Tom Coronel joins Boutsen Ginion Racing for the 2018 WTCR season
Since 2005, there was no FIA WTCC season without Tom Coronel. Now, when WTCC merged with TCR International Series into the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup, the 45-year Dutchman would be again on the grid of the world’s premier touring car competitions. Coronel will drive the #9 Honda Civic Type R TCR for Belgian team Boutsen Ginion Racing, alongside Tiago Monteiro in the #18 Honda.
After seven WTCC seasons with ROAL Motorsport, at the wheel of BMW 320 TC or Chevrolet Cruze TC1, Tom Coronel is ready for a new adventure with the team and the car which he already knows. Coronel was driving Boutsen Ginion’s Honda Civic in one round of the 2017 TCR International Series and almost entire season of the TCR Benelux series.
Coronel will enter the 2018 WCR season with the support of loyal partners and sponsors from the previous seasons. That means he would retain familiar all-yellow colour scheme with DHL logo on the sides.
“World touring cars are my life, it’s my style of racing, it’s explosive and I’m no longer letting other drivers have the fame, it’s possible for me also to have more opportunities to win. I know the car and the very good team I have chosen from TCR Benelux, I know the tyres, I know the drivers, I know the tracks and I know the tricks. This will be the most competitive year for touring car racing for 10 years and I really like the close racing. I would rather come second with a big fight than win a race leading by 10 seconds,” said Coronel.
François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCR promoter, said: “It’s great that Tom will continue to race in the FIA’s premier touring car series. He’s very popular, a great ambassador and never stops promoting himself, his partners and, of course, what he’s racing in. He’s not always had the car to be able to fight consistently at the front but whenever he’s had the opportunity in the past he’s made the most of it. Driving a Honda Civic at Boutsen Ginion Racing alongside Tiago Monteiro is certainly a big opportunity and he becomes another frontrunner on the WTCR grid.”