ROAL Motorsport driver Tom Coronel is hoping that recent testing in Italy will pay dividends at Brno in the Czech Republic this weekend. The BMW driver recently completed extensive testing at the Adria International Raceway and is hoping to use the data for successful races this weekend.
“Brno is a particular circuit,” said Coronel. “A little bit over five kilometres long and with a lot of very long corners that you can negotiate at high speed. Especially when it isn’t raining, I would absolutely call it a BMW circuit. Another special thing is the undulation. I think that there are some 150 metres of altitude between the highest and the lowest points.”
Coronel, who is currently sixth in the championship and the best-placed BMW driver is hoping that his team’s track record around the Masaryk Circuit in the Czech Republic will help him to take some strong results.
“Roberto Ravaglia’s ROAL Motorsport team, the outfit I am racing for this year, has had a lot of success here in previous years and provided we don’t have any bad luck this time, that is what I should be able to do, too,” added Coronel. “In the last few races, we had too many little things that prevented me from scoring points. Now, luck has to come our way for a change, hasn’t it? It certainly wasn’t for lack of preparation. We have tested a lot and when it stays dry, we should be able to score many valuable world championship points and preferably a pair of silver trophies.
“The weather forecast is not really to our advantage, but that is only the forecast. In last week’s [Formula 1] Canadian Grand Prix, we have seen once more how difficult it is to predict what the weather will be like. Basically, we will have two races of nine laps each and especially when I am a little bit further up on the starting grid, I am quite confident. In case of a downpour, we know that the front-wheel driven cars have an advantage.”
Whilst driving a SEAT Leon last year Coronel was able to manage just one tenth placed finish at Brno. in what eventually turned out to be his worst weekend of the season. The Dutchman will be hoping for stronger results this year, in which he has already taken one podium finish.