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ETCC: Barcelona: Tom Coronel race notes
First ETCC points for Tom Coronel in Carly Motors BMW. The season opener of the ETCC (FIA European Touring Car Championship) which is part of the LG Super Racing Weekend took place at the Spanish Montmelo track near Barcelona. The Dutch Carly ...
Edited: Jul 2, 2009, 5:39 PM
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First ETCC points for Tom Coronel in Carly Motors BMW.
The season opener of the ETCC (FIA European Touring Car Championship) which is part of the LG Super Racing Weekend took place at the Spanish Montmelo track near Barcelona. The Dutch Carly Motors team lined up two BMWs 320i which were being piloted by Tom Coronel and fellow Dutchman Duncan Huisman. Tom Coronel rounded of his first race of the day with an eighth place which gave him pole position for the second race due the ETCC regulations. In this race he also finished eighth, which brought him not only two championship points, but also the lead in the Michelin Independents Trophy with two class victories. Duncan Huisman had a crash in the first race and due to the damage he was unable to take the start in the second race.
The day before the race Tom Coronel celebrated his 31st birthday with a tenth place in qualifying. "With this result I was right behind the BMW and Alf Romeo factory cars", birthday boy Coronel explained. "These guys have considerably larger budgets than us. That's why the FIA decided to put us in the Independence Trophy. Our target will of course be to win this championship this year. The first 20 points for this are already in the pocket now. By moving up two places in the first race I became the best privateer which means a class victory. Especially the battle for eighth place was exciting as I was fighting with Alfa Romeo factory driver Colciago. This brought me into eighth place and therefore on pole for race two. This year the top 8, in stead of previously the top 6, is put in reverse order for the start of the second race of the day. Of course I tried to hold on to my position, but I could not hold back the more powerful BMWs and Alfa Romeos behind me. Furthermore my car was set up to save the best of the tyres for the end of the race, so that's why I lacked some grip in the early part of the race. The tactics worked however as I managed to hold on to eighth which gave me another championship point", Coronel concluded
In both races the Dutchman in Carly Motors BMW managed to keep up with the leaders, and even better, he managed to build up a gap to the people behind him. The mission of the Dutch team may be clear now: winning the Independents Trophy for privateers
The races were won by respectively Gabriele Tarquini in the Alfa Romeo and Dirk Müller in the BMW.
The participation of Tom Coronel in the FIA ETTC is made possible by his Dutch sponsors: McGregor, Apex, Castrol, Bridgestone, Autobedrijf Beelen en Clifford.
Standings FIA ETCC after 2 races: 1. Gabriele Tarquini 15 points; 2. Dirk Muller 14; 3. Jorg Muller 13 en 8. Tom Coronel 2.
Standings Independents Trophy after 2 races: 1.Tom Coronel 20 points; 2. Alessandro Balzan 14; 3. Fabio Francia 14; 9. Duncan Huisman 1
-www.coronel.nl
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