Coronel closing on WTCC bid

Tom Coronel is determined to continue his FIA World Touring Car Championship adventure in 2016 – even though he concedes that he has yet to secure all the funding he needs for the upcoming campaign.

Coronel has raced in the WTCC since it was revived in 2005 and wants to add to his tally of 246 starts this season when he is expected to drive a ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1.

“I feel myself as a WTCC driver,” said the Dutchman, a podium finisher with ROAL in 2015. “I see this championship as a type of family so I try to be there again. It’s looking good but I’m not there yet. I’m talking with ROAL and [team boss] Roberto [Ravaglia] of course because I’ve worked with him for five years. We need to finalise the budget so I still have to work on the commercial side myself over the coming weeks. But I cannot see myself not being in the WTCC, let’s put it that way.”

Coronel suffered a luckless end to his 2015 WTCC campaign with a spate of non-finishes denting his points total.

“Last year we finished in a way that you don’t have to finish,” Coronel explained. “I travelled to China and I did 300 metres. I travelled to Thailand and I did 400 metres and that’s not a way to be in the championship because I am one of the drivers who normally has less damage but that’s the way it is. It’s green or red and I’ve hit a lot of red and probability wise I should hit a lot of green.”