Macau’s 6.12km long Circuito Da Guia served as the venue for the penultimate round of the 2019 FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by Oscaro. Tom Coronel raced his Cupra TCR, entered by Belgian outfit Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing.
Dutch driver Tom Coronel particularly likes street circuits. A regular fixture in the FIA WTCR competition in which he is participating are the races at the demanding street circuit in Macau, very narrow at some places, but also very challenging as a result. Fact is that a good performance is crucial in order to be up front on the starting grid. The Dutchman’s Cupra TCR handled really well and saw him end up sixth in first free practice, making him really confident for the officially timed sessions. In first qualifying, however, there was not only a red flag, but also a considerably slower driver getting in his way. Combined with a mistake by himself, 14th place was all for Tom Coronel. A disappointment, because the twelve fastest drivers move on to second qualifying and perhaps even further. In the races, a good start is crucial, followed by watching out for moves by others. The Dutchman has gained some experience in this respect over the years and he was able to fight and to make it to the finish without any damage in all the three races with 20th, 13th and 11th place as his respective results. The often nice battles, including those with title candidates Norbert Michelisz and Esteban Guerrieri, made Tom Coronel a happy man.
In his own words, he said it like this: « Once again, it was really cool. From first free practice onwards, things were going well. The car handled well and sixth fastest time reflected this. But you know that here, an accident always is just around the corner and you are always looking out, also what the others are doing. That again became clear to me in qualifying. My first run with fresh tyres went according to plan until the red flag came out. So I tried once more, but this time, I got stuck behind a really slow guest driver. He really had no business being here, he really got in the way and ruined my fast lap. After that, there wasn’t much time left to post a faster time. I made a mistake myself, but thankfully, Robert Dahlgren also gave me a slipstream after which I ended up 14th. Too bad, because I just missed out on Q2. In the first race, I had a decent start, but got stuck behind Atilla Tassi. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t find a way past. Especially as you never want to take all the risks in the first race. Niels Langeveld and Ma Qinghua were also involved in a fierce battle around me. In the process, they hit each other heavily and for me, it was crucial not to get any damage. I already had a few flat spots on my tyres and decided to just bring it home like that. In the second race, I was in the middle of the Hyundai train with Tarquini and Catsburg who were defending Norbert Michelisz’s interests. Another one in that group was Rob Huff, fourth in the first race. It turned out into a nice fight in which those factory guys always that little bit quicker, preventing me to convert my advantage from the infield section into any position gains. However, it was nice to battle with the boys like that. Especially when I was still able to overtake Rob Huff on the final lap. It was a risky move, but it worked out and that is always nice. In the third race, I was right between title candidates Esteban Guerrieri and Norbert Michelisz and keeping up with them was remarkably easy. Really nice, and you know that those drivers aren’t taking any unnecessary risks, so that is making it even more fun. I did make one attempt, but they are professional enough to respond to that. And on the other hand, I didn’t want to interfere in their championship battle by making a bad manoeuvre. But it feels really nice to be able to fight with those guys. I am glad with the points I have scored here. Now on to the finale in Malaysia in mid-December. I am already looking forward to it, » Coronel concluded.
Result race 1 Macau Japan:
1. Yvan Muller (Fra) Lynk & Co 03 TCR 8 laps in 20:30.047;
2. Norbert Michelisz (Hun) Hyundai i30 N TCR +0.405;
3. Kevin Ceccon (Ita) Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR +1.644;
4. Rob Huff (GBr) Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR +2.153;
5. Thed Bjork (Swe) Lynk & Co 03 TCR +2.882…
20.Tom Coronel (Ned) Cupra TCR +28.746…
Race 2:
1. Yvan Muller (Fra) Lynk & Co 03 TCR 8 laps in 20:28.159;
2. Thed Bjork (Swe) Lynk & Co 03 TCR +0.455;
3. Kevin Ceccon (Ita) Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR +0.932;
4. Esteban Guerrieri (Arg) Honda Civic TCR +1.896;
5. Johan Kristoffersson (Swe) Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR +5.305…
13. Tom Coronel (Ned) Cupra TCR +12.908…
Race 3:
1. Andy Priaulx (GBr) Lynk & Co 03 TCR 11 laps in 27:58.428;
2. Rob Huff (GBr) Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR +0.352;
3. Jean-Karl Vernay (Fra) Audi RS3 LMS +1.193;
4. Johan Kristoffersson (Zwe) Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR +1.855;
5. Nicky Catsburg (Ned) Hyundai i30 N TCR +20.030…
11. Tom Coronel (Ned) Cupra TCR 23.884…
Press Release,