"How much bad luck can one have", surely, Tom Coronel must have asked himself after qualifying for the ninth and tenth round of the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship. More than 50,000 spectators came to watch the races at the Hungaroring near Budapest. The 40-year old Dutch driver had unexplained handling problems in qualifying. This prevented the ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC to figure at the front of the field. And to top it all, the stewards of the meeting issued a penalty after it was discovered that a software cable was still connected to the car during the parc fermé procedure, which is prohibited by the regulations. Coronel had to start the ninth season round from the back of the grid. After one lap, he was already in the top twelve, continued his charging drive and ended up sixth. In race two, he again started from the back. After a reasonable start, his progress was halted for a while by the turmoil in the first corner. Thus, Coronel lost contact to the front runners. Nevertheless, he kept up his fighting spirit and recovered to finish twelfth. He is now tied in fourth place of the drivers' standings with Gabriele Tarquini. #TomCoronel
17 окт 2024
