ComToYou Racing’s Tom Coronel was forced to miss the second TCR Europe race at the Nürburgring due to the Dutch driver’s commitments at Zandvoort during its Formula 1 weekend.
Coronel had competed in free practice, qualifying and Saturday’s opening race of the weekend aboard his Audi RS3 LMS TCR, but made several trips between the two circuits across the three days as he also worked as a pundit on Dutch TV for its Formula 1 coverage.
“(It’s) Such a historic moment at Zandvoort is something I don’t want to miss, of course,” explained Coronel.
“Especially when Max (Verstappen) is going to win it!
“On Sunday, I am on duty for Dutch TV station Ziggo at the circuit all day long, including the race preview and review shows from the paddock, together with Robert Doornbos and Rob Kamphues. Of course, I don’t want to miss this Formula 1 weekend!”
Coronel’s sole race in Germany ended with him taking fifth place and was the highest placed Audi driver on Saturday, much to the Dutch driver’s delight.
“Valuable points, fifth place as the best Audi driver, there is nothing wrong with that. On top of that, sixth place in qualifying means that I am just getting ten kilograms extra on board for the next races at Monza, that helps as well!”
“There were several battles going on in front of me, but I wasn’t quite able to close up”, explained Coronel.
“Eventually, Callejas, who had started from pole position, locked up under braking following a slight mistake on the final lap. That enabled me to overtake him on the inside at the Dunlop corner and that is how I finished in fifth place.”
Although his racing commitments were finished for the weekend on Saturday, The Audi driver also had to carry out work elsewhere as he explained.
“After that (the race), I immediately got into my camper and drove back to The Netherlands where I had to do a presentation for DHL at Schiphol airport on Saturday evening and another one on Sunday morning in a beach club in Zandvoort,” added Coronel.
The next rounds of the 2021 TCR Europe championship are set to take place at Monza in three weekends time.