Last year we finished fifth here at Le Mans after a steady run over 24 hours. This year we need to be consistent again and have to act smart. Reliability and a good strategy are vital for a decent finish in this edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The competition in the GT2 category is very strong this season. I would have preferred some extra testing before Le Mans in order to get even closer to them."
Tom Coronel: "It's good to be back at Le Mans for what will be my tenth 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is one of the top three events in the world, together with Monaco and the Indy 500. You only have one chance for a good result and if you fail you have to wait for another year. That is what makes it a mythical race. Last year we really did well. We finished fifth, ahead of all the Porsches and without any problems. This year the competition is much stronger, but then again, we also have a stronger line-up and our car has been very reliable this season. I think a top 10 position in qualifying should be possible and we should definitely be able to finish inside the top 8 this year."
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "Last year things really went well and we took home a great fifth place. This year we will see some really strong line-ups in the various GT2 cars, but our line-up is certainly among the strongest and we should take some advantage of this. As I did not compete at Spa the race at Paul Ricard was my dress rehearsal and I was really impressed with the pace I had in that race. In the Le Mans Series we had one of the quickest cars after 3 hours of racing and considering this race will last for 24 hours we should be one of the quickest cars again. If we are able to complete this race without any problems we should be able to fight for the top positions again."
Peter Dumbreck: "My guess is that it will be a race of attrition again this year. Lots of things will go wrong at top teams and we should just make sure we don't make any mistakes and that our car is running at the end. We have three good drivers and if we all drive a steady race, stay out of trouble and don't push it over the limit we should be able to repeat last year's result and finish in the top 5 again. It will be a tough fight this year with the strong competition, but with our group of drivers we should be able to do well. As we've seen in the Le Mans Series races the race will develop and we will become quicker through the race. We have had a very reliable car so far and our only problems were the results of us being hit by other cars, but the car held well."
All the drivers taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be attending the autograph session in the pit lane on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Free practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place on Wednesday June 9th. Between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. the teams will be able to go out on the the 13.629 km long circuit for the first time. Between 10 p.m. and midnight the first qualifying session will be held.
Eurosport will broadcast the entire 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as all the practice and qualifying sessions LIVE around Europe.
23 May 2010
Best season result for Tom Coronel
With his second place in the second race at Monza, Dutch SEAT driver Tom Coronel scored the best result of the season to date in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). “My strategy was to make up some places in the first race and then score a podium finish in the second race. That has worked out perfectly,” said a visibly delighted Coronel after the race, in which he again was the best-placed SEAT driver with his SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel. Earlier, Coronel had finished fifth in the first race, so that he scored valuable points in both races. In the World Championship standings after three weekends, Coronel is now ranked fifth. “The next event is at Zolder in Belgium. I consider that as my home track and I want to achieve a good result again there,” he announces.
For the third event of the year, the WTCC fraternity headed to Italy, where the European part of the season got underway. “Monza is fantastic. The entire atmosphere, the history that you find there: part of the old banking is still there, with the corroded barriers and all, where they used to race until in the 1960s. The location of the circuit in the park with its old trees – just marvellous.” Tom Coronel doesn’t hide his enthusiasm for the ‘Autodromo Nazionale di Monza’. “And what is more, Italy is always nice. Great food, beautiful weather…just fantastic! After two cold race weekends in a row, during the Spa-Francorchamps 1000 kilometres a fortnight ago and at the Nürburgring 24 hours last week, a little bit of sunshine is quite pleasant now!”
Picture: FIA WTCC
Because the WTCC didn’t have a race at Monza last year – the Italian round of the 2009 championship took place at Imola – there was a 30 minutes’ test session on Friday afternoon this weekend as well, something that otherwise only happens at new circuits or after overseas journeys. In this session, Tom Coronel set the third fastest time, which made him the best-placed SEAT driver. With his lap time of 2:01.992 minutes, the Dutch driver was quite pleased. “We are on the pace, the car feels good and the set-up is at least 95 percent right. And there is still some room for improvement tomorrow,” he reported.
In first free practice on Saturday morning, Coronel set the ninth fastest time, but after the session, the look on his face was somewhat troubled. “We got some warning signals because of the oil pressure in the engine being too low, which might indicate an engine problem,” he explained. In second free practice, this suspicion was confirmed, after which the driver and the team jointly made the decision to have the engine replaced before qualifying. “At a certain point, you just have to make such a decision, and we said to each other: ‘We rather change the engine now than having problems during the race’. So, the technicians had quite some work to do, but they managed to do it in time,” Coronel said.
Picture: Frits van Eldik
It turned out that with the new engine, there were still some slight teething problems. Coronel: “In the first qualifying heat, there was a problem with the electronics of the sensor of the turbocharger on my first lap. As a result, I came back into the pits again, where the system was re-set. At my second attempt, with a new set of tyres, the problem occurred again. In fact, I had planned two runs, but these were over due to these problems. Eventually, there were only three minutes left, so that I could just complete one flying lap. That made me end up in 13th place. Certainly not ideal, but Monza is a circuit that provides some good opportunities for overtaking, so I am quite optimistic that I can improve during the race.” Later, Coronel gained one position, after Monteiro was dropped five places on the grid because of repeatedly cutting the chicane.
After the settings of the car and the engine were checked for the last time in warm-up on Sunday morning, Tom Coronel held on to the strategy that he had planned for the first race. In a bizarre race, in which quite a few drivers retired, among others due to problems with the tyres that were under high pressure due to the temperatures and the speed at Monza, Coronel managed to make up no less than seven places compared to his position on the starting grid. Thus, he crossed the finish line in fifth place. “I was quite careful with the tyres and that has paid off,” Coronel said.
Picture: Frits van Eldik
Based on his fifth place in the first race, Coronel could start from fourth place on the grid for the second race. In this race, again covering a distance of nine laps, he initially was able to defend his fourth place. Later on, he had a chance of a podium finish after Gabriele Tarquini had dropped out of the group of front runners. On lap eighth, Coronel even climbed up to eighth place after Danish driver Nykjaer retired due to a burst tyre. As a result, Coronel ended up second, so that he was allowed to climb onto the podium for the second time this season. “Before the weekend, I already said that a podium finish would be possible, and that turned out to be the case,” Coronel said afterwards. “I am not entirely there yet, because I still have a feeling that there are three or four tenths of a second to be found in the car, but to get there, I still need some more experience. However, it is getting better all the time, I am really happy with the results of this weekend.”
21 May 2010
Tom Coronel aims at Monza podium finish
The European part of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) gets underway at the circuit of Monza in Italy this weekend. “Monza is the fastest circuit we are racing on and the last four races were won by a SEAT,” says Dutch SEAT driver Tom Coronel. He is totally confident that he can again score a podium finish this weekend following his third place most recently at Marrakesh. “Normally, that should be possible”, says Coronel, whose SEAT Leon TDI in the colours of McGregor and TW Steel is likely to shine among the front runners in the field again.
After an absence of one year, the WTCC is returning to the ‘Autodromo Nazionale di Monza’, beautifully located in the royal park in the city near Milan. The circuit has a long motor racing heritage and it is considered as a challenge by the drivers: “I don’t know any other circuits where we reach such high top speeds and where you need to brake as hard as at Monza,” says Tom Coronel. He has fond memories of the circuit: “In the ETCC, I finished second when I had to help Jörg Müller win the title.” That was back in 2003, but for this year, Coronel is aiming at a good result, too. “Our TDI engine is one of the most powerful in the field, so from that point of view, it should be good.”
Picture: FIA WTCC
According to Coronel, the fact that the SEAT Leon TDIs are racing with 40 kilograms of handicap weight this weekend following the good results during the first two events at Curitiba and Marrakesh isn’t particularly helpful, but he reckons that the disadvantage due to the extra weight isn’t too big: “The weight is a fact, it has been decided by the organisers and we have to cope with it. But at a circuit like Monza with its long straights, its effect isn’t as big as on a twisty track, for instance Zolder, where you notice the disadvantage much more.”
The races at Monza are held on Sunday, May 23rd (Whit Sunday) at 1.05 and 3.20 pm CET. The races are broadcast live on Eurosport.
16 May 2010
Early retirement for Toyo Tires Porsche at Nürburgring 24h
The Toyo Tires Porsche of Tom Coronel, Duncan Huisman and Yasushi Kikuchi unfortunately had to abandon the Nürburgring 24 hour race. In the early stages of the race already the Porsche 997 prepared by Lammertink racing suffered from gearbox problems. In the end that would also be the cause of their abandon.
Picture: Gijs Bunschoten
"It's a shame that we are out this early. During my first stint I noticed that the flippers for the gearshift were not working. Initially we were able to continue by shifting manually, but later on our problems became bigger. The engineers spent three hours to change the gearbox. After that I went out for one hour, but during that stint I lost fifth gear. The team decided to retire the car from the race. Really tough luck, but for sure I will be back next year for a better result", Tom Coronel said. Later this year Tom Coronel will race the Toyo Tires Porsche in the Hungaroring 12 hour race and a race for the VLN series.
Picture: Gijs Bunschoten
14 May 2010
Tom Coronel satisfied with Nürburgring 24h qualifying
Tom Coronel will start the Nürburgring 24h race from 30th place on the grid tomorrow. In the second and decisive qualifying session Tom managed to set a good time in the Lammertink prepared Toyo Tires Porsche. "The laps was nearly perfect, so I guess we could not go that much faster. Beforehand our target was somewhere between P30 and P40, so we are on the good side. More important for us is that we are fourth quickest in our class and that we were quicker than our fellow tyre development teams". Coronel is targetting the Hankook-Ferrari and Falken-Nissan teams which are just like the Toyo Tires Porsche backed by Japanese tyre manufacturers. So thus far Toyo Tires leads the Japanese tyre battle.
Picture: Gijs Bunschoten
Although the target of the race is to gain data for the Toyo tires development program there is an obvious competitive element. "Yes, of course, we are still out here to race. There are two competitor Japanese tyre manufacturers in our class. One of the cars is driven by Peter Dumbreck, my teammate at Spyker, and the other car is in our class in the Le Mans Series, so both I know well. This makes it an interesting battle in the SP7 class, both for me and for Toyo", Coronel said. Tom Coronel will drive the nr 46 Toyo Tires Lammertink Porsche together with Duncan Huisman and Japanese driver Yasushu Kikuchi
Picture: Gijs Bunschoten
Check out all the latest info on the Nürburgring 24 hour race on www.24h-rennen.de. From this site you can also download apps for your iPhone and Android phone so that you can closely follow the race, no matter where you are.
9 May 2010
Strong Le Mans dress rehearsal Spyker Squadron at Spa
Spyker Squadron experienced a chaotic Le Mans dress rehearsal during the 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps. Although the race at Spa is a regular round for the championship, all focus was set to the prestigious 24 hour endurance race that will take place in France next month. This was also the case for Spyker Squadron, that learned this weekend that the team's second car (with Tim Coronel as a nominated driver) is on top of the reserve list for Le Mans. Having started from twelfth place Tom Coronel and Peter Dumbreck finished the race in a decent seventh place in the GT2 class.
The race on the Belgian circuit was a rather bizarre one. Light rain during the opening laps caused a lot of trouble for several teams, but things got more bizarre just after a pit stop when a power outage forced the race director to stop the race until the timing systems were back online. Unfortunately for Spyker Squadron a communication error from the pit marshals meant that the C8 Laviolette GT2R was among a group of cars stopped at the end of the pit exit rather than being allowed to join the rest of the field on the finish straight. As a result Spyker Squadron lost one lap.
After the race was restarted Coronel and Dumbreck managed to work their way up in the GT2 rankings and eventually made it to seventh place. Dumbreck then started to safe fuel as the gap to the sixth placed car was too big and the team decided to bring home the car in seventh place.
Despite the chaos in Belgium Spyker Squadron completed the race without any problems and the team will now prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This weekend showed that the car is ready for it as it had a trouble-free run once again.
Peter Dumbreck: "I am happy with the end result. We had a lot of bad luck through the race and we finally got a bit of good luck at the end. I am happy with seventh place, it could have been fifth. But then again, it could have been twelfth, had we had a little bit more bad luck. It was a good test for the car, it was very reliable, nothing went wrong with the car at all. The only things that went wrong were our luck and the fact that I had all four wheels over the curb at Eau Rouge and was penalized for it, along with ten others. But that's the rules and maybe I should have kept the car a bit more on the track, but I was pushing to 100%. To me this is the test for Le Mans, this is what it is all about and I think in Le Mans we can step back a bit and just try and drive a consistent race and let it come to us."
Tom Coronel:" I think we've done reasonably well. I'm very satisfied, especially because this is the preparation you want for Le Mans. No problems, a flexible team and a car that doesn't squeak and creak or has any weaknesses. Quite simply: Yes, we are perhaps just short of the absolute top, but the competition is really strong. P7 behind the big boys isn't that bad. We are ready for Le Mans!"
Peter van Erp, Managing Director: "Looking at the mechanical parts of the car we had a good race and had no problems at all. The engine and the gearbox ran really well. It has been a good test for Le Mans and everything looks good. It is a big boost and gives us confidence for Le Mans. The race was messy though. We started in the rain and were behind the safety car soon after the start. After one of our regular stops we got a code read. At the restart we were wrongly stopped on the pit lane exit and lost a lap. The stewards of the meeting could not help us. They confirmed it was a pit marshal's mistake, but there were no legal ways to do something against it. So, bad luck due to the mistake of a pit marshal. Given the circumstances I am not unhappy with the result, a good dress rehearsal for Le Mans."
The Le Mans series can be followed on the internet via www.lemans-series.com. Spyker Squadron provides the latest inside updates on Twitter.
8 May 2010
Spyker Squadron twelfth in qualifying at Spa
Spyker Squadron will start tomorrow’s 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps from twelfth place on the GT2 grid. Despite setting a lap time that was almost 3.5 seconds quicker than last year’s qualifying time it was not enough to secure a top ten position.
In the two free practice sessions that took place on Friday afternoon the team finished twelfth in class. The first session was driven on a damp track, while the second session was on a dry track. Saturday morning the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R was back on a fully dry track for the final free practice session and finished the morning in eleventh place, only half a second away from seventh place.
Tom Coronel started his qualifying run a couple of minutes into the session. On his second flying lap he set a 2:21.586. Moments after Tom had crossed the line the session was red-flagged as one of the Matech Competition Ford GTs crashed at the Fagnes corner. Tom did not stop at his box but went straight to the pit exit and waited for the restart. On his last flying lap after the restart Tom managed to improve his time and posted a 2:21.564.
Tom Coronel: “I wouldn’t have thought that we would set this time, it is really good. We are not far away from the front. But another fifteen hundredth of a second and we would have been four, five places further up the grid. To be honest I’m a bit sick of it. On the other hand, it is very positive, I did not expect to set this time. Before the session we said that if we could do 1:21s we could be right up there. I gave all and don’t really know what else I could have done. I think we have very consistent car, we’ve shown that the differences are small, but the competition level is high and that is why all the cars are so close to each other. Twelfth in 1.2 seconds, look at F1, the gaps are bigger there.”
Peter van Erp: “Last year our qualifying time was 2:25.088, this time we did a 2:21.564. It’s a big improvement, but we’re still only twelfth. Before the weekend I would have been very satisfied with this lap time, but now we’re only twelfth. There are ten cars within 0.7 seconds in front of us, so it is very close. I think Tom managed to get everything out of the car. I am really satisfied about the performance of the car and the driver; it’s just the position that is disappointing. The lap time is something to be proud of.”
The 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps is the second round of the 2010 Le Mans Series and will start on Sunday May 9th 11:30 a.m. CET. The race will be 143 laps or six hours long. Live coverage of the race will be on Eurosport and Eurosport 2. The race can be followed on the internet via www.lemans-series.com. Spyker Squadron provides inside updates during the race on Twitter.
7 May 2010
A lap at Spa with Tom and Peter
Today at Spa Francorchamps the first two free practice sessions were held for the second round of the Le Mans series. Peter Dumbreck and Tom Coronel will drive the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R this weekend. Both drivers talked us through a lap around the cold and wet circuit of Spa.
6 May 2010
Spyker Squadron confident ahead of Spa 1000km
Four weeks after the opening race of the Le Mans Series season in France the series will be racing in the next 1000 KM race at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Spyker Squadron will enter the Belgian round with Peter Dumbreck and Tom Coronel behind the wheel of the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R.
The 1000 KM of Spa will be the last race in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in six weeks time. A lot of teams will use the race as a rehearsal for Le Mans. The factory teams of Audi and Peugeot will enter three cars each and with fifteen former Formula 1 drivers in the race and seventeen GT2 cars entered for this event the competition is stronger than ever before.
A strong performance at the Paul Ricard circuit was not rewarded and the team and drivers are now hoping to take revenge this weekend with a better result. Last season Peter and Tom also raced together in the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R in the 1000 KM of Spa and finished in fifth place in the GT2 category.
Peter Dumbreck: "Despite bad luck in practice we were really strong at Spa in 2009. At Paul Ricard we did really well as the race progressed, but there as well we had some bad luck at the beginning when I was hit by another driver. I really like Spa and fortunately Tom is also very good at Spa. Our hopes are high!"
Peter van Erp: "Shortly after our car returned from France we started working on it. The engineers have checked if we could change the suspension geometry a bit so that we can make better use of the new 2010 specification Michelin tires. The result is that, if it is dry during the free practice sessions, we will start testing a number of updates."
During the autograph session on Sunday morning (9:40 - 10:10) Spyker Squadron will have new autograph cards. These cards are printed by our new partner Reproka Visuele Communicatie and will be available for all Spyker Squadron fans in the paddock.
The 1000 KM of Spa is the second round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season and will start at 11.30 local time on Sunday. Eurosport will have live coverage of the race throughout Europe.
2 May 2010
First season podium for Tom Coronel
Tom Coronel has scored his first podium finish of the season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. In the second race at the street circuit in Marrakesh, the Dutch driver ended up third with his SEAT Leon TDI sporting the colours of McGregor and TW Steel. In the first race, he was classified fifth. “Coming here, I already reckoned that a podium finish would be possible. Often enough, the key to success is being at the right place at the right time, and that showed again today,” said a delighted Coronel.
On Friday, Tom Coronel’s day started with some TV work at the Djemaa-el-Fna-square in the historic city centre of Marrakesh. This huge square is the city’s most important sightseeing point: market stands with a wide variety of products, snake charmers, people with trained monkeys… For the TV filming, Tom Coronel allowed for a cobra to be put around his neck and for a monkey to sit on his head, but the expression on his face left no doubt about the fact that he would rather be in his race car. “Oh well, this is all part of the job, and it is nice to see something of the city when you are in a foreign country. For most drivers, the weekend is just airport, circuit and hotel. For me, it is important to be able to see something of the environment, too,” said Coronel.
Foto: FIA WTCC
The usual WTCC test session, a regular feature on circuits where the WTCC didn’t race in the year before or after the cars have been on a long sea journey, like after the season opener at Curitiba in Brazil, took place on Friday afternoon. Drivers usually refer to the 30 minutes’ test session as ‘Free Practice Zero’. In this test, Tom Coronel was on top of the time sheets for a long time, but in the closing stages, he was outpaced by Hungarian SEAT driver Norbert Michelisz. With his lap time of 1:49.446 minutes, Coronel eventually was classified second, but he wasn’t entirely satisfied. “We have a problem with the brakes. The brake fluid is heating up far too much and as a result, the brakes don’t work properly”, he reported. “Especially at this circuit with its long straights, brake problems are the last thing you want to have.” On Friday evening, Tom Coronel enjoyed Morocco’s culinary delights, together with his girlfriend. “We had a very nice place on the roof terrace of a rather trendy restaurant. Marrakesh is quite fashionable; there are many good restaurants here. And the weather is fantastic. In the evening, it is still nice and warm.”
The mechanics of the SR Sport team, that takes care of the preparation of Coronel’s SEAT Leon TDI, had made some changes on the car after the experience from Friday. In the free practice sessions on Saturday, the brake problems turned out to have been solved. In first free practice on Saturday morning, Tom Coronel was sixth-fastest. In second free practice around noon, he ended up fifth. “I have quite a good feeling. A top ten position in qualifying is certainly within reach,” he said.
Foto: FIA WTCC
Qualifying was a chaotic affair. The sessions had to be red-flagged no less than four times and there was a considerable delay in between, too, as the fixation of the so-called kerbstones in the chicane had come loose and had to be re-installed. In the first heat, Tom Coronel was eighth-fastest, which allowed him to take part in the decisive second heat of 15 minutes for the ten fastest drivers. In that session, he set a lap time of 1:47.044 minutes, which put him seventh on the starting grid. “It wasn’t perfect, because I still lost too much time, especially in the second chicane, but at least I am not very far off,” he said. Still, he wanted a different set-up of the suspension for race day. “Hopefully, that will make the car a little bit more stable on the track.”
The changes turned out to have the desired effect, because in warm-up on Sunday morning, Coronel set the fastest lap time without any problems, 0.9 seconds faster than his qualifying lap. “The car is feeling much better now,” he said. For Coronel, the first race went quite well as he crossed the finish line in fifth. The race ended behind the safety car after it took very long to recover a car that was stuck on the track. “That was a pity, because I saw that Fredy Barth, who was right in front of me, had all kinds of problems keeping his car on the track, and I had more or less expected to get him”, said Coronel after the race. “But this result is quite good, too, especially as I can now start fourth in the second race.”
Foto: FIA WTCC
At the start of the second race, Hungarian Michelisz got stuck right in front of Coronel, but the latter managed to steer clear of Michelisz’ SEAT and moved up into third place. A little bit further down the field, it went wrong as several cars collided. That caused the first safety car phase of the race, which lasted five laps. Racing resumed on lap six, but after only half a lap, it was mayhem again as two other drivers collided. That caused the second safety car period and once the track was clear again, there was only one lap remaining. Coronel crossed the finish line in third place as the best SEAT driver. “Remaining concentrated during the long safety car interventions was difficult, but I am pleased with this result,” he said. “My understanding of the car is getting better and better, which makes me optimistic for the races to come.”
11 April 2010
Spyker Squadron eighth in openingrace LMS season
Spyker Squadron had mixed feelings finishing the opening round of the Le Mans Series in eighth place. After Peter Dumbreck was hit by another GT2 car in the first hour of the race the team had to work hard to get the car back in the race. Chances of a decent finish were gone by then. In the remaining hours of the race the car improved and all three drivers set faster lap times.
During the first few laps of the race Peter lost a few places but the Scot started coming back soon. His efforts came to nothing when he was hit from behind by Dominik Farnbacher's Ferrari 45 minutes into the race. With a damaged left rear suspension Peter returned to the pit and the car was pushed into the pit box. The Spyker Squadron mechanics rushed to work and fixed the problem in fifteen minutes. With Tom Coronel behind the wheel the number 85 car returned to the track in last place in the GT2 category.
Despite the large gap to the rest of the GT2 field the team showed that there is enough potential in the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R. Tom, Jeroen and Peter drove lap times equal to the top five in the race. A stop-and-go for not respecting the track limits and a pit stop to replace a damaged front splitter and wheel nut caused even more delays, but these setbacks did not prevent the drivers from getting into the right rhythm and setting faster lap times.
After the last pit stop, to check the car after bodywork damage caused some smoke, and a few drops of rain Tom went out again and posted the fastest race lap for Spyker Squadron on the last lap. With this lap he again demonstrated that a top finish had been possible.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director: "I think we have driven a very good race. Unbelievable. The drivers got everything possible out of the car, especially considering the bad luck we had. The Farnbacher Ferrari hit us from behind. The rear wheel suspension was crooked and we had to change it. Later in the race we had to make a stop to replace the front splitter and to solve a problem with a wheel nut. We lost 17 laps due to these problems, so a top four position was very much possible. The last four hours of the race we had one of the fastest cars on the track. We really have a nice set of drivers and with some further development and testing I predict that we could win races."
"Towards the end of the race we had to make one more stop. The crash Peter had early in the race had torn the bodywork and during the race a fender came loose and made contact with the wheel. All of a sudden Tom saw white smoke coming from his car and thought he had an engine problem, fortunately the piece of bodywork flew off on the straight. To be certain we brought him and for a quick check, but we could send him out again almost immediately and after that he even set the fastest lap. It's good to hear that the drivers are confident in the car. Something we saw last year as well; the car is getting better during the race. That is something we have to learn from, as we should get our advantage at the start of the race. All in all we had a good race, but had our share of bad luck. Everyone will have some during the season, if we have had ours now it will be fine. Yet we've learned again and I am happy to be part of such a competitive series."
Tom Coronel: "I think we have shown that the car is capable of taking a top five position and I would not be lying if I said we could have sprayed some champagne if we had stayed out of trouble. There is much potential left in this car, I realized that the car was getting better and better. For us drivers it was easy to notice that when there is a little bit more grip we can set top five lap times, which means you should be able to finish inside the top five. I really enjoyed myself this afternoon. After the problems we had, which caused a big delay, we were fortunate enough to get the best out of it and show were really are. I think it is important to measure what you know that you can do and that is what we did fortunately. I know where we are now and I think we could well surprise at some point this year."
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "I'm actually quite pleased. We were really on the pace. It's just unfortunate that we had this collision early in the race and we lost time there. The car went very well, it was getting better and better and at the end we were really competitive. We have to work hard, as everyone else will do as well. But things area really looking good for the rest of the year."
Peter Dumbreck: "I think considering we had no testing prior to this and not even turned the wheel of the car before this weekend it is all together quite encouraging. It's very unfortunate I had contact with Farnbacher and his Ferrari. I still maintain that he hit me and I didn't hit him. From my point of view I didn't really do anything wrong. Without this problem we certainly could have been in the top five without any trouble at all. The pace of the car in the last few stints was really good. So as the track rubbered in the car improved, as we saw last year. It is encouraging, we need to do some more work and think about how to get the front end working more on a track that is a little bit green, but apart from that the car ran well and even the very last lap Tommy did the fastest lap. I'm looking forward to working together with Tom and Jeroen for the rest of the season."
For more Spyker Squadron info do not forget to drop by the VIMEO and TWITTER pages for the latest updates.
10 April 2010
Spyker Squadron ninth quickest in Paul Ricard qualifying
Spyker Squadron will start the opening race of the Le Mans Series season from ninth in the GT2 class. Even though several other GT2 drivers improved Jeroen Bleekemolen's time the Dutch driver was satisfied with the result and the progress made by the team during the weekend.
The Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R completed its first laps in the 2010 configuration on Friday during the first free practice session of the season. The team used the entire first session to shake down the car and then started to work on the set-up of the car for the weekend a few hours later in the second free practice session. The team ended the first day in seventh place. During the final free practice session on Sunday morning the car suffered from understeer. After some changes were made the car finished the session in ninth place.
In qualifying Jeroen was the first of thirteen GT2 drivers to start his qualifying run. With a car that handled better than it did in the free practice session he was able to improve his lap time on every lap and on his fourth and final lap he posted a 1:59.117. In the end several other teams were quicker than Bleekemolen's time and when the checkered flag was shown after 20 minutes Jeroen was ninth in class.
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "I think we can be satisfied. The gap to the front isn't that big and we beat some strong drivers. This morning we had a lot of understeer, but the car is now much better and that is really important. The car remains consistent now, so it looks much better now for tomorrow's race."
Peter van Erp, Managing Director: "The car has been completely stripped during the winter break and the first session was therefore used as a shake down. In the second session we started to work on the set-up and we did quite well. It was not easy to find the right balance on the new Michelins, but in the end we were seventh fastest on new tires. This morning things didn't go as well as yesterday. We struggled with understeer during the entire session. We changed some bits for qualifying and we should be satisfied with ninth place, considering the gap to the Ferrari on pole and the cars that are around us. As there are many competitive teams and drivers, we should realistically be able to finish sixth or seventh tomorrow, if we stay out of trouble."
The 8 Hours of Le Castellet is the opening round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season and will start at 11 a.m. local time tomorrow. Peter Dumbreck will take the start for Spyker Squadron. Eurosport will have live coverage of much of the race.
For more Spyker Squadron info do not forget to drop by the VIMEO and TWITTER pages for the latest updates.
9 April 2010
Tom Coronel in renewed Spyker for Le Mans Series opener
Spyker Squadron will be back in the Le Mans Series for the sixth year in succession. The Dutch team will carry a brand new livery for the 2010 season, replacing the yellow and blue from recent years. Spyker will again compete in all five rounds of the Le Mans Series championship and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
In the Le Mans Series and at Le Mans Spyker Squadron will run in the black and red colors of new team partner Convers Group. Dutch watchmaker TW Steel and Arai Helmets have also joined Spyker Squadron as team suppliers for the 2010 season.
At the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit the number 85 Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R will run in its new configuration for the first time. Conform technical regulations the engine capacity has been increased to 4.0 litres and the weight of the car is now 1245 kg. The car will also race on 2” wider rear wheels and in combination with the weight a larger air restrictor has been placed.
In France Tom Coronel will join Peter Dumbreck and Jeroen Bleekemolen. The cancellation of the FIA WTCC race in Mexico makes it possible for Spyker Squadron to run all three drivers in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The length of the race makes it an ideal rehearsal for the classic event in June.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: "We will use the Friday sessions to get to grips with the new configuration of the car. We worked on the updates during the winter and that is why we did not take part in the official test session in March. I am happy to have all three drivers at Paul Ricard. This race gives us the opportunity to run them together before going to Le Mans and fine-tune the cooperation between them."
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "I am looking forward to the weekend. It is not easy to say where we stand at the moment because we didn't test, but the car really did well at the end of last season. The competition is extremely strong in GT2, so it won't be easy. I think we have a strong team though; drivers and the people working in the team. We will need a consistent performance and hopefully this will get us a good result in this long race."
Tom Coronel: "The competition has grown stronger, but we've never been afraid of competition. We have three strong drivers this year. Of course there are other teams with strong line-ups as well, but I think Spyker has one of the best line-ups in Europe at the moment. We will be the underdog again this year. Between the Feraris, Porsches and all the factory drivers our small Spyker brand is something exclusive and special. Let's make it a special season again!"
The first practice session of the Le Mans Series 8 Heures Du Castellet weekend is scheduled for Friday afternoon. The eight hour long race will start at 11:00 on Sunday morning. Eurosport will have live coverage of parts of the race in Europe.
For more Spyker Squadron info do not forget to drop by the VIMEO and TWITTER pages for the latest updates.
7 March 2010
Tom Coronel shows SEAT potential
Eighth place and a pole position. That was the result for Tom Coronel in the first race weekend of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the circuit in Curitiba, Brazil, where he drove the SEAT Leon TDI for the first time. Unfortunately, the Dutchman was not able to benefit from his pole position in the second race. He was hit on the opening lap and had to retire with a broken left rear wheel. Of course, Coronel was disappointed by his early retirement. “A podium finish was within reach.” Nevertheless, a positive feeling prevails as he travels back home from Brazil. “The SEAT Leon TDI has plenty of potential, that much has become clear today once again.”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
“I always like being in Curitiba”, says Tom Coronel. “It is nice to see everybody again after the winter break and to hear what everybody has been up to in the past couple of months. On top of that, the atmosphere in Curitiba is good and usually, the weather is nice there, although we had our fair share of rain this time round.” A typical thing for Brazil is also the culinary culture in the so-called ‘churrascarias’, the steakhouses where the finest meat is being grilled in all kinds of varieties. “Too bad that the ‘Grimpa’ restaurant, which has become our favourite steakhouse in Curitiba over the years, was closed for refurbishment this year”, says Coronel. “But fortunately, we have found a good alternative in ‘Tropilha Grill’. The atmosphere wasn’t as nice as ‘Grimpa’, but the meat tasted very well there, too. The same went for the Japanese restaurant where we went for dinner on Saturday, like in previous years. Such things are also important when you are in another part of the world.” And indeed, the odd caipirinha was downed as well.
But of course, the emphasis was on racing during the season-opening WTCC event. “Beforehand, I was wondering how the team would be going about to handle seven cars, but Joan Orus had it all perfectly organised and the whole system is running smoothly”, Coronel found out. For him, the weekend started off with the autograph session in the Curitiba city centre on Thursday, followed by an official reception by the mayor of the city. “In between, there were plenty of things to be organised at the circuit: stickers had to be cut to the right size and affixed to the car in the familiar colours of McGregor and TW Steel, pictures had to be taken, there were interview requests and the settings of the steering wheel, the seat and the pedals had to be adjusted to my preferences. The usual things before the first race of the season.”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
On-track action started on Friday. Coronel ended up eighth in the 30 minutes’ test session. “This is a really nice toy”, he smiled afterwards. “I didn’t use any new tyres, but I am enjoying driving the car more and more.” Two free practice sessions followed on Saturday, in which Coronel was classified tenth and seventh respectively. “The feeling is getting better and better”, he reported. “This time, I did go out with new tyres. I have to get used to the different characteristics of the diesel compared to the petrol car. With this car, you have to make maximum use of the superior torque while accelerating out of the corners and that means that you have to turn in more carefully. That is a matter of gaining experience.”
In qualifying, the so-called ‘slipstreaming’ with team-mates driving behind each other to help achieve a quicker lap time, played its usual important role. “Before the session, we had determined by lot who would be the first to drive in front”, said Coronel. “I was already happy when I pulled the highest number, but then the others told me that that meant I would be the first one to be pulled and that I then had to help the others. Like that, I didn’t have any new tyres left at the end of the session when lap times were improving.” Eventually, Coronel still only just ended up tenth in the first heat which allowed him to take part in the second session for the ten fastest drivers. In the second heat, he qualified ninth. “I am slightly disappointed, because it also could have been fifth, sixth or seventh. But on the other hand, I know what I have done to help the others and once I will get something back in return. Now, I am simply able to be in the top ten all by myself and that is a very good thing already, because then you are in contention for a good result.”
In the first race, that was started from behind the safety-car as the track was soaked after a rain shower, Coronel showed clever driving. He ran as high as sixth for a while, but eventually made it home in eighth place, scoring his first four world championship points of the season. “I saw Gené coming up behind me very quickly and I let him past, so he could battle it out with the BMWs. I certainly didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks and I knew that finishing eighth would allow me to start from pole-position for the second race.” About the conditions, Coronel said: “After the rain shower, I had to drive very cautiously in the early stages, because I saw many cars going off, especially at the first corner. As the race continued, the racing line dried out and I tried to save my tyres.”
In the second race, Coronel started from pole, but the race was virtually over for him after the opening lap, because he was hit on the left rear wheel by Chevrolet driver Rob Huff. That wheel broke off and Coronel went straight on into the gravel trap. He still managed to make it back into the pits where the team attempted to repair the damage, but after one more lap, it became clear that there was no point in trying to continue. Thus, Coronel had to retire. “Too bad as I really could have made it onto the podium”, he said. “But the potential is clear and I am gaining more and more experience. So I am looking forward to the next race at Marrakesh!”
6 March 2010
Tom Coronel ninth in Curitiba qualifying
Tom Coronel will start the first race of the new season in the FIA WTCC from ninth place. The SEAT driver had hoped for a better result in qualifying on his first Leon TDI outting, but was satisfied with the final outcome. "I always aim for at least the top 8, especially in the races. We are just behind that so it is not too bad with the given circumstances", Coronel said.
Picture: Frits van Eldik
"We made a draw about the slipstream order. For me it was the least favourable position. I was the first to be towed and then I had to do the others. That is a small disadvantage as the fastest laps are always set towards the end of the session. This teamplay is very different from the years before when I always had to find somebody who was on a quick lap to catch on. But Ok the season has just started, so I guess I will be more fortunate in the races to come", Tom Coronel said.
Picture: FIA WTCC
Besides the unfavourable draw Coronel also took his own blame. "I made two small mistakes in qualifying. In a competitive field like this it always cost you dear. I still lack the experience in the SEAT Leon TDI to go down to the bottom and get the maximum out of the car. In comparison to the petrol engined Leon that I drove for the past couple of years the TDI is heavier, especially in the front. That creates a totally different balance which again results in you different tyrewear, brakewear and things like that. Basically it is a completely different car to drive, despite that it stil looks the same from the outside. Anyhow I am happy to have it. With the SEAT Leon TDI it all goes a bit easier. We now have better chances to fight for a top 8 position on our own power, in stead of waiting for an opportunity when others drop out", Coronel concludes.
5 March 2010
Race preview FIA WTCC Curitiba
The 2010 season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) starts this weekend. As usual, the Brazilian city of Curitiba is the venue for the two races at the season opener. Here, Tom Coronel will have its first competitive outing with the SEAT Leon TDI, the diesel-powered touring car that won the title in the past two years. “I already did a couple of laps with a test car at Valencia a fortnight ago, but now, it is for real,” says Coronel, who is really looking forward to the season opener. “I always like Curitiba. The circuit suits me, the atmosphere is good and finally, the season gets underway again.”
Picture: Frits van Eldik
People who happened to be walking down the Ruas das Flores, one of the busy shopping streets in the city centre of Curitiba, on Thursday morning were quite surprised to find a SEAT Leon TDI race car sporting the colours of McGregor and TW Steel, and in the pedestrian zone nonetheless! Indeed, Tom Coronel’s new race car was present during the official autograph session in the city centre in front of the local main office of the bank that is sponsoring this weekend’s race. The SEAT turned out to be a real crowd-puller and Tom Coronel had to sign countless autographs. “People are really excited about the race,” he noticed. “On top of that, access is free when people donate at least two kilograms of food which will be distributed to people in need afterwards. A very nice initiative that already attracted a good crowd here in previous years.”
In the afternoon, there was an official reception for the WTCC drivers at the elegant Awake Concept Club, where the drivers were welcomed by Beto Richa, the mayor of the city of Curitiba. On Friday, engines will be started for the first time this season. In a test session, teams and drivers can check the handling of the cars after the transport by ship or by airplane. On Saturday, there will be two free practice sessions and qualifying, while the two races will be run on Sunday at 15.35 and 16.50 local time (19.35 and 20.50 CET). The races will be broadcast live on Eurosport.
Picture: Frits van Eldik
4 March 2010
First pictures SEAT Leon TDI of Tom Coronel from Curitiba
From Curitiba we received the first pictures of the SEAT Leon TDI of Tom Coronel. As the cars had already been shipped to Brazil some weeks ago, the stickering work still had to be done. After all most of the contracts had been finalized at the very last moment. You can see the final result of Tom's 2010 challenger here.
Friday evening at 19:00 CET Tom will be in action for the first time this weekend at Curitiba when he will drive the extra 30 minute test session. The official program will start on Saturday with free practise and qualifying.
2 March 2010
Tom Coronel with Spyker in Le Mans and LMS races
Tom Coronel will, besides his activities in the FIA WTCC for SEAT, also race in the Le Mans series and the Le Mans 24 hour race. Just like last year he will be part of the Spyker Squadron, the official works team of Spyker led by Peter van Erp. Coronel will join up with Peter Dumbreck from Scotland. Third driver of the team is Jeroen Bleekemolen. As Dumbreck and Coronel, Bleekemolen is an experienced Spyker driver.
Following last year’s fifth place in the Le Mans-GT2 category, Spyker Squadron, the factory race team of Spyker Cars, has received an invitation from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 12 and 13 June 2010.
In addition to competing in one of the most gruelling and famous races on the international motorsports calendar, the Dutch team, with Moscow based Convers Group as its principal sponsor, will also campaign in the 2010 Le Mans Series championship (LMS). The team will look to build on its most successful campaign in 2009, where it achieved second places at the Nürburgring and Silverstone rounds and finished third in the overall constructor standings.
For 2010, the five-round LMS replaces visits to Spain and Germany in favour of an 8 hour opening round at one of Europe’s most beautiful tracks, Paul Ricard in France, and a 1000 km race at the Hungaroring.
Scotsman Peter Dumbreck will drive the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R in all rounds of the Le Mans Series. At Spa, the Hungaroring and Silverstone he will be partnered by Dutchman Tom Coronel. Another Dutchman, Jeroen Bleekemolen will accompany Peter in the LMS opening round at Paul Ricard and in Portugal as these races clash with the FIA WTCC program of Coronel. The trio will share the car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Peter van Erp, Managing Director of Spyker Squadron explains: “We have decided to race with a familiar driver line-up for both the Le Mans Series races and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After an impressive 2009 season, we anticipate extreme competition this year and inviting Tom, Jeroen and Peter to drive the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R brings a huge advantage as they are very familiar with the Series, team and the car.
“At the same time we know exactly what our drivers are capable of as a trio of top-flight, highly-regarded racers. Peter Dumbreck is competing in the FIA GT1 world-championship schedule, Jeroen Bleekemolen in both the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the Porsche Super Cup, and Tom Coronel in the WTCC. We will undoubtedly benefit from them competing in other world class series.”
Peter continues: “We are planning to use the same strategy as at the last two Le Mans Series races last season. We are not seeking a steady pace just to finish races, as we did in our first few years of competition, but instead to give 100% in every race to achieve podium finishes. Of course we will be able to improve our pace this year, and despite BMW, Jaguar and Corvette joining us in the field of Aston Martins, Porsches and Ferraris in the GT2 class, our aim is to emulate last year’s results.”
Victor R. Muller, CEO Spyker Cars, said: ”With the Saab acquisition under our belt we return to the race arena in 2010, both at Le Mans as well as in the LMS. For Spyker, racing is a pivotal element of our strategy, which we pursue with vigour. We will endeavour to improve on the excellent results of Peter van Erp and his team and strive for a podium place at Le Mans after our fifth-in-class finish last year. Also in the LMS we did well last year. This year the competition is more intense than ever before and we will fight to improve upon last year’s performance. I wish the team and drivers a very good race season.”
Tom Coronel said: “We performed really well in the last two Le Mans Series races of last year and I am looking forward to an even more competitive season. I know my team mates very well; they have a lot of Le Mans experience and know how the team works. Spyker could not ask for a better team to meet the increased competition in GT2.”
Peter Dumbreck said: “It is great to be part of the Spyker family again. Spyker Squadron made big steps in 2009 finishing fifth at Le Mans and twice on the podium in the Le Mans Series. This season will most certainly be the most competitive season in the history of the Le Mans Series and it will be exciting to be part of the Spyker team aiming to upset the big manufacturers.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen said: "This is my third season with Spyker Squadron and I am looking forward to driving in GT2 again this year in what will surely be an incredibly exciting season. After finishing fifth at Le Mans with the team last year I think we’re all striving to exceed that great result. It will be especially tough as other manufacturers such as BMW and Corvette have joined and raised the bar in the GT2 class, which looks like it will be the most competitive at Le Mans."
Key Dates in 2010 for Spyker Squadron
April 11, LMS R1 8 hours of Le Castellet, Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France
May 9, LMS R2 1000 km of Spa, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
June 12-13, Le Mans 24 Hours, Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France
July 17, LMS R3 1000 km of the Algarve, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal
August 21, LMS R4 1000 km of the Hungaroring, Hungaroring, Hungary
September 12, LMS R5 Autosport 1000 km of Silverstone, Silverstone, United Kingdom
25 February 2010
Event Station proud to sponsor Tom Coronel in the FIA WTCC
"We are extremely proud to announce our recently agreed sponsoring contract with Tom Coronel", Event Station owner John den Hollander states. The Dutchman is in charge of the leading event agency in Mijdrecht in the Netherlands. Tom says: "I am proud an honoured that this company wants to associate its name with me and the SEAT WTCC project. This year will be a year with new opportunities due to the SEAT Leon TDI that we will have at our disposal. It will be extra special and for the guests of John that will come to the races. They will get a true WTCC experience where we can fight for podium places during the whole season. Believe me I know what I am talking about. That makes the link with Event Station so special".
Event Station organises high level events in the Netherlands and abroad. In order to display the true experience they sell, Event Station was looking for a way to show their strenths to potential customers. The WTCC is a worldwide experience and the highest level in touring car racing. With a top line driver like Tom Coronel the whole package is there: Race experience, business experience and a winning potential. "For several years I have been supporting Tom as a race fan, now he goes all over the world with his new SEAT Leon TDI as a supporter of our company. It was a great opportunity to join forces with Tom as we have a lot in common", John den Hollander says. After all the motto of Event Station is:
”Experience at the highest level and no victory without battle!”
22 February 2010
Video report SEAT diesel test Valencia
Recently at Valencia Tom Coronel tested the SEAT Leon TDI that he will use in this year's FIA WTCC. Ard van den Eijnde, PR Manager of SEAT Nederland, joined him and made the following video impression.
Tom Coronel will race for the SR-Sport team this year, a team that is derived from the SUNRED team, added with expertise from SEAT Sport. As the team now receives support from the factory it is now called a semi works team, instead of a private effort like in previous years. During the test Tom had to share the testcar of the team with his teammates Gabriele Tarquini, Tiago Monteiro, Jordi Gene and Michel Nykjaer. The actual race cars are already on their way to Brazil, where we will see them in action in two weeks time for the first race of the new season.
For Tom it was not his first taste of diesel power in a race car. The Dutchman recently raced a BMW 320d in the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship and had some outings in the Dutch SEAT Cupra cup with a SEAT Ibiza TDI.
20 February 2010
Tom Coronel tests SEAT diesel at Valencia
There is nothing glamorous about a race track in winter. No spectators, no atmosphere. When weather conditions are changeable on top of that, things aren't better at all, to say the least. Currently, Formula 1 teams are affected by this during their test sessions at Jerez, and Tom Coronel also had to cope with it at the Circuit de la Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo. At the circuit in Cheste near Valencia, the Dutch driver completed a total of 48 laps with the SEAT Leon TDI, which he will be racing in this year's FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). The first encounter makes him optimistic.
In a fortnight, on March 7th, the 2010 WTCC season will get underway, as usual at Curitiba in Brazil. The test in Valencia, that also saw the factory teams from BMW and Chevrolet on the track next to Coronel's team SR-SPORT with the SEAT Leon TDI cars, was the final preparation before the start of the season. The race cars are already on their way to Brazil, so test cars were used at Valencia. For Tom Coronel, this was his first opportunity to familiarize himself with the SEAT Leon TDI that was new to him. “Of course, such a test costs a bit of money, but it still made sense for me to do it, otherwise you arrive at Curitiba and you are being thrown in at the deep end”, Coronel said. He shared the SEAT Leon TDI that was still used as SEAT Sport's test car last year with Danish driver Michel Nykjaer and Italian Gabriele Tarquini, the reigning world champion. Tarquini, Portuguese ex-Formula 1 driver Tiago Monteiro and Spaniard Jordi Gené will be Coronel's team-mates at SR-SPORT while Nykjaer has been entered for the Independents' Trophy with a SEAT Leon TDI under the SUNRED banner.
Anyone who has watched a diesel-powered car in action at a race track knows that one thing is particularly striking: the low noise level. Inside the car, the experience is identical, as Tom Coronel reports: “It doesn't seem fast at all, especially as the car is producing so little noise compared to race cars with petrol engines. With a diesel engine, you change gear at around 4,000 rpm, so much earlier. But still, I pretty soon did a lap time of 1.44.4 minutes, the time that put Tarquini on pole for last year's race at Valencia. So, the lap times are good, and that is what makes you win races!”
Coronel continues: “The SEAT with a diesel engine is 30 kg heavier than the petrol engined one I raced in previous years. You really notice that in the balance of the car. Another striking element is the huge amount of torque, especially while accelerating out of the corners. It is like being pushed in the back all the time.” After the successful run at Valencia, Coronel is looking forward to the upcoming season. He will be racing with starting number 2, his SEAT Leon TDI sporting the dark-blue livery of his sponsors McGregor and TW Steel. The yellow colour elements refer to SEAT, as Dutch SEAT importer Pon Car is also backing Coronel's WTCC campaign.
5 February 2010
Tom Coronel gets championship winning SEAT Leon TDI for WTCC
When the new 2010 season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship kicks off at Curitiba (Brazil) on March 7, Tom Coronel will be present once again. As in the past five years Coronel will drive a SEAT, but for this year the reigning champion of the Yokohama Independents Trophy gets a nice promotion. For the first time the 37 year old Dutchman will have a SEAT Leon TDI at his disposal, the car with which SEAT has won both drivers and manufacturers championships for the last two years. "I always said that I wanted to have a diesel car. At last I managed to get one. With this car we can fight for podium places on a regular basis", Tom Coronel said enthusiastically. The SEAT Leon TDI will be entered by the Spanish SUNRED Engineering team that has prepared the SEAT Leon for Tom Coronel and SEAT Team Holland for the last two years.
"It is fantastic to have the same car that won the World Championship. This is the chance I was waiting for, it can't be better, can it?" Tom Coronel is obviously optimistic on the eve of his sixth year in the top class of touring car racing. He as all good reasons for it, after all since its debut at Anderstorp in 2007 no less than 21 out of the 58 races were won by a SEAT Leon TDI. In 2008 Frenchman Yvan Muller won the World Championship, while Italian Gabriele Tarquini took the title in 2009, both drove a SEAT Leon TDI and in both years SEAT took the manufacturers title.
It is not just the TDI car that causes the optimism for Coronel, also the continuation with SUNRED is a positive note for the Dutchman. "Over the last two years we have developed a great relationship and I really feel at home here. Of course the team has close ties with SEAT Sport and the workshop is just around the corner. This makes a collaboration more efficient." Despite that SEAT will not have an official works team in the FIA WTCC, the Sports department led by Jaime Puig promised full support to the teams that enter a SEAT in the WTCC.
Tom Coronel is supported in his WTCC campaign by his loyal partners McGregor and TW Steel. Also Dutch SEAT importer Pon Car will support Tom Coronel and his SEAT Leon TDI in the FIA WTCC. "With this package I have a better chance than ever to score. I can't wait for the season to start", Coronel said. This year the championship will be held over 12 weekends with 2 races each. A new event to the calendar is the race at Zolder on 20 June. While the track of Portimão takes over from the Porto street circuit on 4 July.
2010 FIA WTCC KALENDER
7 March: Curitiba, Brazil
11 April: Puebla, Mexico
2 May: Marrakech, Morocco
23 May: Monza, Italy
20 June: Zolder, Belgium
4 July: Portimão, Portugal
18 July: Brands Hatch, Great Britain
1 August: Brno, Czech Republic
5 September: Oschersleben, Germany
19 September: Valencia, Spain
31 October: Okayama, Japan
21 November: Macau, China