From Citroen AX cups to a 1999 Formula Nippon title, a long run as an independent in the World Touring Car Championship and the Dakar Rally.
Tom Coronel is a Dutch driver who won the 1999 Formula Nippon championship and two World Touring Car Championship independents titles. He has raced more than 1,000 times, mostly without factory backing, and has taken part in Le Mans and the Dakar Rally.
Tom Coronel is a Dutch professional racing driver whose biggest results came in Japan and in the World Touring Car Championship. He won the 1999 Formula Nippon championship, took the WTCC independents' trophy in 2006 and 2009, and had raced more than 1,000 races by September 2016.
He is also known for a long run as an independent driver, first in a SEAT for many seasons and later with BMW, and for endurance outings at Le Mans, the Nurburgring and the Dakar Rally. He has no factory backing, but his experience means he is no longer treated as a pure independent.
Who is Tom Coronel?
Tom Romeo Coronel was born on 5 April 1972 in Naarden. His twin brother Tim is also a racer, and their father Tom Coronel Sr. raced too. His most important results are the 1997 Marlboro Masters of Formula Three race, the 1999 Formula Nippon championship and the WTCC independents' titles in 2006 and 2009.
Coronel began racing in 1990, after being named the most talented driver at a local racing school. He has continued to race ever since, and by September 2016 he had driven more than 1,000 races.
A Formula Nippon title, two WTCC independents titles and more than 1,000 races, mostly without factory backing.
How did Coronel start his career in the Netherlands?
Coronel entered the Dutch Citroen AX Cup in 1990. After a learning first year, he became successful in 1991, winning four races and 105 points to take the title. He also won an international Citroen AX race in Barcelona that year.
He moved up to the Dutch Touring Car Championship in 1992 in a BMW 320i, and he was crowned champion that year, beating his older brother and teammate Raymond. He also began racing in the Dutch Formula Ford series with team Fresh and decided to focus on single-seaters at the end of the year.
In 1993 Coronel stayed with Fresh, won three races and took the Dutch Formula Ford championship. He also finished second in the Benelux championship behind Geoffroy Horion and ninth at the Formula Ford Festival.
How did Coronel fare in European formula racing?
In 1994 he moved to the Euroseries Formula Opel Lotus with Van Amersfoort Racing. He scored eight poles and two wins, but he lost the championship to Marco Campos. He won the Netherlands nations cup with Donny Crevels that year and was elected Dutch Driver of the Year.
The following year he raced in German Formula Three for the WTS team, which had previously run Michael Schumacher and Jos Verstappen. He was teamed with Ralf Schumacher, and his Dallara ran Opel engines. He scored 74 points in sixteen races to finish seventh, though he struggled at the international classics.
Why did Coronel move to Japan?
Coronel moved east in search of success, joining TOM'S for the 1996 Japanese Formula Three championship. He won at Sugo, took five second places and finished third in the standings. The following year TOM'S switched to a Dallara with Toyota engines, and Coronel won six of the seven races he contested.
His 1997 Marlboro Masters win at Zandvoort was a home success. He started fourth, took the lead and held it to the finish, becoming the second Dutchman to win the race after Jos Verstappen.
How did Coronel win the 1999 Formula Nippon title?
In 1998 Coronel moved up to Formula Nippon and the Japanese GT championship with the Nakajima team. He drove a Reynard-Toyota in Formula Nippon, which was a learning year. In the GT series he shared a Honda NSX with Koji Yamanishi and they finished second when the car broke down on the formation lap of the final race.
In 1999 he was a serious title contender. He won his first race at Fuji and led Satoshi Motoyama by four points before the final round at Suzuka. There, the two drivers collided at the first corner, after Coronel had been slow off the line. Coronel was champion, though the result was controversial.
What happened with Coronel's Formula One ambitions?
Coronel tried to fund a Formula One drive through an investment plan in a Dutch company, with investors promised repayment if he succeeded. The scheme failed when some investors did not meet their commitments. He tested once for the Arrows team but lost a seat to Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa.
With no drive for 2000, he returned to Le Mans with Racing for Holland and competed in some FIA GT races with Mike Hezemans. He raced a full season in 2001 with works BMW in the Dutch Touring Car Championship, and he won races in both that series and the FIA GT Championship. That year he also drove at Le Mans for Stefan Johansson's team, but Johansson retired early in the race.
How did Coronel's touring car career develop?
In 2002 Coronel joined the European Touring Car Championship with Carly Motors, alongside Peter Kox and Gianni Morbidelli. The team could not keep up with the works cars, but he took three podiums. He stayed with Carly in 2003 and won the independents' trophy with Duncan Huisman. A one-year return to Japanese GT brought one win in an older Honda NSX.
In 2004 he won the independent drivers title in the ETCC, with Paulien Zwart as his teammate, and Carly won the independents' team trophy for the second straight year. In 2005 the championship became the World Touring Car Championship, and he moved to Team GR Asia in a SEAT Toledo.
In 2006 the new SEAT Leon brought him the title, his second in three seasons. In 2008 he raced for the SUNRED SEAT Team and earned a podium at Oschersleben. Autosport named him one of the ten best WTCC drivers, and that year he won his first WTCC race at Okayama, the second race of the event.
He won the independents' trophy again with Sunred in 2009. In 2010 he drove a turbo diesel Leon for SR-Sport and finished eighth in the standings, his highest ever. In 2011 he moved to ROAL Motorsport, formerly the BMW Italy-Spain works team, and won the second race at Suzuka for his second WTCC victory. In 2012 he continued with ROAL in a two-car effort alongside Alberto Cerqui. He stepped in for SEAT Sport UK at the final round of the 2007 British Touring Car Championship, at Thruxton, where the squad went on to take both its team and driver titles.
What were Coronel's endurance and rally results?
Coronel has raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for many years, including two outings with Spyker in 2005 and 2006 that both ended in failure. He has also raced for the Dutch Spyker Squadron in the Le Mans Series and taken part in one-off events such as the 24 Hours at the Nurburgring.
In 2009 he and his twin Tim entered the Dakar Rally in a Bowler Nemesis for the dakarsport.com team. They reached Buenos Aires in 70th place overall after 15 stages, covering roughly 6,000 km across two countries.
What does Coronel do off the track?
Two indoor karting venues, in Huizen and Enschede, belong to the Coronel family. Tom also presents a motoring programme alongside Tim, and he has worked on television, including Formula One broadcasts for Dutch channels and for Ziggo Sport and Viaplay.
