What should have been one of the undisputed season highlights in the FIA WTCR – World Touring Car Cup, the two races supporting the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, turned out to be a huge disappointment: after numerous drivers had had problems with the tyres during the practice sessions, the planned races on Saturday morning were cancelled at the last minute following consultation between tyre supplier Goodyear, the global motorsport federation FIA and WTCR promoter Discovery Events. « Too bad because we really would have liked to race here, » said Tom Coronel, who was meant to participate with the Audi RS 3 LMS run by Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport.
However, it turned out to be a matter of ‘außer Spesen nix gewesen’, as the Germans say when expenses were made, but there was no tangible result to be had. In the practice sessions and in qualifying, various WTCR competitors had problems with the tyres. This was also the case for Tom Coronel: « In qualifying, I had quite a big hole in the left front tyre while the right front tyre had shifted on the rim, something that is unacceptable as well, of course. »
For other drivers, issues were even bigger which eventually led to the cancellation of the two scheduled races after consultation between parties involved. « Most teams and sponsors have many guests here, this really is a huge disappointment, but sadly, we don’t have any influence on this whatsoever, » Tom Coronel said. His next outing will be the third round of the FIA WTCR season at Hungaroring, 11 and 12 June.