Coronel to get new engine in Valencia
Eventhough he scored two points in the opening round of the 2008 World Touring Car Championship, Tom Coronel was frustrated by his race. The Dutchman, who's driving for the semi-works team SunRed team, started race two from pole position, but lost a lot of places during the race. Coronel has good hopes for the rest of the season, as he's getting a new engine for the third race of the season in Valencia.
By Rob Veltman Tuesday, 04 March 2008 18:45 CET
Tom Coronel started the new season with scoring two points in the first race, eventhough he finished 9th. He got promoted to 8th after Jordi Gené was given a 30 seconds penalty, and after race two he was even awarded with 7th place, because Augusto Farfus was excluded from the race results.
Coronel was overtaken by the BMW's of Priaulx and Porteiro just before the end of the race. "Curitiba is the most twisty circuit on the WTCC calendar", Tom said. "Our SEAT's are working great in the corners, but our tires also wear out faster than the tires on a rear-wheel-drive car, like the BMW's have. So they don't only have an advantage with the standing start, but they also have an advantage with the tire wear over the SEAT's."
At the start of the second race the BMW's showed what the advantage of rear-wheel-drive is, but the SEAT Léon TDI's were also a lot quicker on the long straight of the Curitiba circuit. By the time the field got to the first corner, Coronel had already dropped from first place to fourth. "First of all SEAT is very keen on winning the championship this year", Coronel said. "So they are very well prepared for the races. Apart from that, the track is on a 1000 meter height above sea-level. The air on that height is much better for a turbo diesel than for an atmospherical engine"
"It's quite frustrating. You can try to keep the drivers behind you for a while, but you know they'll pass you in two laps. The gap with the diesels is a lot bigger than I had hoped for. Last year I was able to keep some factory SEAT's behind me, but this year their advantage on this track was to big. On the long straight they had much more power."
"At the next race at Puebla, Mexico, it will be the same again. That circuit is even higher, at 2000 meters above sea-level. On the other hand, I've had pretty good results there in the past. It's still WTCC, always a lot of spectacle and seldom predictable."
Coronel is positive about the rest of the season though. "I think in Valencia you can see the real differences between the cars for the first time. I will get a new engine for Valencia, and that should improve a lot. I'm glad to be back and have the extra opportunities that the SunRed team has to offer. I'm sure we'll have some surprises this year".
![Luca [OT]](/data/avatars/s/3235/3235113.jpg?1697196734){kind=avatar}