A pair of sixth places for Tom Coronel after strong recovery drivers in FIA WTCR Bahrain

2022 EVENT: WTCR Race of Bahrain TRACK: Bahrain International Circuit TEAM: ComToYou DHL Team Audi Sport CAR: Audi A3 LMS DRIVER: Tom Coronel

A pair of sixth places and twice the top spot in the WTCR Trophy for independent drivers: that was the outcome for Tom Coronel in the penultimate race weekend of the season in the FIA WTCR – World Touring Car Cup at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. « Too bad that we lacked two hundredths of a second in qualifying. Otherwise, I would have started further up. Now, I had to make up quite a lot of places, but that worked out nicely. I am very happy with this weekend, » said Coronel, who raced the Audi RS 3 LMS run by Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport.

The eighth race weekend of the season – although no race was held at Nürburgring – took the FIA WTCR to Bahrain where the series was part of the support programme of the eight-hour race of the FIA World Endurance Championship. « Nice here, a great venue and we had the first race on Friday night in the dark, but the floodlights made it really nice, » Tom Coronel said. « On top of that, there was an international air show going on here as well, with the jets flying past all the time, also quite a special experience. »

Coronel started the race weekend in the Middle East with seventh-fastest time in first free practice and the eleventh-fastest time in the second session. « We expected to be in the top twelve in qualifying fairly easily, which would have enabled us to advance into Q2 and be in contention for a grid position at the front because of the reversed grid of the top ten for the second race, but unfortunately, we missed out on the top twelve by just two hundredths of a second, so I ended up 13th on the grid for both races, » Coronel said.

In the first race, held on Friday evening, Coronel made good progress, managed to overtake one opponent after another and eventually was fourth across the line, but then race control gave him a five-second time penalty for an overtaking manoeuvre on Attila Tassi in which he had been slightly too enthusiastic. « From my perspective, it was a race accident, but anyway, that is part of the job. At least, the pace was good, » said Coronel, who, including the time penalty, was classified sixth. That also made him the best privateer driver for which he was allowed to receive the corresponding trophy during the prize-giving ceremony on the podium.

The second race was run on Saturday morning. « It was incredibly hot, » Coronel reported, « so we already knew beforehand that managing the tyres would be very important. The opening part of the race was hectic, there were many things going on in front of me, but I drove very safely, didn’t take any risks and that enabled me to make nice progress again. Indeed, it turned out to be very difficult with the tyres. It was very slippery, having oversteer with a front-wheel driven car is not easy at all, but it all worked out nicely in the end. » Like on the day before, Coronel was classified sixth, making him the best-placed privateer driver once more.

« A good weekend, » Coronel said looking back. « I worked very well with my engineer to find the right set-up, which we clearly managed to do. Especially the average race pace was very good, I was easily in the top three with that. That was good to know. Too bad that a top three result overall was beyond reach, but that is something we have to achieve next time at Jeddah! » There, in Saudi Arabia, the season finale will be held from 25th till 27th November, also the final weekend in history of the FIA WTCR – World Touring Car Cup that will not be continued after this season.

 

PUBLICITÉ