Tom Coronel

Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch auto racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim (whose middle name is Alfa) is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, the Formula Nippon championship in 1999, and the 2006 World Touring Car Championship Independents' Trophy.

He is currently still racing in the WTCC, with some SEAT backing, for the Sun Red SEAT Team in a Seat León.

Biography

Early years

Coronel was born in Naarden.

He started his racing career in 1990 racing in the Dutch Citroen AX Cup, after being named the most talented driver in the local racing school. After a learning debut year, he started to become successful in 1991. With four victories and 105 points he won the title; he also won an international Citroen AX race in Barcelona. He moved up to the Dutch Touring Car Championship in 1992 competing in a BMW 320i. He was crowned champion that same year, beating his older brother and team mate Raymond Coronel. He also started to compete in the Dutch Formula Ford championship, with team Fresh. At the end of 1992 he decided to focus his attention on single seater racing.

He stayed with team Fresh in 1993 and again was a strong competitor. Victorious in three races, he won the Dutch Formula Ford championship that year. Also he came in second in the Benelux championship, behind the Belgian driver Geoffroy Horion (who lost the Dutch championship to Coronel). His participation in a few German Formula Ford races resulted in a handful of podium finishes. He finished ninth in that year's Formula Ford Festival.

European formulae

In 1994 Coronel debuted in the Euroseries Formula Opel Lotus, racing for the Dutch Van Amersfoort Racing team. With eight pole positions and two victories he was successful, but lost the championship to Marco Campos. He won the nations cup for the Netherlands together with Donny Crevels and was elected 'Dutch Driver of the year'. This gave him the financial funds he needed to compete in the next year's German Formula Three championship.

Racing for the WTS team (which delivered previous champions as Michael Schumacher and Jos Verstappen), he was teamed up with Ralf Schumacher. The team used a Dallara chassis which was powered by Opel engines. Scoring 74 points in sixteen races, he finished seventh in the championship results. He did not perform well in the international Formula Three classics, failing to finish in Macau and Monaco and finishing fifth in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort.

Moving to the Far East

Coronel decided to search for success far from home, signing up to compete in the Japanese Formula 3 championship with team TOM'S for 1996. He scored his first victory at the Sugo circuit, and this along with five second places earned him the third spot in that years championship. He came in second with the Dutch Prema Power team at the annual Monaco Formula Three race.

He stayed with TOM'S for the next season, the team traded in their own chassis for a more competitive Dallara and used Toyota engines. Coronel dominated the championship, winning six out of the seven races he competed in. His lead was so comfortable that he could afford to miss two races to compete in the Macau Grand Prix and Marlboro Masters. Earlier in the year he was taken out in the leading position at the Monaco Formula Three race, but he was successful for his home crowd in Zandvoort. Starting from the fourth position he drove his way to the lead and followed through until the finish, becoming the second Dutchman to win the event after Verstappen.

Formula Nippon

It was time for Coronel to move to the next level. He stayed in Japan in 1998 competing in the Formula Nippon and Japanese GT championship, both for team Nakajima owned by former Formula 1 driver Satoru Nakajima.

Driving with a Reynard-Toyota combination, his first Formula Nippon season was expected to be a learning year. Coronel had a relatively poor season, due to some bad luck and the team having never previously worked with a non-Japanese driver. He performed much better in the GT championship. Sharing a Honda NSX with Japanese driver Koji Yamanishi the title was in sight until the last race. Eventually they became second when the car broke down in the formation lap of the last race.

No changes in Coronels programme were seen for 1999. In Formula Nippon he proved to be a strong contender for the championship title. At first his main rival reignig champion Satoshi Motoyama build up an advantage over Coronel. But during the year Coronel fought his way back to the front of the championship. Winning his first race at the Fuji Speedway he led Motoyama with four points into the last race at Suzuka. Driving side by side a slow starting Coronel and Motoyama crashed into each other in the first corner of the race. Since there were no other competitors for the title Coronel was instantly (but controversally) champion. He was not as successful in the Japanese GT that year, having no chances on the title. Tom made his debute at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jan Lammers' Racing for Holland. Teaming up with Lammers and Peter Kox the team kept up with the factory teams, but had to stop after 213 laps due to technical failure.

Formula 1 test

After his Japanese successes Coronel had gained some attention and he decided to focus his energy on finding a Formula One seat. In order to finance his Formula One ambitions, an investment plan was initiated. People could invest in Coronel by buying stocks in 'the Racing Dutchman B.V.'. When Coronel would become successful in Formula one investers would be repaid. Eventually the plan failed because some of the investors failed to meet the agreements. Coronel tested once for the Arrows team [cite news| title =The last pre-Christmas tests| publisher =Grandprix.com| url =http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns02269.html| date =1999-12-20| accessdate =2007-10-15] , but lost the chance for a seat in favor of Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa. Since Coronel had focused his full attention to Formula One, he found himself without a drive for the beginning of the 2000 racing season. He drove Le Mans for the second time with Racing for Holland and competed in some FIA GT races with Mike Hezemans.

Return to racing

With little racing distance covered last year, Coronel wanted to race a full season in 2001. He signed up for the works BMW team to compete in the Dutch Touring Car Championship. Just for the start of the season he was contacted by Lister to compete in the FIA GT Championship. Coronel agreed but had to miss some races since he already signed for BMW. He won races in both championships that year. Also he would compete with Stefan Johanssons team at Le Mans that year, but Johansson retired in the first part of the race.

Coronel moved to the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) in 2002, he participated for Carly Motors alongside Peter Kox and Gianni Morbidelli. They could not keep up with the works teams, but Coronel still harvested three podium finishes. He stayed with Carly in 2003 but had a 2002 spec chassis for most of the season and struggling to keep up. He and Duncan Huisman won the independents trophy for Carly Motors. He also made a one year return to the Japanese GT, winning one race in a now outdated Honda NSX. The 2004 ETCC season was very similar for him, although his teammate was now Paulien Zwart, his partner. They won the independents team trophy for the second consecutive year and Coronel won the independent drivers title. He finished his first Le Mans race with Racing for Holland in 2002, finishing eight in the overall standings. He also made the finish in 2003, this time with a Spyker C8. Returning to Racing for Holland in 2004 he formed a high profile line up with Justin Wilson and Ralph Firman. However they failed to finish the race. There were some rumours that he had signed a third driver deal with Minardi [cite news| title =Minardi and Coronel| publisher =Grandprix.com| url =http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns12518.html| date =2004-02-19| accessdate =2007-10-15] , but there was never a contract.

WTCC

The European Touring Car Championship changed its format to a World Championship in 2005 and Coronel moved teams. He left Carly to join up with Team GR Asia, which used the SEAT Toledo. Coronel had a strong year in which he just missed the independents trophy in the last race. His luck changed for the better in 2006. With the all new SEAT León he did clinch the title, his second in two years. He continued his participation with team GR Asia in 2007, though less successful. In both 2005 and 2006 he drove at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Spyker, but failed to finish in both attempts.

In 2008, Coronel competes in the brand-new Sun Red SEAT Team in another León. He got his podium in Oschersleben and remains one of the most populair WTCC drivers. Autosport magazine votes him as one of the 10 best WTCC drivers.

Other activities

The Coronel family owns two indoor go-karting tracks in Huizen and Enschede. Tom co hosts an automotiveprogramma with his twin brother Tim and is a regular guest on the Dutch Formula one broadcast.

References

External links

* [http://www.tomcoronel.nl Official Tom Coronel website] nl icon en icon
* [http://www.driverdb.com/racingdriver533.html Tom Coronel at Driver Database] en icon
* [http://www.coronel.nl website of Coronel family and karting tracks] nl icon
* [http://www.autoxperience.tv website of Dutch TV programme that Tom co-hosts with his brother] nl icon