On behalf of Tom Coronel and the Fanclub we wish everybody a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2005. Soon we hope to unveil more about Tom Coronel's racing plans for 2005.
17 December 2004: Tom Coronel signs his books at Autopassion
Tomorrow Tom Coronel will be present at Autopassion in Haarlem to promote his book "Autocoureur in 30 stappen". Visitors can also race against Tom in a Playstation 2 racesimulator. If you manage to beat him some great gifts can be taken home. Signed by Tommy of course.
You can find Autopassion at Koudenhorn 46 in Haarlem, phone: 023-5324329 and of course on www.autopassion.nl.
25 November 2004: Tom Coronel launches book
Today at the exhibition Speed & Design in Utrecht the press launch of the book"Autocoureur in 30 stappen" (Racing driver in 30 steps) will take place. Together with Rob Engeringh and Formula 1 magazine Tom collected a great number of tips en tricks. in order to help the starting racing driver. The book features several practical situations from Tom's own racing career. A must for the real racing fan.
The book can be purchased for €16,95 in all regular bookshops and the Coronel Kartcenters in Huizen and Enschede. Of course the book can also be bought at Speed & Design on the Coronel stand in Hall 1.
21 November 2004: Tom Coronel fourth at Macau with Carly Motors BMW
After winning the privateers battle in the FIA European Touringcar Championship (ETCC) this year both Tom Coronel and Carly Motors BMW were focussed on the Guia Touringcar race at Macau. Winning in this prestigious race weekend has been a target for Tom Coronel ever since he came here from his Formula 3 days. Tom competed twice in the Guia Touringcar race before, but on both occasions he failed to finish. Therefore taking the chequered flag was his main goal. Coronel was successful in his mission and even nearly made it to the podium that was dominated by factory backed teams from BMW and Seat. Fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller took the win while Andy Priaulx took second in his BMW and Rickard Rydell finished in third for Seat. Dutchman Tom Coronel finished in fourth place and was best of the privateers. Coronel's teammate was no less than three times Macau winner Duncan Huisman for this occasion. Huisman would have no chance to add another victory to his record tally as he suffered from several problems.
The tight and twisty streetcourse of Macau is demanding for man and machine. "The track is very tight on some places and the guardrails equal the edge of the track. There are no run-off areas, kerbstones or gravel traps. Each error you make will cost you dear. Duncan can tell you all about it. I was close behind him trying to catch a slipstream when he went off. Immediately the session was stopped, which also meant that I could not finish my fast lap. After that my tyres had had their best. Especially for Macau we changed to Yokohama tyres in an effort to make a difference to the factory outfits that were all using Michelins. We did some useful tests at Zandvoort which paid off as I was the fastest Yokohama runner with my fifth place in qualifying", Tom Coronel explains.
"The result of the first of the two races is actually just a decider for the gridpositions of race two. So no reverse grids to calculate on. I decided not to take too many risks. I was fighting Gene in the Seat and it was hard to pass him. The choice was simple. Defend my fifth place and make it to the finish. Right after the start of the second race I moved up to fourth. Jordi Gene in the factory Seat was now behind me. I was now not only defending my position, but also knocking on the door of his teammate Rickard Rydell. It was a very close battle, but in the end my tyres started to loose grip so I had to let him go. Fourth place was all we could get today", Tom Coronel concludes.
20 October 2004: Battle of the twins undecided
The battle of the Coronel twins remains undecided. Both Tim and Tom Coronel failed to finish during the Finale Races at Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Alfa 147 GTA challenge. Tom started off the weekend well by putting his car on the front row of the grid. Twin brother Tim had to be satisfied with fifth place. At the start of the race both Coronels came of the line well. Tom immediately involved himself with the battle for the lead. Unfortunately Tom had to give up already on his second lap. A loose drive shaft made a premature end to his race. Twin brother did not have any more luck. He was in third place for much of the race but in the final stages Tim went of in the Vodafone corner.
Despite the Coronel twins not finishing it still was a successful weekend for Tempo Team racing. Rory Bertram won the race which brought him up to second place in the championship. Reigning champion Tim Coronel finished fourth in this year's standings.
14 October 2004: Tom Coronel goes Alfa
Tom Coronel will drive an Alfa Romeo 147 this weekend during the Finale Races at Circuit Park Zandvoort. After fighting the Alfa's all season in the ETCC Coronel will join the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA challenge for Tempo Team Racing. Tom will partner his twin brother and reigning Alfa champion Tim. For the first time the Coronel twins will race each other in equal cars. The two competed in the same championship before in 2000 when they entered the Dutch Touringcar Championship. At that time however Tom was part of the dominating BMW dealerteam while Tim was struggling with the troublesome Lexus.
8 October 2004: Dubai No, Macau Yes
The Carly Motors team chose to miss today's final round of the European Touringcar Championship. Instead the Dutch BMW squad decided to focus their efforts on the prestigious Guia race at Macau on 21 November. The decision of Carly Motors seems to be well considered. "We already won the privateers title last time out at Oschersleben. We had to decide on which race we could focus our efforts. With support from Watsons Water we are able to make the trip to Macau. I am very much looking forward to this as I still have something to set straight there. Twice I dropped out of the race while leading, so now I want to finish the job. However things will not be easy as My teammate will be Duncan Huisman and Schnitzer will also be there with the Müllers", Tom explains. Carly Motors has a firm reputation at Macau. With Duncan Huisman the team won the last three races while brother Patrick won the race in 2000 for Carly Motors.
Meanwhile the final ETCC races were held at Dubai. Gabriele Tarquini won both races. However the Italian was already out of the equation for the title which would go between Andy Priaulx and the Müllers. Priaulx took pole and drove to a solid second place finish. In the second race he did the same and managed to stay out of trouble. Jorg Müller finished in a lowly 12th place in the first race and took 6th in the second. Dirk Müller, the outright favourite was punted off in the first race and started from the back in the second race. Despite moving up to fifth he came one point short of clinching the title. Both Priaulx and Dirk Müller finished equal on 111 points, however as Priaulx has two vicories more than the german he is the ETCC champion 2004
8 October 2004: Dutch twins go Dutch
Next Sunday there will be a new episode of AutoXperience, the motoring TV magazine presented by Tom and Tim Coronel. This week the Coronel twins will pay attention to the Citroen C2, the Nissan Primera and the Dutch Spyker C8 sportscar. Both the roadgoing C8 and the Le Mans racer will be shown. AutoXperience will be broadcasted next Sunday at 16:55 on SBS6. Tuesday night on 0:55 the program will be repeated, also on SBS6.
24 September 2004: Tom Coronel clinches Michelin Independents Trophy 2004
Only hours after finishing second in the Autocar Sideways challenge Tom Coronel had to hurry to get down from Brands Hatch to France to visit the Paris Motorshow. Of course the latest news and premieres will be shown in the new motoring program AutoXperience. For those of you who missed the first show, some of the items can be seen on www.autoxperience.tv.
The next episode of AutoXperience will be broadcasted next Sunday at 16:55 on SBS6, right after the Grand Prix of China.
The new weekly motoring progam will be presented by Tom and Tim Coronel. The Coronel twins have their own way of testing and describing the cars according to the so called 'Coronel factors'. The program will be repeated each Tuesday around midnight on SBS6.
24 September 2004: Dutch Drifters on tour
After the recent successes in the Autovisie Driftchallenge the Dutch Drifters went international. A delegation of four sideways specialists, called Olaf Comijs, Erik Weijers, Jaap van Lagen and Tom Coronel went down to the English track of Brands Hatch. The Car magazine Autocar organised a driftchallenge. Of course the Dutch guys were happy to take the competition to the foreign opposition. The Dutch drifters celebrated a well deserved victory as Jaap van Lagen won the challenge, followed by Tom Coronel.
19 September 2004: Tom Coronel clinches Michelin Independents Trophy 2004
In the penultimate round of the FIA European Touring Car Championship 2004 Dutch driver Tom Coronel clinched the Michelin Independents Trophy 2004. By winning the first of the two races at Oscherleben in de privateer category Coronel was already assured of the title and as a bonus he also won the second race to confirm his domination in this year's battle of the privateers. Tom Coronel succeeds fellow Dutchman Duncan Huisman as winner of the Independents Trophy and for Carly Motors it means the second consecutive privateers title.
foto: FIA ETCC
foto: FIA ETCC
For both Tom Coronel and the Carly Motors team their goal for this season have been reached. The Michelin Independents Trophy 2004 has been clinched. Besides that BMW motorsports clinched the overall manufacturers championship. The drivers title will be decided at the final championship round in Dubai and will go between Andy Priaulx, Jorg and Dirk Müller, all BMW drivers. At the moment is not clear whether the the Carly Motors team will make the trip to the Middle East.
Duncan Huisman did a fine job in his one off ETCC appearance so far. He scored two tenth places. The first race at Oschersleben was won by Andy Priaulx in a BMW while Rickard Rydell scored Seat's first ETCC victory in the second race.
18 September 2004: Tom Coronel eleventh in qualifying
Tom Coronel put himself in a good position to clinch the Michelin Independents Cup tomorrow. At Oschersleben the Dutch BMW driver was four tenths of a second faster than his main rival Alessandro Balzan who will start from 16th place. Duncan Huisman, who is partnering Tom Coronel at the Carly Motors team this weekend, made a fine come back by qualifying in tenth place. Pole position went to Augusto Farfus jr. in the Alfa Romeo 156
15 September 2004: Coronel chases Independents title
Tom Coronel is the all out favourite to take the Michelin Independents this weekend at Oschersleben With four races still to run the Dutch Carly Motors BMW driver is leading the privateers battle by 29 points to his nearest opponent Alessandro Balzan. Therefore clinching the title is a near formality for Coronel. The only thing he has to do is to finish ahead of Balzan in one of the remaining races. The only way for the italian Honda driver to keep his championship aspirations alive is by scoring at least ten points more than Tom Coronel in the two races at Oschersleben. For each individual race the same points scoring system as in Formula 1 is applied, so 10 for the winner, 8 for nr. 2, 6 for nr. 3 and so on.
Tom Coronel is focussed on clinching the title as soon as possible. "Oschersleben seems to favour the BMWs a bit. Tow weeks ago the Alfas had the edge, but I think it is our turn now. In any case I will be out to win", Tom said. During this weekend Tom will be backed up by his teammate from last year, reigning Independents champion Duncan Huisman. "Carly wants to eliminate all possible misfortunes. In case I will finish outside the points Duncan can hold the opposition from victory. Racing is still racing and everything can happen. Two weeks ago I escaped from a zero points finish, so things could have been a lot worse. We don't want any unpleasant surprises to happen here",
Tom said.
5 September 2004: Tom Coronel concentrates on Independents points
The eighth LG Super Racing Weekend at Imola (Italy) were concluded with a third and a fifth place in the Independents standings for Tom Coronel. Both hectic races brought enough points for the Dutchman to ensure his lead in the Michelin Independents Trophy, but unfortunately not yet enough to clinch the title. With two racing weekends to go in which 40 points can be earned, Tom is leading Italian driver Balzan by 29 points now.
foto: FIA ETCC
In the first race Tom Coronel had a good start. "I went of the line perfectly, but due to the high ambient temperature the engine was also heating up more than usual. Under these conditions you have to take care about the airflow to the engine, so you can't stay in a slipstream for too long. On the other hand you must not give away too much and I am not here to give away any presents. I just had enough distance between me and Zanardi and I decided not to attack Rydell who was in front of me. After all he is a factory driver and there was nothing for me to gain in the terms of points. In the end I did laps that were 1.5 seconds slower than my average times. Save the engine, bring the car home and take the points, that was all that counted for me", Tom explained. Coronel ended up third in the privateer battle, just behind his main rivals Tavano and Balzan.
foto: FIA ETCC
So Tom had to delay his Privateer championship for another race weekend. With a lead of 29 points the title can hardly escape him. "The next race will be at Oschersleben. This track should definitely favour our car. I always went well there. Now it's our turn to also make it happen", Tom Coronel concludes.
4 September 2004: Tom Coronel in fourteenth place in Imola qualifying
Tom Coronel had a hard time in qualifying for the ETCC races at Imola today. The Dutch BMW driver had to be satisfied with 14th place and was struggling to keep up with the Alfa Romeo drivers, as in fact all the BMW drivers did. The top ten was filled by Alfas, Seats and a sole Honda. The first of the BMW was only found at P11. Tom's main rival for the Michelin Independents Trophy, Salvatore Tavano will start from fifth place. This means bad news for Tom Coronel who wanted to clinch the Independents Trophy here with four races still to go. "This weekend I need to score seven points more than Tavano and four more than Balzan, then I will be champion. Given the current startpositions things will be difficult, but qualifying is different from racing, and a lot can happen during the course of two races", Tom Coronel said.
foto: FIA ETCC
foto: FIA ETCC
24 August 2004: Fourth place for Tom Coronel in Drifting Challenge
Tom Coronel ended up in fourth place during yesterday's final of the Autovisie drifting challenge. Paul Vlasblom became the surprising winner while reigning champion Jaap van Lagen took second. Olaf Commijs, another favorite to take the title finished in third place. Other famous names to make in to the top ten were Marc Koster in seventh and Tim Coronel in ninth place.
foto: Gijs Bunschoten
For Tom Coronel the Driftchallenge was not without incidents. "Especially for the Final round of this Driftchallenge I bought a Nissan Skyline. Of course this thing is all about show, so I wanted to bring something special. To make a good drift with this car we had to modify it a bit. Normally this car is a four wheel drive and here you really need a rear wheel drive. We dismounted the drive to the front, but unfortunately the car gave up after two heats. Really a shame but fortunately I could finish the challenge in my old BMW. The only thing was that I had to share it with Paulien and my father. All in all that fine touch feeling was gone at the final stage which cost me the final stage", Tom said afterwards
foto: Gijs Bunschoten
17 August 2004: Tom easily tops drifting pre-final.
Tom Coronel easily topped the qualifying round for the Autovisie Drifting Competition 2004. At Circuit Park Zandvoort some prominent racing drives were invited for a qualifying round. The battle took place at the Hugenholtz, Gerlach, Kumho, Renault and Vodafone corners under both dry and wet circumstances. According to the jury Tom Coronel was one of the few to perform nice and consistent drifts. The ETCC driver won the qualifying event by 3.5 points from Paul Vlasblom. Other well known names that qualified for the final were Tim Coronel, Tom's father Tom Coronel sr., Marc Koster, Paulien Zwart and reigning drifting champion Jaap van Lagen. The final will take place on 23 August from 17:00 to 21:00 at Circuit Park Zandvoort. Then the ultimate drifting corner of the Dutch track, the Arie Luyendijk Corner (formerly Bos Uit) will also be included as a final test.
foto: Daniël Rommens
31 July 2004: Strong performance of Tom Coronel at Spa
The seventh edition of the LG Super Racing Weekend was held together with the 24 hour race at the illustrious circuit of Spa Francorchamps. Because of this the ETCC races took place on Saturday in stead of their regular Sunday afternoon schedule. Besides Tom Coronel Paulien Zwart was also back with the Dutch Carly Motors squad. After her freak accident in testing at Magny Cours Paulien managed to fight her way back behind the wheel of her BMW 320i. Practice for Tom Coronel was dominated by technical problems, which explained the Dutchman being dead last on the starting grid. Unfortunately for Tom a great number of guest drivers came over from the German championship which put him even more down the grid. The guest drivers formed an extra factor for Tom to defend his first place in the Michelin Independents Trophy. Coronel managed to keep his lead in this battle of the privateers, despite his 14th place in the first race. In the second race the Carly Motors BMW driver stormed up to sixth place in the general classification and first of the independent drivers. Tom's teammate Paulien Zwart was less fortunate. Her engine overheated during the lengthy starting procedure bringing an end to her race weekend.
foto: FIA ETCC
Tom Coronel started his weekend at the Ardennes with technical problems. "In free practice I was sidelined early due to a broken driveshaft. We missed some valuable setup time there. The second session went a bit better and we did eight laps in total in which we found a decent setup for the car. Unfortunately bad luck stroke again in qualifying. Just when I wanted to start my first flying lap the differential broke. I was down in 33rd and last place", Tom said. For both Tom and the Carly Motors crew the technical problems came as a surprise as the team spent the one month break since the last race in rebuilding the car. With Spa being the race closest to their home base in Leiden Tom Coronel did not disappoint the Carly Motors team and all their guests. After a long and messy starting procedure Coronel had a good start. "After the first lap I was up in 16th place and for me it was a matter of bringing the car to the finish. Despite that the car was handling not as good as in the warm up it was OK. I only made a small mistake in my fight with Autodelta Alfa driver Augusto Farfus. He tried to overtake me on the inside but we touched and I was in the gravel. I lost about seven seconds there which was a shame. At the finish I was 14th and fifth of the privateers, which was the maximum for me in this race", Tom concluded.
foto: FIA ETCC
During the break between the races Coronel's BMW underwent some setup changes. "We changed the rollbar, the ride height and the wing settings which improved the settings of the car. I noticed it already on my out lap as I was driving to the grid. I had far more grip at the exit of the corners. Right after the start I moved up to ninth place and in the laps to come I moved up bit by bit. On the final lap I overtook James Thompson and Kurt Mollekens when they had a collision with Andy Priaulx. This put me in sixth place and first of the privateers", Tom said afterwards.
foto: FIA ETCC
After the weekend at Spa Tom Coronel is still leading the standings in the Michelin Independents Trophy. The Dutchman now has a total of 110 points, 34 more than second placed Salvatore Tavano. A final notable feat from Spa was the fastest lap that Tom set during the second race. Despite the setbacks early in the weekend Tom Coronel and Carly Motors can look back to a fine result which brings confidence to the three LG Super Racing Weekends that are still to come. The first of them will take place on 5 September at the Italian circuit of Imola.
foto: FIA ETCC
30 July 2004: Technical misfortunes for Coronel at Spa
Tom Coronel seemed to have lost his luck today at Spa. Both in free practise as in qualifying the Dutch Carly Motors charger suffered from technical problems. "In free practise the drive shaft broke and in qualifying the differential broke on my first flying lap. Really a big shame as I was looking forward to have a good weekend here. As Spa is the closest thing to a home race we had high expectations, but starting from 33th place realisticly does not make you fight for podium places. As the car went quite well in free practise all we can do now is to minimize the dammage which means charging through the field tomorrow and do the best we can in the Michelin Independents Trophy", Tom Coronel said
foto: FIA ETCC
A more positive note in the Carly Motors team was the return of Paulien Zwart. Paulien broke her pelvis during testing at Magny Cours and had to miss some races. She was fighting hard to recover. Fortunately she is back in the car and will start from 30th place tomorrow.
foto: FIA ETCC
27 June 2004: Tom Coronel strengthens Independents lead
The stage of 11th and 12th round of the FIA European Touringcar championship was set at Donington Park. After some tyre problems BMW driver Tom Coronel had to settle for 20th place on the grid. From this position the Dutchman managed to climb up to 13th in the first race and from there to 8th place in the second race. As Coronel was out of the equation for a podium spot this time he decided to concentrate on maximizing his position in the Michelin Independents Trophy. In this battle for privateers he scored a second and a first place which brings his total now to 96 points, 35 more than his next rival Italian Alfa Romeo driver Stefano d'Aste.
The changeable British weather was to be an important factor all through the weekend. After his fine fifth place in free practise Tom Coronel was unable to repeat his form in qualifying. "Just before qualifying started there were some showers and we thought it would stay wet. Therefore I went out on wets, but the racing line was drying out quickly. I had both a new set of wets as a set of dry tyres available in the pits. I tried out some cold slicks, hoping that I could get some heat into them. This was to no avail, so I tried a set of warmed up slicks. Just when I wanted to start a hot lap Andy Priaulx went off, so I could not continue on full speed because of the yellow flags. All in all qualifying was not too great this time, but knowing that we were still able to go faster we were not too worried. Our confidence was confirmed in the warm up when we set the seventh fastest time", Tom said.
Carly Motors driver Tom Coronel started the first race of the day well. "Zanardi and d'Aste were fighting each other ahead of me. I was following them and I was looking for a gap to get through. This seemed to work until d'Aste nearly went off. I nearly went with him, but was able to continue and rejoin the race to the front. I overtook another couple of drivers, but unfortunately for me not much of the top 8 drivers dropped out, so I ended up in 13th place. In the privateers battle I finished second, just behind Tavano. In the second race I took some more risk. The others also did so I could benefit from some people dropping out ahead of me. After I overtook Tavano on lap four I was in eighth position which would also give me a point for the general standings. Rickard Rydell had other thoughts about this and overtook me for eighth place. Fortunately I could outfox him in the final lap of the race which put me in eight place and first in the privateer standings. So all in all a good weekend for points", Tom said.
The first race was won by James Thompson in an Alfa Romeo 156 while the second race of the day was won by Andy Priaulx in his BMW Team Great Britain 320i.
12 Juni 2004 16:00: Les 24 heures: c'est parti!
The Le Mans 24 hours race just got underway. Tom Coronel took the start in the nr. 16 Dome-Judd, while Jan Lammers started in the nr.15 car. Despite another setback in the warmup Tom Coronel remains optimistic for the race. "Things have to go right from here. We have had enough of it now", Tom commented just befor the start.
Ralph Firman drove the warmup in the nr 16 Dome. However after just a few laps the Irishman was cruising back to the pits. The Racing for Holland engineers found a broken suspension part at the rear of the car. Just before the end of the warmup the team managed to get Firman back out for a final check.
After one our of racing Tom Coronel is now in fourth place Jan Lammers was delayed by an electronic problem and is now in tenth place. Both cars have had their first pitstop and are about to come in for the second time. During the next pitstop Tom Coronel will hand over to Justin Wilson who will also do a double stint. Ralph Firman will take over from Wilson after that.
30 May 2004: Double points score for Tom Coronel at Brno
Racing at the LG Super Racing Weekends resumed at the Czech circuit of Brno. For Tom Coronel the only two races on his schedule were the ninth and tenth round of the European Touring Car Championship. The Dutchman was scheduled to compete in the FIA GT series as well, but after the Lister Storm GT was destroyed by a fire two weeks ago at Hockenheim, the team did not have enough time to prepare a new car for this race.
Tom Coronel started the first race of the day from an excellent seventh place on the grid. His teammate Klaas Zwart, still substituting for his quickly recovering daughter Paulien started from 21st place. After her freak accident in testing at Magny Cours Paulien joined the team at Brno, for now as a spectator but she hopes to be back behind the wheel before the next round at Donington. Tom Coronel rounded of both races in a strong way by finishing sixth and seventh and was the best privateer in both rounds. In the overall standings Tom now has gathered fourteen points while he has a comfortable lead in the Michelin Independents Trophy on 78 points
foto: FIA ETCC
Tom Coronel said that the key to his good qualifying performance was his tyrechoice. "Together with Carly we decided to mount a fresh set of rubber. Certainly the right choice as the time of 1m11.1s proved. Later on I asked for a second new set and with a perfectly balanced car I did a 1m10.8 lap, which put me seventh on the grid". For Tom it was a matter of staying out of trouble and consolidating his position. After all seventh or eight would put him on the first row for the second race. For a long time the Carly Motors driver was fighting with fellow BMW driver and title contender Jörg Müller. "I was fifth for a while. At that time there was some oil on the track and some drivers ahead of me went off line. One of them, Fabrizio Giovanardi was clearly faster than me and managed to get by. I never heard anything about teamorders regarding Müller and afterwards I learned that there weren't any. All in all sixth overall and the maximum score in the Independents Trophy was a more than satisfying result for the first race", Coronel concluded.
foto: FIA ETCC
Tom started his second race from the second row of the grid. "I had just a fraction more traction at the start so I could put the power down and move into the first corner in second place. I lost second quite soon on the fighting factory drives behind me. Our main aim for this year is to win the Independents Trophy, so I decided not to involve myself too much in a fight with the factory cars. Though I could keep up with the pace of the leaders in the beginnning I decided not to take any unnecessary risks. For me it was a battle to survive in which I had to pay a lot of attention to avoid the fighting and spinning cars. When one of my main rivals dropped out towards the end of the race things got a bit more comfortable. On the final lap I could not resist overtaking Belgian Kurt Mollekens, who used to be my teammate in Opel Lotus long time ago. It was a fight for eight place overall, and thus for the final championship point up for grabs", Tom Coronel said. What the Dutchman did not know at that time was that he should finish in the points anyway. Afterwards fifth place finished Rickard Rydell received a 30 second penalty for his collision with Gabriele Tarquini. Both Tom and Mollekens moved up a place giving Tom an extra championship point. The results for the Michelin Independents Trophy remained unchanged, which meant another first for Tom.
foto: FIA ETCC
The first race was won by Andy Priaulx in a BMW, while the second race went to fellow BMW driver Dirk Müller
29 May 2004: Tom Coronel seventh at Brno
Carly Motors driver Tom Coronel will start from seventh place in tomorrow's ninth race of the European Touring Car Championship. Despite setting his best qualifying performance so far this year the Dutchman had hoped for some more. "On my first outing I already saw that my car had a good potential. I made a few changes which proved to be really good. And on my second set of tyres I was making a magnificent lap, then I made a mistake at the hairpin, together with D’Aste. And that was it. It’s a shame, because I could have been even better placed. We are back where we should be, into the top ten, which promises well in terms of finishing both races in the points. Our aim is to al least keep our position if not improve on it. As there are a lot of factory drivers behind us this will not be easy. Especially the Alfa's were disappointing in qualifying and I expect them to be stronger in the race. For me it will be a matter of making a mega start and try to avoid any mess ups in the first few laps.
foto: FIA WTCC
28 May 2004: Tom Coronel ready for Brno
This weekend Tom Coronel will compete in the ninth and tenth race of the European Touring Car Championship. Coronel's main target will be to at least consolidate, but hopefully increase his lead in the Michelin Independents Trophy. The Dutch driver seems to be in a good position to do just that as last year's races were dominated by BMW. Coronel was not present at that time though as he had a clashing event in Japan.
This weekend Tom Coronel will be accompanied by Klaas Zwart, who will replace his injured daughter. Paulien will be present at Brno however. For the first time since her crash in testing at Magny Cours she is out on a race track, although just as a spectator for now.
Unfortunately Tom Coronel will not race in the FIA GT series this weekend. "The car was completely destroyed after the fire at Hockenheim. The team is now working hard to build a new Storm GT, but it was too short notice to have it ready for this weekend. Quite a shame as Jamie was rather quick in the Creation Lister in free practice, so we definitively would have had a good chance to score. Bad for now, but we will certainly be back at Donington.
foto: Emile van der Stel
Schedule Eurosport (in CET):
Zaterdag
11:00 - 12:00: LG Super Racing Weekend Magazine
Zondag
09:00 - 10:00: GT & ETCC warmup live
15:10 - 16:15: ETCC live
22:45 - 23:45: GT Highlights
16 May 2004: Tom Coronel increases lead in Independents Trophy
Tom Coronel started in three races in the LG Super Racing Weekend at the German Hockenheimring. The first one he competed in was the FIA GT race driving a Lister Storm GT. The other two were the ETCC races in which he drove a BMW 320i prepared by Carly Motors. Tom's race in the FIA GT series came to a sudden end when the car caught fire in the final hour. The Dutchman finished the two races in the ETCC with third and second in the Independents trophy respectively. As his main rivals in the Michelin Independents Trophy failed to score this weekend Coronel increased his lead and now has 58 points in total. The second car of the Carly Motors team remained untouched this weekend as Paulien Zwart is still recovering and father Klaas had other obligations. The best news for the team came from the Dutch pharmacy chain Kruidvat which will support the team from this weekend on.
foto: FIA GT / DPPI
So once again a busy schedule for Tom Coronel. "In GT we drove the new Lister which was powered by the old engine. In practice my teammate overrevved the new one so we were forced to change back to the old unit. With the new one engine rule we were also put back to the back of the grid. My teammate Patrick Pearce took the start and drove the first half hour. Then it was my turn for a one hour stint. Patrick got back in and after that I got in again to take it to the finish. Unfortunately we did not make it that far. During my final stint a part of the fuel system broke which injected the fuel into the airbox under high pressure. In no time the car was completely on fire. I quickly got out of the car, fortunately unhurt. However the car is completely damaged. Really a shame as we were getting into the top eight at that moment", Coronel said.
foto: Chris Schotanus
Then Coronel started the first of his two ETCC races. "The weather was good but my place on the grid wasn't. I was back down in fifteenth and there was no real explanation for it. In free practice I was up to sixth place. We did not change the car as it felt perfect. When I saw the pitboard saying that I was down in fifteenth I thought they were fooling me. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. We made some changes which proved to work in the warm up. The start of the first race was not great, but still I was there. My main rivals for the Independent Trophy, Tavano and Rangoni were near me. During my march through the field I got stuck and could not really move up. It was one of those races with a lot of contact. Towards the end I was in eighth place which would have put me on pole for the second race, but after a push from one of my rivals I dropped back to eleventh. This also put me back in third in the privateer ranking", Tom Coronel said.
foto: Chris Schotanus
Tom continues his story about the second ETCC race. "In the break between the races we changed the tracking of the car. After all the pushing and shoving in the first race this was really needed. The second start was not too bad, but I got stuck again. After some laps I managed to escape from the fighting and overtook Salvatore Tavano towards the end. This put me second in the privateer ranking behind Luca Rangoni. He got the maximum result this weekend. I expect a lot of opposition from him in the Independents battle, despite his points tally does not indicate this at the moment", Tom concluded.
The first race was won by Andy Priaulx in a BMW, fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller completed the domination of the German manufacturer this weekend by winning the second race. The FIA GT race was an all Italian affair however. Italians Bobbi and Gardell were on top of an all Ferrari podium.
15 May 2004: Troublesome qualifying for Tom Coronel
Tom Coronel suffered from a drop back in qualifying. Both in the FIA GT series as in the ETCC Tom had was off the pace. The Lister crew had to mount a new engine after the problems from yesterday. The one engine rule forces the team to start from the back of the grid anyway so all efforts for a maximum attack lap would be in vain beforehand. On top of that Tom noticed that the car had some handling problems. "I can't really explain it. We did not change anything on the setup but the car feels totally different today. Especially at the beginning of the session the car caught me out which cost me a set of tyres. After that we decided not to take any risk because we have to start the race on the same tyres that we use in the second session", Tom concluded.
foto: FIA ETCC
The Carly Motors team still had some positive news. The cars were put in a new livery and received added backing from pharmacy chain Kruidvat.
14 May 2004: Tom Coronel in ETCC and FIA GT at Hockenheim
Tom Coronel will start in both the FIA European Touringcar Championship and the FIA GT series. The Lister team was forced to miss the previous round at Magny Cours, but is back in action with a new car. Tom Coronel shares the new Storm GT with Patrick Pearce. Today in free practice the Anglo Dutch pairing set a fifth and ninth time respectively.
"Things went quite well today', Tom Coronel said. "For the first time we used the new Storm in practise, which brough of course some extra work on the setup. In the first session we were continuously in the top five. In the second session things were not so good as we had an engine problem towards the end. Because of this we did not go out when most of the others improved their times. We certainly have our work cut out to improve the car, but the new Storm GT is already a big improvement over the old one we drove so far", Tom said.
In the ETCC Tom will be the only Carly Motors driver this weekend. As might be known Paulien Zwart is still recovering from her crash in testing and her father Klaas who replaced her at Magny Cours is also not available. This weekend Klaas Zwart was out testing the Carly BMW of his daughter in Spain. Supervised by Tom Coronel, EuroBOSS regular Zwart gained experience with the car.
Of course Eurosport will bring extensive coverage from Hockenheim. Besides that all laptimes can be followed live on internet on fiatouringcars.com and fiagt.com.
Schedule Eurosport:
Zaterdag
11:00 - 12:00: LG Super Racing Weekend Magazine
Zondag
09:00 - 10:00: GT & ETCC warmup live
15:10 - 16:15: ETCC live
22:45 - 23:45: GT Highlights
2 May 2004: Hard work rewarded with points at Magny Cours
After a hectic week in which his teammate and girlfriend Paulien Zwart got injured in a test session Tom Coronel competed in the third LG Super Racing Weekend
foto: Carly Motors
This time the battle took place at Magny Cours in the French district of Nevers. Making maximum use of his new tyres Tom Coronel seemed to cause a stir in the first race. With a perfectly set up Carly Motors BMW the Dutchman moved up from eleventh at the start to a solid fifth place. However a broken drive shaft made an end to this perfect race. Starting from the back of the grid for the second race Coronel managed to move up to eighth place in the end and thus scoring a championship point. More important for Tom was winning the privateer battle. Coronel managed to stay in the lead, despite not scoring in the first race of the day.
foto: Carly Motors
After the previous round Tom Coronel already announced that he wanted to score at Magny Cours. "Things were looking great for us. In free practise I set the sixth fastest time and in qualifying I was eleventh. I was mixing up with the factory drivers. The start was perfect. Really great. I was able to drive around some of the other drivers who were already braking for the first corner. At that moment I was behind Garcia and I just knew I could overtake him. The new tyres that I had saved from last weekend proved their value. I was having a good time untill a broken drive shaft ruined my race. Really a big shame, because fourth place was really on the cards today", Coronel said .
foto: Carly Motors
After the Carly Motors crew repaired the car Tom started his second race from last place on the grid. He shared this row with Frank Diefenbacher and the Dutchman intended to move up through the field with the Seat driver. "I had to let go on that idea pretty soon when Diefenbacher started to loose oil. I spun on it and had to start all over again. By using the same tactics as in the first race I managed to pass one after the other privateer driver. In the final lap I managed to overtake Stefano D 'Aste which brough me in the lead of the privateer class. That second race I finished in eighth place overall which was great. Especially when considering that I came from the back of the grid. These points are really valuable and I had to work hard to get them. I am really happy, mainly because I am still leading the Michelin Independents Trophy", Tom Coronel concludes.
The first race was won by Dirk Müller in a BMW. Fellow BMW driver Andy Priaulx won the second race of the day.
25 April 2004: Severe accident for Paulien Zwart in testing
Paulien Zwart, parter of Tom Coronel in both the ETCC as in daily life suffered from a heavy crash while testing at Magny Cours. Zwart was preparing for the upcoming ETCC round at the French track while she spun off and hit a concrete barier. After diagnosis in the hospital it became clear that she suffered from a broken pelvis and a broken ancle. Of course racing is out of the question for a while for the Dutch lady. "Regarding the circumstances things are OK. The accident frightened me a lot. The ETCC season is more or less over for me, although I hope to get back out and do some racing before the end of the year", Paulien said. At the moment Paulien is still staying in a French hospital. You can send your wishes to support her by filling in the guestbook at www.paulienzwart.com.
25 April 2004: Tom Coronel enthused after Le Mans test
In preparation for the Le Mans 24 hour race Tom Coronel drove the Racing for Holland Dome-Judd at the French track today. Tom not only got aquainted with the renewed Dome-Judd but also with his teammates for the race, Justin Wilson and Ralph Firman. The latter needed no introduction to the Dutchman as the two were neighbours while racing in Japan. "I am extremely happy with this team", Tom said. "Ralph Justin and I are really a match for each other. Which was proved by the laptimes. Especially the fact that we all three set very constant times means a lot to me. These things are important for the race. Despite lacking experience in an LMP car Ralph and Justin were on the pace very quickly. As for me I tried to set a real flier on qualifiers, but unfortunately I got caught in traffic, so I decided to leave it like that. This means that I did my fastest time on race tyres that already had some laps on them", Tom Coronel concluded.
foto: Sander van Dijk
22 April 2004: Tom Coronel with crack team to Le Mans
Things can change fast in motorracing. This was proved today. Yesterday Tom Coronel was still looking for a team to race at Le Mans after he stepped down from the Lister entry. Today he was announced by a team that had only one of their two cars accepted for the race. The team we are talking about is Racing for Holland of course. Jan Lammers saw, much to his embarresment that the ACO had put only one of his two Dome-Judds on the provisional entry list. The second car was put way down on the reserve entry list. Justice was done after all however when a number of teams pulled out their entries. Last Tuesday it was announced that the second Racing for Holland Dome was allowed in. With the official testday less than a week away Racing for Holland had their work cut out to find a driver line up for the second car. Racing for Holland managed to find a sensational driver line up for the second car. Tom Coronel will return to the team and race under the Racing for Holland team for the fourth time this year. His teammates will be no less than last year's Formula 1 drivers Justin Wilson and Ralph Firman. Lammers will share his car with American Chris Dyson and Japanese driver Katsutomu Kaneishi.
Jan Lammers reacted with great enthusiasm on the recent developments in his team. "I am absolutely over the moon with these top driver line up. Only last Tuesday we learned that we can enter a second car for the race. Fortunately the car was already prepared in the workshop. Last Wednesday I tested both cars at Zandvoort and things went without any problems. To be honest maybe from a financial point of view this is not the most perfect driver line up, but I did not want some kind of Hollywood plastic surgeon to throw in his money only to make up the numbers at the back of the field and dammage our reputation. I want top drivers and I have got them now. Chris Dyson will make his Le Mans debut and this weekend he will have to gain mileage and experience this weekend. I did the Sebring 12 hour race together with him and he made a good impression there. Together we create the Holland - America line in our team. Katsutomo Kaneishi is quick, but also new to Le Mans. Both for us and for our partner Dome it is very pleasant to have an American and Japanese driver in our team. Dome is not only a Japanese team, but for them the American market is also very important. Their support is vital for Racing for Holland. Tom Coronel proved himself more than enough in recent years. Justin Wilson drove a less competitive car at Sebring earlier this year, but he worked miracles as he did in Formula 1. He is a great character and a welcome addition to the team. A nice thing to note is that I did about two and a half years of Sportscar Racing with his manager, Jonathan Palmer. We drove the Group C Canon Porsche together. The connection to Ralph Firman was made very quickly by Tom Coronel. Because of this I have three absolute top drivers in the second car, really amazing", Jan Lammers said.
Of course Tom Coronel was also extremely satisfied. "This is really going to be a super team. Jan proved over the last few years that the Dome is a top class car. I am really happy that I will be there again and with this team we really are in a chance to perform", Tom said.
21 April 2004: Tom Coronel not in Lister LMP at Le Mans
Unfortunately Tom Coronel will not drive the Lister Storm LMP at Le Mans. Lister teamowner Laurence Pearce recently announced that he signed a partnership with Essex Invest, a Danish party with John Nielsen, Casper Elgaard and Jens Møller as the drivers. "For me it is a shame, but for the team it was a necessary thing to do. Lister really needs this deal, so that's why I agreed with Laurence to step back", Tom said. In order to prepare the three danish drivers for Le Mans they will also race in the opening round of the Le Mans Endurance series. No decisions have been made about the remaining three races. "I hope to be back in the Storm LMP for those events. The LMP car is a great car to drive so I definitely want to race it in anger", Coronel said.
At the moment Tom Coronel is busy to work out an alternative deal for Le Mans. "It is a bit short notice now, when most of the teams already have signed up their drivers, but I want to give it a try. Le Mans is the greatest race of the year for me so I really want to be there", Coronel concluded.
18 April 2004: Tom Coronel keeps lead in Independents Trophy
Even before the second LG Super Racing Weekend at the Spanish track of Valencia started Tom Coronel could add two championship points to his tally. This was caused by the disqualification of Augusto Farfus who finished ahead of Tom in the two races at Monza. This weekend at Valencia Tom Coronel’s main target was to finish as high up as possible and try to consolidate his leading position in the Michelin Independents Trophy. By finishing second and third on his first race at Valencia Coronel succeeded in doing so. The Dutchman is still leading the Independents Trophy with 34 points, followed by Italian driver d’Aste with 25 points. Tom’s partner and team mate Paulien Zwart is in tenth place of the Independent Trophy standings with seven points.
On the first glance Tom Coronel saw that this weekend would be no BMW weekend. “The way the corners go definitively benefits the front wheel driven cars. My second handicap was that I had never driven here before, so I had to spend the first ten laps of free practice learning the track. Fortunately things went according to plan and in the second free session I was just one tenth short of the factory BMW drivers. However I went off towards the end of the session, which caused the Carly Motors crew some extra work. Despite the overtime hours I gave them they did not let me down and did a fine job in preparing the car of Saturday qualifying. Fifteenth place was all I could get however. I tried to get a slipstream in order to gain some more tenths but in the end that car was slowing me down in stead of giving me extra speed. After that the tyres had the best of it which meant the end of my qualifying aspirations”, Tom Coronel said.
Knowing well that Valencia does not favour the BMWs Tom started his first race over 13 laps. Shortly after the start there was some pushing and shoving around the BMW of the Dutchman. I was between the Seats, who were fighting each other hard. I managed to drive away from them and chase Jan Magnussen in the Peugeot. We had a good fight and in the end I just beat him and finished tenth overall and second in the privateer standings.
Due to his race result in the first race Tom started from tenth in the second race. As he did not have any expectations of finishing in the top five Coronel decided to stat the race on used tyres. “I prefer to leave the new ones for the next race at Magny Cours. That circuit suits our car much more and I want to score there. Despite that the second race at Valencia was some good fun. I was fighting with Alessandro Zanardi who is also driving a BMW. It was a nice battle in which we gave each other just enough room to make a good show. Really great! I finished this race in ninth place overall and third in the Michelin Independents Trophy. All in all it was not an easy weekend, but we were able to minimize the damage in the points standings”, Tom Coronel concluded. This weekend Tom Coronel did not race in the FIA GT series with the Lister Storm. “We are waiting for the new car to be finished. I already did some testing last week and for sure it looks promising”, Tom commented.
15 April 2004: Extra points for Tom Coronel in ETCC
Even before the start of the race weekend Tom Coronel gainded another two extra championship points. Today it was announced that Augusto Farfus received a time penalty of ten minutes for both races at Monza. The Alfa Romeo driver initially finished first and third, but was set back after a non conformaty was found during the technical check after the race. Autodelta decided not to appeal. "The non-conformaty of the checked part was due to a fabrication mistake because we were in a hurry to finish the cars for the first meeting", Autodelta teammanager Monica Sipzs explained. Due to this Tom is classified in sixth and fourth place respectively for the Monza races. In the general standings the Dutchman is now in sixth place with eight points. Of course his leading position in the Michelin Independents Trophy remains unchanged.
This weekend the second LG Super Racing Weekend will be held at Valencia. Of course Eurosport will provide extensive coverage as usual.
Saturday 17th April
09:00 - 10.00 LG Super Racing Weekend - season launch replay
11:30 - 12:30 Formule Renault V6 Eurocup the Grand Race LIVE
Sunday 18th April
09:00 - 10.00 FIA GT & FIA ETCC Warm-Up LIVE
15:00 - 16:15 FIA European Touring Car Championship LIVE
20:00 - 21:00 FIA GT Race highlights
Thursday 22nd April
20:00 - 21:00 LG Super Racing Weekend : The Magazine
14 April 2004: Photo impression Paul Ricard LMES test
We received some more pictures from Gerard Roest regarding the LMES test at Paul Ricard. Of course we do want to share this with you. More pictures of the Paul Ricard test can be found at the website of Gerard Roest and Bartus G, www.speedpics.nl
Foto's: Gerard Roest ©2004
8 April 2004: Team Lister round off Paul Ricard test
Team Lister finished the second day of testing with the Storm LMP at Paul Ricard. Despite the glitches in the new gearbox electronics Tom Coronel managed to do sufficient lapping on the French circuit. "Basically I don't have anything special to say about today. We found a work-around for the gearbox problems and the team will solve it in the factory next week. Besides that we did 95 laps without any problems. Due to the temporary solution of the gearshift system we could not do any fast timed laps, which explains why we dropped some places on the timesheets. Despite that we still managed to improve our time from yesterday", Tom said.
Foto: Gerard Roest ©2004
The next time out for the Lister LMP900 will be during the official Le Mans testday on 25 April. Before that Team Lister hope to announce the teammates for Tom Coronel in the 24 hour race and the LMES.
Foto: Gerard Roest ©2004
7 April 2004: Tom Coronel tests Lister LMP at Paul Ricard
At the French town of Le Castellet a two day testsession takes place in preparation of the Le Mans Endurance series. Thus most of the teams that will participate in this Le Mans 24 hour spin-off will be there in the South of France. Lister will enter their Storm LMP900. Tom Coronel did about 70 laps yesterday and said to be satisfied afterwards. "We did quite some laps. Our main job was to test the new gearbox electronics. Things went according to plan, apart from some small problems with the gearshift at the end of the day", Tom said.
Foto: Gerard Roest ©2004
The only driver present for Lister was Tom Coronel after Nathan Kinch recently followed Jamie Campbell-Walter to Creation Autosportif. For now we concentrate on testing the car, rather than drivers", Laurence Pearce commented. No announcements were made about possible drivers for the LMES and Le Mans 24 hour race.
Foto: Gerard Roest ©2004
5 April 2004: Tom and Tim celebrate
Today Tom and Tim Coronel celebrate their 32nd birthday. The racing twins added another year to their life experience. Tom however has not much time to celebrate as he is due to test the Lister Storm LMP tomorrow at Paul Ricard. We are pretty sure that Tim will make up for Tom's absence during the celebrations.
28 March 2004: Tom Coronel scores in ETCC Independents Trophy
Tom Coronel started off his FIA European Touring Car Championship season 2004 well with a double victory in the Michelin Independents Trophy. The Dutchman put his car ninth on the grid in qualifying at Monza. During the first race Coronel managed to improve to seventh in the end and best of the privateers which put him on the first row for the start of the second race. Despite starting from the front Tom lost the unequal fight with some of the factory supported drivers and dropped back to fifth place with his Carly Motors prepared BMW 320i, again best of the privateers. In the same Super Racing Weekend Tom Coronel started in the FIA GT series driving a Lister Storm GT. Coronel started well from fifth place and moved up to fourth. However a technical failure made a premature end to his race.
The first of the LG Super Racing Weekends took place at Monza. Tom Coronel will drive all of the ETCC and FIA GT races this year. His participation was confirmed relatively late which explains some of the preparation work that still needed to be done. "With the Lister we started off with a lot of bad luck. One of my teammates damaged the car in free practice. The Lister crew needed all their time to fix the car for qualifying. This meant that we did not have enough tracktime to optimise the setup of the car. Also in the second session I did just two or three laps. The new regulations say that every driver needs to qualify, so that's why I couldn't do more laps. The race itself however went quite well from the start. I came from fifth place and I knew that the Ferraris would be quicker in the early stages. After about 15 laps you can see that the Lister is catching up as the handling is much better. I was closing in all the time on the leaders. Unfortunately a water hose broke which brought an end to our race. For us things can only get better as we will have a brand new Lister Storm for the next race at Valencia in three weeks time. The new Storm not only has more downforce, but also a stronger engine which is quite promising!" Tom said.
Foto: FIA ETCC
Also with BMW the decision to participate was a late one. Because of this the Carly Motors team had to work night and day to prepare the two cars for Tom Coronel and Paulien Zwart. "I am driving the car that Duncan used last year to win the Independents Trophy. However the car has been upgraded to the 2004 spec. Qualifying on Saturday went quite well. I got a slipstream from some other BMW drivers and was eight for a while. I lost that place to Alessandro Zanardi, who overtook me after I helped him with a slipstream. At the start I lost two places, but I took one back at the first corner. After the first lap there was a safety car and because Frank Diefenbacher was sleeping at the re-start we lost contact with the leaders. In the end I was battling for seventh place with him. On the last lap I overtook him which gave me seventh. As the top eight finishers from the first race start in reverse order for the second I started from the first row with Diefenbacher. I came from the line well and was leading in the first corner. Fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller was pushing a lot however so I let him by and decided to pick his slipstream. Later on more factory drivers started to push me. I chose to play safe and consolidate my first place in the Independents Trophy. Overall I finished in fifth place which is quite well, but most important is a double victory in the Michelin Independents Trophy, which is our goal for this year with Carly Motors", Tom Coronel said.
Foto: FIA ETCC
18 March 2004: Tom Coronel and Paulien Zwart join BMW test
Tom Coronel and Paulien Zwart took part in a two day testsession at Spa Francorchamps. The test was organised exclusively by BMW. Therefore most of the BMW ETCC teams were present. Also Coronel's former Carly Motors teammate Duncan Huisman was present with the new BMW M3 GTR that he will drive in the Nürburgring 24 hour race. Tom Coronel said to be satisfied with the result of the past two days. "Though we drove last year's car here we were able to make some good progress. Besides that it is good for Paulien to experience the track in the BMW and gain some more mileage. Carly and his team are working hard to prepare a brand new 2004 car. The car we drove here will be upgraded to 2004 spec, so we will drive with two up to date cars this year", Tom said.
17 March 2004: BBS support for Tom Coronel
Wheel manufacturer BBS will support Tom Coronel in his full race programme this year. For many year now BBS have not only been well known for their light metal wheels, but also settled well into the top of international motorracing. BBS partners BMW in the ultra competitive European Touringcar championship. Furthermore the Lister team will use BBS wheels in the FIA GT series. During the Le Mans 24 hour race, and therefore also in the Le Mans Endurance series, BBS will even supply the complete startgrid with their wheels.
This means that Tom Coronel will drive all of his 36 scheduled races with BBS wheels. For BBS it meant 36 reasons to sponsor Tom for this year. Besides racing with BBS wheels in various racing catagories Coronel will promote BBS in several other ways. One of them will be writing a column for Dutch Wheelguide website.
This year four Formula 1 teams will use BBS wheels, among them championship winning team Ferrari and the teams of Toyota BAR and Jordan. Besides Formula 1 BBS also supplies teams in ChampCar, DTM, ETCC, FIA GT and the Nürburgring and the Le Mans 24 hours races.
10 March 2004: Tom Coronel tests Lister Storm LMP
yesterday Tom Coronel tested the Lister Storm LMP900 at Donington. For the first time since the Le Mans 1000km race the Dutch driver drove an open LMP car again. "It was fantastic to drive a Le Mans car again. The power of these LMPs is just phenomenous. Today we tested the new engine and the new electronic gearbox. Last year I drove the car at the Le Mans 1000km race, but the team have been working hard to improve the car. Especially the engine and the back end of the car are much better now. Furthermore the car now has a new airbox, which also changes the car from the outside completely, Tom said.
9 March 2004: Tom Coronel and Paulien Zwart in ETCC
Tom Coronel and Paulien Zwart will race in the FIA European Touringcar Championship this year. The racing couple targets a prolongation of the Michelin Independents Trophy for Carly Motors this year. Last year Duncan Huisman and Tom managed to win the Michelin Independents Trophy with a fine 1-2 score in the drivers standings. Duncan moves on to Sportscar racing this year, so now Paulien finds a heavy job to replace the experienced Dutchman. With some help of Tom she will undoubtedly be on the pace within short notice.
foto: Daniel van den Hoek
For Tom it will be just a matter of starting where he left of in 2003. In the last few races of the season Coronel changed his 2002-spec BMW 320i for a 2003-spec car. The result was clearly to be seen when he scored two podium finishes at Monza. "Actually that was my main motivation to continue in the ETCC. I feel there is some unfinished business there. With the right equipment we should be able to score some decent results, even though we don't have the budget that the factory teams have", Tom Coronel said.
Tom and Paulien will encounter the factory teams of Alfa Romeo and BMW with their star drivers like Tarquini, Larini, Zanardi and the Müllers. Besides that also Seat, Peugeot, Honda and Ford will participate with at least two cars each. So all in all a large variety on the startgrid and combined with the largely competitive drivers it is almost a guarranty that we will see 20 spectacular ETCC races this year.
| Calender FIA European Touringcar Championship | |
|---|---|
| 28 March | Monza |
| 18 April | Valencia |
| 2 May | Magny Cours |
| 16 May | Hockenheim |
| 30 May | Brno |
| 27 June | Donington |
| 31 Jule | Spa Francorchamps |
| 5 September | Imola |
| 19 September | Oschersleben |
| 8 October | Dubai |
5 March 2004: Tom Coronel leading Lister driver squad
The Lister team announced today that Tom Coronel will be their lead driver for this year. Coronel will lead both the FIA GT as well as the LMES programme. Of course Tom will also drive the Lister Storm LMP at Le Mans 24 hour race. In the FIA GT series the Dutchman will share the nr14 Lister Storm GT with British gentleman races Paul Knapfield, while the nr.15 car will be driven by Patrick Pearce (no releation to Laurence) and Toto Wolff. Coronel will be joined by Nathan Kinch in the LMES.
This weekend at Monza all championships of the LG Super Racing Weekend are presented to the press. At the same time the teams are busy testing at the Italian track. Tom already has one and a half days of testing under his belt with the Storm GT. The Lister team immediately praised Coronel's performance. "He showed his professionalism and speed. On old tyres he equalled Jamie's qualifying time from last year's race last October. Although at that time we drove with 40 kilo of extra ballast. More important for us is that we were second in that particular session and we had only the three BMS Ferraris ahead of us at the end of the day", Laurence Pearce said. Today things were even better as Tom said the fastest time. "It was great. The Storm is still a great car. I set a time of 1m44.1, which is the fastest time of the two testdays up till now", Tom said.
The contact between Coronel and Lister was strengthened when Jamie Campbell-Walter decided to look for a new challenge in American racing. "Laurence called me some days ago and asked if I was still available. I was and I could go to Estoril immediately for testing. Unfortunately things turned out bad when the trucks got stuck in the Spanish mountains due to heavy snow. The team decided to turn around and go to Monza, so here we are", Coronel said. This evening Tom will fly back to the Netherlands to commentate on this weekends Australian Grand Prix while he will be back with Lister next week to test the Storm LMP at Donington
3 March 2004: Wilux Minardi Team presented in Australia
At the eve of the new Formula 1 season the Wilux Minardi Formula 1 team was presented to the press. As the name suspects Dutch company Wilux will be the team's new main sponsor. This means good news for Tom Coronel regarding the earlier promise to Tom by Wilux owner Ruud Wildschut. Besides the announcement of the partnership between Wilux and Minardi Paul Stoddart had two more announcements to make. Belgian Bas Leinders and Portugese Tiago Monteiro were announced as testdrivers for the Faenza based team. Leinders will be charged with the Friday morning tests while Monteiro will test later on in the season during some of the teams allocated testdays.
Tom reacted positively on the recent developments at Minardi. "Things are looking good. Especially the news that the team will test every Friday morning with three cars will pay them off. The development of the car will go much faster this way", Tom said. Of course we also asked about the lastest news regarding his test with Minardi. "I spoke to Paul Stoddart this morning and for 100% sure I will test the Minardi Cosworth this year. Wilux has now been confirmed as the title sponsor of Minardi and that was the only thing we had to wait for", Tom said. The Dutchman could not give any details about the time and place of the test. "The only thing I know is that is not going to happen before the European season starts. This is quite logical as the team is now in Australia and the cars wil not be back until after the Grand Prix of Bahrain which takes place on 4 Apil. Besides that things will depend on the planning of the team. They will decide what will happen during testing so I just wait and see", Tom said
Tom Coronel will follow Formula 1 closely this year. He will be part of the panel of insiders that will comment on the race on Dutch broadcaster SBS 6. This year the insiders will also give their view during the Saturday`program. This weekend Renault development driver Giedo van de Garde and Tom will be in the panel.
For the broadcast schedule and the latest F1 news please check the website of SBS Autosport.
22 February 2004: Fanclubmeeting in Huizen
On the eve of a new racing season traditionally the Fanclubmeeting of the Fanclub Tom Coronel is held. In the cosy atmosphere of the Coronel Kartcenter in Huizen the fans were treated on a warm welcome. Organisers Rob Engeringh and Daniel Vos chose for the well known concept of karting and chatting. Tom, his twin brother Tim and their racing partners Paulien Zwart and Gaby Uljee were available all day for a chat with their fans. Of course there was plenty of opportunity to gather autographs on pictures, merchandise and other race items.
Given the recent reports in the press Tom had some explanation to do. The Dutchman gave an open view on his contacts with Wilux and Minardi. "I do not have an agreement with Minardi yet. However what I have is a promise from Wilux. They will be a team partner of Minardi, and likely their title sponsor. They approached me, as a Dutch driver to assist them with the promotional work. One of those things is the Minardi two seater programme. Besides that Wilux negotiated to have a say in the drivers choice in case one of the currently contracted drivers is unable to drive. In this case I need a superlicense and the only way I can get it now is by driving enough laps during a test in their 2004 race car. So this means that I will for sure have one or more tests with the Minardi-Cosworth. Anything that happens after that is up to the team and Wilux. As I said nothing is put on paper now, so that is something that we need to do in the next few months. During that time I will prepare myself physically for the upcoming challenge", Tom said. Besides the Formula 1 Coronel said to be working on some other projects as well. "For sure I will do Le Mans again and I would very much like to do the ETCC again. I enjoyed myself thoroughly in the last few races and I think with the right budget and equipment we will do a good job."
The karting competition was as fierce and competitive as usual. A new item was added this year with a special race for prominent racing drivers. The benefit of it was that also other drivers than Jaap van Lagen had a chance to win. Despite a technical handicap put on his car Jaap won the professionals race and beat Christiaan Frankenhout, Paul Meijer and Paulien Zwart. The regular fan competition was won by Rob Knegt ahead of Jeroen Bunsveld and Remco Langenhorst. All in all it was a great day for everybody who attended and we would like to thank once more all the people that made this possible
19 February 2004: Wilux prominent Minardi partner
Today more news was revealed regarding the partnership between Dutch company Wilux and Minardi. Wilux Director Ruud Wildschut revealed in the Dutch press today that he has reached an agreement with Paul Stoddart to become the title sponsor of the Minardi Formula 1 team. The team will be known as Wilux Minardi. However the deal is still depending on ongoing negotiations with a Chinese sponsor. The first deadline has been passed already and a new one has been set for 3 March. In case the Chinese potential investors decide not to join Minardi Wilux will become the team's title sponsor for this year. If they will indeed join up Wilux will be an important sub sponsor for Minardi. Part of the agreement between Wilux and Minardi is that if the Dutch company will indeed be the team's main backer it may decide who will be the third driver. Ruud Wildschut has nominated Tom Coronel as the desired test and reserve driver. Possibly Tom will join some of the Friday tests this year. In any cast Coronel has to do some obligatory lapping to gain a Formula 1 Superlicense. Without this proof of skill he will not be allowed to join the grid when he is called up to stand in.
foto: Chris Schotanus
Tom Coronel was still full of unbelief today. "It still has not sunk in. Today was like a madhouse, the phone just did not stop ringing. I just have to sit down and realise what is going to happen. For sure it will be a busy life when it all will indeed happen. It is a once in a lifetime chance that I will not spoil. You can be sure that I will be ready when I need to be ready", Tom concluded
18 February 2004: Tom Coronel offered testrole by Wilux Minardi
Tom Coronel has been offered a position as test and reserve driver by the Wilux Minardi Formula 1 team. The Dutchman will act as a stand in when one of the team's race drivers, Zsolt Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni are unavailable. Furthermore Tom was asked to drive the Minardi Two Seater during selected events.
foto: Chris Schotanus
Tom Coronel had a meeting with Minardi boss Paul Stoddart and Ruud Wildschut of Wilux. In a first short comment Tom said to be pleasantly surprised with the offer. It is expected that more details will be revealed later this week.
9 February 2004: Marlboro Masters victory still not forgotten
Almost six years afterwards the victory of Tom Coronel during the Marlboro Masters is still fresh in memory. You can safely say that it was one of the most important victories in Tom's career so far. At 3 August 1997 he beat the international Formula 3 opponence in his TOM'S prepared Dallara Toyota. The decisive moment took place in the 26th of 32 laps when Coronel overtook Frenchman Sebastien Philippe in the Toyota corner (what's in a name). Normally the Toyota corner is nu usual overtaking place. That's why few photographers put up their equipment there to shoot the action. Because of this there are only a few pictures available of Coronel's move on Philippe. Recently we were approached by Peter Witter who not only witnessed the overtaking action, but also actually put it on film. Peter kindly donated his memory of 3 August 1997 to share it with us and the rest of the fans.
foto: Peter Witter
Just to get an impression of that very day and the people that were beaten by Tom we looked up the race results and noticed some famous names down the order:
| Results 7th Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 Zandvoort, 3 August 1997, 32 laps |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Coronel (Nl) | Dallara-Toyota | 35m52.569s |
| 2 | Sebastien Philippe (F) | Dallara-Opel | +01.111s |
| 3 | Mark Webber (Aus) | Dallara-Mugen | +02.118s |
| 4 | Nicolas Minassian (F) | Dallara-Renault | +02.394s |
| 5 | Brian Smith (RA) | Dallara-Mitsubishi | +02.952s |
| 6 | Norman Simon (D) | Dallara-Opel | +03.981s |
| 7 | Nick Heidfeld (D) | Dallara-Opel | +04.575s |
| 8 | Donny Crevels (Nl) | Dallara-Fiat | +04.692s |
| 9 | David Saelens (B) | Dallara-Opel | +05.709s |
| 10 | Patrice Gay (F) | Dallara-Opel | +05.878s |
| 11 | Peter Dumbreck (GB) | Dallara-Mugen | +06.621s |
| 12 | Mario Haberfeld (Br) | Dallara-Opel | +06.895s |
| 13 | Marcel Fassler (CH) | Dallara-Fiat | +09.805s |
| 14 | Franck Montagny (F) | Martini-Opel | +10.465s |
| DNF | Enrique Bernoldi (Br) | Dallara-Renault | 26 laps |
| DNF | Bas Leinders (B) | Dallara-Opel | 20 laps |
| DNF | Paolo Ruberti (I) | Dallara-Fiat | 13 laps |
| DNF | Dominik Schwager (D) | Dallara-Opel | 4 laps |
Those who like to see moving pictures of the race can contact the . They can offer a copy of the video images that were recorded by the Dutch Broadcaster NOS. For just 15 Euro you can relive this fantastic day from 1997. Besides that the full report and the complete results can be read online.
23 January 2004: Fanclub meeting on 22 February in Huizen
The annual fanclub meeting of the Fanclub Tom Coronel will take place on 22 February in Huizen this year. The program will start at 10:00 and will last until 16:00. During this traditional event for Tom's fans there will again be plenty of karting action. Organisers Daniel Vos and Rob Engeringh arranged some celebrity drivers to spice up the competition. Besides the karting competition there will be a lottery of unique race items and merchandise. In case Tom's race plans for the coming season have not already been revealed by that time he will undoubtedly give us a sneak preview to his 2004 calender.
At the moment negotiations are still ongoing while Tom is undergoing a fitness program in Austria to get in shape for the race action of 2004.