Slovakia Ring, Race 2: Coronel scores one for BMW

After Gabriele Tarquini’s lights-to-flag victory in Race 1, this time it was the turn of Tom Coronel to accomplish the same feat.

From the standing start, Coronel was first into Turn 1 and then never looked back, pulling away from the battle for second place that was being waged behind him and eventually crossing the finish line nearly three seconds clear. The Race 1 podium had been an all-Honda affair, but Race 2 saw three different manufacturers occupying the top three places; Yvan Muller finished second in a Chevrolet Cruze while Tarquini’s Honda was third. The maximum points in the Yokohama Trophy went to Alex MacDowall, who finished eighth in the bamboo-engineering Chevrolet.

When the lights went out, Michel Nykjær stalled his Chevrolet on the startline and was narrowly avoided by Fredy Barth’s BMW. With Coronel then driving an unchallenged race at the head of the field, the battle for the remainder of the podium places took centre stage; the SEAT cars of Pepe Oriola and Rob Huff both took turns at occupying second place, with mistakes by both drivers eventually allowing Muller to finish as runner-up to a clearly delighted Coronel. Tarquini followed up his Race 1 win with third place in Race 2 – results that move the Italian driver up into second place behind Muller in the Drivers’ Championship.

As if Coronel’s win wasn’t enough reason for his team to celebrate, his colleague Darryl O’Young eventually finished in tenth place, after the ROAL Motorsport team had worked long into the night repairing the extensive damage caused by his accident in Qualifying yesterday.

Key moments
Lap 1 – Nykjær stalled on the startline. Coronel was first into T1 ahead of Oriola, Huff and Monterio. Barth through the gravel at T1, with Nash through the gravel at T2.
Lap 2 – Contact between Monteiro and Muller at T1, with Monteiro dropping to 7th. D’Aste passed Michelisz for 8th
Lap 4 – Muller passed Huff for 3rd, but Huff re-took the place. Michelisz passed D’Aste for 8th. Monteiro passed Chilton for 6th
Lap 5 – Contact between Muller and Tarquini. MacDowall passed Bennani for 9th
Lap 6 – Oriola ran wide at T2, allowing Huff, Muller, Tarquini and Monterio to pass. Oriola. Nykjaer passed Thompson for 13th
Lap 7 – O’Young passed D’Aste for 11th. Barth passed Thompson for 14th
Lap 9 – Huff ran wide at T1, allowing Muller and Tarquini to pass. Michelisz dropped to 10th behind MacDowall and Bennani.
Lap 10 – Coronel took the win. Michelisz dropped back and eventually finished last.