World Touring Car Championship stalwart Tom Coronel is to race in the Buenos Aires 200 Kilometres event of the Super TC 2000 season, just one week before the Argentina round of the WTCC.
The event will be the first time that Coronel has taken part in the Argentinian tin-top series, with the Dutchman joining the likes of fellow WTCC racers José María López, Rob Huff, Alain Menu, Yvan Muller, Gabriele Tarquini and Nicola Larini who have also taken part in the championship.
Coronel will be at the wheel of an Escudería FE Peugeot 408 car in the race, which takes place on 31 July, sharing the car with Luciano Farroni, who himself was the 2015 TC2000 runner-up.
“The Buenos Aires 200 Kilometres is a motorsport event with a long heritage and this year, it takes place one week before we race in Argentina with the FIA World Touring Car Championship,” said Coronel. “It was an opportunity too good to miss.”
Coronel explains that the opportunity arose when he met Escudería FE Team Principal Ruben Salerno during a round of the German VLN endurance series at the Nürburgring earlier this year.
“We have raced there several times with the FIA World Touring Car Championship and I visited the country on numerous occasions for the Dakar rally,” added Coronel. “During this meeting, we discussed the possibility for me to race in the Buenos Aires 200 Kilometres and that sounded very interesting to me.
“The only thing is that I have to miss out on a few days of our family holiday during the WTCC summer break, but even my fiancée Paulien immediately said that I should do it, so who am I to say no?”
Coronel adds that he is looking forward to driving the pure-bred, tubular-framed racing cars, which all feature a spec-engine.
“The engine power is a little higher than that of our WTCC cars and the engines rev up to 12,000 rpm, so they are genuine competition cars.
“I asked my good friend, Argentine racing driver Norberto Fontana, for his opinion and he also said that I had to do it because he was certain that I am going to have a good time there!
“There are not too many Dutch drivers who have raced there, so that is something special.
“I expect a good crowd and a great atmosphere, and what better way could there be for me to prepare for the WTCC round the following weekend at Termas de Río Hondo?”