Tom Coronel has confirmed that he will once again compete in the TCR Europe series in 2022, this time in a latest-specification Audi RS3 LMS TCR run by Comtoyou Racing.
It will be Coronel’s fourth season in the European championship, although only his second full season, after his first two campaigns in 2019 and 2020 were limited to part-season entries due to clashing commitments.
Racing the new Audi, Coronel will stay with the Belgian Comtoyou Racing team for a third successive season.
The Dutchman won one race last year on his way to fourth overall in the championship, and he is keen to prove that age – having turned 50 a few days ago – is not a limiting factor for him yet.
“When something is good, then why change it,” said Coronel. “I am feeling very well with the car and in the team, my loyal partners want to continue, so I am delighted that I will be on the grid again for the upcoming season.
“TCR Europe Series is all about classic touring car racing that I love so much. A packed field, tough competition where people aren’t afraid of a little bit of contact, nice circuits and a good atmosphere off the track. That is making it nice for me to be in it again.
“And even more so when results are good, of course. In that respect, I had absolutely nothing to complain about last year!
“In the meantime, the new Audi is widely available and has already racked up the necessary race wins.
“With the earlier version in last year’s TCR Europe Series, I was still able to finish on the podium and even score race wins, in front of my home crowd at Zandvoort, no less, but now being able to race the new Audi in the European series as well is nice.
“With the new car, everything is just a little bit better. After all, development never stops in motorsport.”
Coronel will compete with the number 33 in the coming season, following a trend which started when he chose the number 30 in 2019 to celebrate his 30th year in motorsport.
“We continued that from then on: I raced with number 31 in 2020, with 32 last year and this year, obviously, with starting number 33.
“I thought, when Max Verstappen doesn’t want number 33 this year because he is allowed to race with number 1, I am more than happy to take it!
“But 33 combined with Audi is good, too, because it is also René Rast’s starting number and he already became DTM champion three times with it!”
Coronel is looking forward to racing as part of the DTM support package on three occasions in 2022.
“[The calendar has] really nice tracks and racing together with DTM again is great,” added Coronel. “Especially at Norisring, a street circuit that always attracts tens of thousands of spectators. I haven’t been there since my days in the German Formula 3 championship in 1995.
“No matter how long I have been involved in motorsport already: when spring comes, I can hardly wait to go racing again. I simply have that in me and it is something I most probably will never lose either.
“At the end of this month, we can get going again, I am really eager. I may have turned 50, but the race car doesn’t feel and doesn’t know how old you are…
“Don’t forget that Gabriele Tarquini became world champion when he was 57, so there is still a future in motorsport for me!”