Tom Coronel teams up with Stéphane Lémeret in the Civic with starting number 1!
Honda is again entering a pair of Civics for the TCR Benelux championship, having won the constructors’ title with the Boutsen Ginion team and the drivers’ championship with Stéphane Lémeret last year.
The Civic with starting number 1 will be driven by the outstanding ‘Benelux’ duo of Stéphane Lémeret and Tom Coronel. Last year, the WTCC driver already got the chance to race a Civic during the round at Assen, where he finished in the slipstream of the race winner, Honda’s WTCC works-driver Norbi Michelisz, also with a Civic. This time, Tom Coronel will embark on a full-season campaign as Stéphane Lémeret’s team-mate. Only his participation in the round at Zolder on 16 July is still in doubt because of a calendar issue.
Tom Coronel is the prolific Dutch touring car specialist. Therefore, Honda is delighted to be able to count on his driving abilities, his experience and his enthusiasm, all with one common goal: to score race wins and titles. This co-operation is also giving Tom Coronel the chance of a full season of racing close to home in front of his fans. The round during the weekend of 21 May has a special mark: this will be the ‘Max Verstappen Day’ at Zandvoort, a real motorsport festival in the Netherland where Tom is eager to shine in front of the huge crowd that is expected.
Next to defending champion Stéphane Lémeret, another driver to defend the honours for Belgium is Benjamin Lessennes in a second Boutsen Ginion Civic. This promising young driver, hardly 17 years old, concluded his first ‘learning year’ with a clear win in the final round of last year’s series at Mettet. He will be doing everything to add further victories with the Civic with starting number 2, a reference to the number Stoffel Vandoorne has chosen in Formula 1. His team-mate is yet to be announced.
Honda, Boutsen Ginion Racing and the drivers are ambitious and determined for the second TCR Benelux season. They are full of confidence going into the second round at Spa-Francorchamps in one month’s time.
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