With an exciting international programme of endurance races, spread across the Nürburgring-Nordschleife and well-known European circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps, Barcelona and Paul Ricard, Tom Coronel returns to the GT3 category, together with his regular partner Jan Jaap van Roon. At the Nürburgring, Coronel and Van Roon, supported by Rudy van Buren, will compete in three races of the NLS championship plus the 24-hour race. They will be racing an Audi R8 LMS GT3 run by German team Max Kruse Racing. The programme also includes races in the Gedlich Winter Series and the Michelin 24H Series organised by Dutch agency Creventic, in which Coronel and Van Roon will race an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo from the Belgian Comtoyou team. « This will be a fantastic programme with well-known partners. I am delighted to be able to race a GT3 again, » says Tom Coronel.
The first appearance is already scheduled as early as this weekend, when Coronel and Van Roon will share driving duties in the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin in the final round of the Gedlich Winter Series at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. « This will be the first time since 2019 that I will be driving a GT3 car, but we have tested and it went very well, so I am ready, » laughs Coronel. He has years of experience on the circuit in Montmeló, Spain: « I drove there for the first time in 1991, the year the circuit opened. I won the European Citroën AX Cup race. Let’s see whether we can take home another trohy this weekend, » says the Dutch driver.
A week later, on Saturday 21 March, Coronel and Van Roon, together with Rudy van Buren, will be driving for the first time this year at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife during the 58th ADAC Barbarossa Prize, the second round of the season in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). « At the Nürburgring, we will once again be working with Max Kruse Racing, with whom we also raced last year, but for this season we are switching from the Porsche 911 Cup car to the Audi R8 LMS GT3, which is clearly a step up, » explains Coronel. « With the Audi, we will be competing in the SP9 class, the highest category in the races at the Nürburgring, where the competition is stronger than ever this year. And of course, it’s really cool for Dutch drivers to race alongside Max Verstappen, who will also be competing next week. »
On 11 April, Coronel and Van Roon will also be competing in the third NLS race of the season. The Dutch duo will be driving alongside German driver Christian Kohlhaas. The NLS races are important events in the run-up to the highlight of the season, the 24-hour race, which takes place from 14 to 17 May and in which Coronel, Van Roon, Van Buren and Kohlhaas will be competing as a quartet in the Audi. « You can bet it will be another great event, with even more Dutch fans and media attention, » says Coronel, who is already visibly looking forward to it. « Later in the season, we will do another NLS race, because the Nordschleife remains the most beautiful circuit to race on. »
In the meantime, Coronel and Van Roon will also be participating in two events of the Michelin 24H Series organised by Creventic, in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo operated by Comtoyou Racing. « First up is the 12-hour race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps from 17 to 19 April, which is of course a home race for Comtoyou, » says Coronel. « They already proved in 2024 that they know how to be successful at Spa with their victory in the 24-hour race there, also with the Aston Martin. From 5 to 7 June, we will be driving the Comtoyou Aston Martin in the 12-hour race at Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France. All in all, it’s a wonderful international GT3 programme, in which I will of course also be helping Jan Jaap to perform as well as possible. »
Calendar 2026
Audi R8 LMS GT3
21 maart – NLS 2
11 april – NLS 3
14 – 17 mei – 24h Nürburgring Nordschleife
12 september – NLS 8
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo
12 – 15 maart – Gedlich Winter Series – Barcelona, Spain
17 – 19 april – Michelin 12h Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
5 – 7 juni – 12h Circuit Paul Ricard, France