Tom Coronel has called the Nürburgring Nordschleife ‘the best track on planet earth’ as he and the World Touring Car Championship gear up for this weekend’s races around the legendary venue.
Coronel may have not scored strong results in 2015, failing to start the opening race before claiming just eighth in race two. But despite this, the Dutchman is looking forward to his second WTCC meeting at the track, as the series returns to ‘the Green Hell’.
“It’s the best race track on planet earth,” said Coronel, who comes off the back of his first WTCC win in three years last time out. “It’s the most challenging track, it’s changing all the time. You can never do a lap perfectly. Every lap you have at least 10 times a near narrow escape and I don’t think anybody knows the track 100 per cent because that’s impossible.
“Whenever somebody asks me if I want to drive the Nürburgring Nordschleife I get an automatic smile on my face which I don’t get with anything else that I can do on planet earth. So you can imagine how far it goes.
“You have to be scared because if you don’t respect this track then you don’t respect anything on planet earth. This is the most challenging thing a race driver can find. It’s always in your mind that there is something scary but at the same time you feel privileged that you are allowed to drive this track.”
Coronel heads to the WTCC Race of Germany ninth overall in the drivers’ championship standings, having finished in the points four times already in 2016.
The WTCC timetable will take a different from for the Nordschleife event, with testing and first practice on Thursday, followed by second practice and qualifying on Friday. The opening and main races will then follow on Saturday morning.