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Tom Coronel concludes 2013 FIA WTCC in style with Macau podium finish

Macau, November 17th, 2013 - Like in previous years, the 2013 FIA WTCC season was concluded at the 6.12 kilometres long and challenging Macau street circuit. For 41-year old Dutch driver, Tom Coronel, qualifying went according to plan and with a little bit of luck. Thus, tenth place on the grid for race one brought him pole position on the reversed grid for race two. This meant that he didn't take too many risks during the first race, in which he finished tenth, in order to make the best possible use of his good starting grid position for the second encounter later on the day. Coronel, who raced the blue and white ROAL Motorsport-BMW 320 TC for the final time, had a great start and took the lead right away. A big crash behind him brought the red flags out almost immediately. After some time, the second start followed behind the safety car and once again, Tom Coronel had the best getaway. However, he was under a lot of pressure, particularly from Lada driver Thompson, who led the rest of the field. Halfway through the race, the second big accident happened. Yellow flags, a safety car and red flags followed. Again having spent some time on the starting grid, the Dutchman was to start the race while in the lead for the third time, but with only a few laps still to run. In spite of a good start, Coronel eventually had to let multiple Macau race winner Rob Huff and the fairly hot-headed Spaniard Oriola with his Chevrolet through. Thus, Tom Coronel concluded his season with the ROAL Motorsport-BMW 320 TC with a well-deserved and hard-fought third place. In the final World Championship standings, he has a total of 162 points.

At the end of the weekend, Tom Coronel commented: "It was a hectic weekend, but that is what you expect when coming here. The circuit is great, but also very tricky at some points. And here, more than at other circuits, you are also dependent on what other drivers do. These races always attract a lot of competitors and these are not always the people you are racing with all season long. Because of these larger grids, there are more cars on the track, so you have to adapt your strategy accordingly. In first qualifying, I was third pretty quickly, but then I dropped back a little bit while still remaining in the top 12. Together with the team, I decided to save a set of fresh tyres for the second qualifying. There, I was driving behind Michelisz who made a mistake just in front of me. I lost some time and dropped back to tenth. In hindsight, that was great, because it put us on pole position for the second race."

"In the first race, I had a fairly good start, but I didn't really get involved in any battles. My main goal was to bring the BMW home without any damage for the second race. And there, we really got value for money! The race was started three times. My first start was good and I was able to pull a gap over the rest, led by James Thompson, who wasn't able to keep up with the BMW. Thus, I extended my margin. Soon after that, I heard and I saw that there was a red flag because several cars had collided. My second start was good again and once more, I was able to pull a slight gap. But once again, some others got it wrong and we had to line up on the starting grid again as the red flags were out. At the third start, I lacked a buffer behind me and Rob Huff soon closed the gap with his SEAT that was clearly faster. I defended my position for a while but he was really quicker. Then, Oriola came past with the Chevrolet. On the straights, he was faster as well and there was no way for me to keep him behind me. Thus, I finished third. A good result and a trophy in which was my final race with the ROAL Motorsport BMW. Being on the podium after the final race of the season is always good."

"Now, a long winter is upon us, because returning in the FIA WTCC for next year will not be easy. Budgets are significantly bigger and we know that BMW will not build a car for the new regulations. As ROAL Motorsport has strong links with BMW, switching to another brand is not an easy thing to do just like that. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic and I will work very hard to be racing in this category again next year. It will not be easy, but I am really considering this as my challenge for the upcoming months. Anyone interested in supporting me is more than welcome to get in touch," Tom Coronel says.

Video footage of Tom Coronel during the final season weekend of the 2013 FIA WTCC is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGOPlbA4-k&feature=youtu.be

Result Race 1: 1.Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze) 9 laps in 22:54.522; 2. Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC) +1.265; 3. Rob Huff (SEAT Leon WTCC) +1.592; 4. Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC) +5.147; 5. Alex Macdowall (Chevrolet Cruze) +7.096 op 16.441 and 10. Tom Coronel (ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC) +21.806.

Result Race 2: 1. Rob Huff 11 laps in 1.23:32.152; 2. Pepe Oriola (Chevrolet Cruze) +0.723; 3. Tom Coronel (ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC) +1.173; 4. James Nash +2.909 and 5. Alex Macdowell (both Chevrolet Cruze) +3.428.