Touringcar race highlights Moscow WTCC with Tom Coronel 2016.
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Moscow, June 12, 2016 - Changeable weather conditions had a considerable effect on proceedings and the outcome of the two FIA WTCC races at Moscow Raceway in Volokolamsk, in use since 2012. At the almost four kilometres long race track in the wider area of Moscow, Tom Coronel claimed a fourth and a seventh starting grid position with the ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet Cruze.
In qualifying, the Dutch driver looked set for tenth place for a long time, which would see him on pole position for the first race. However, margins between the various drivers were very small and thus, chances were considerable that another driver could take that good grid position. Tom dared to gamble a little bit, but not too much. That was the reason he stayed out on track with his DHL yellow car till the very end and eventually improved his lap time. That resulted into the starting grid positions that, according to Coronel, reflected the positions where he should be in the field. On Saturday, weather and track conditions changed many times and on the Sunday of the races, the first big rain drops appeared on the windshields as the formation lap got underway. That prompted race control to declare the race a ‘wet race’, leaving the choice between tyres with less or more profile to the drivers and teams. Tom Coronel opted for rain tyres.
In the first race, the main objective was to stay on the asphalt without any damage and to make it to the finish. The ROAL Motorsport Cruze had a hard time on the wet track, but Tom Coronel battled it out with others. He won and he lost some ground and ran between sixth and eighth place, not a bad result given the conditions. Halfway through the race, the stewards of the meeting decided to impose a drive through penalty to two drivers for not having been correctly lined up in the starting grid boxes. One of the drivers involved was Tom Coronel, who dropped back and finished twelfth as a result. For Coronel, the second race started with a brief off-track excursion from the still very slippery asphalt in the first corner. Several of his opponents went past on the inside. Soon after that, Coronel was slightly hit and got off the track again, but this time, the rear axle was damaged, making it almost impossible to drive the car. The only thing left to do for the Dutchman was head into the pits and retire. #TomCoronel