EUROPEAN TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Magny Cours 2002
FIA European Touring Car Championship
21/04/2002
 
21/04/2002
Tom Coronel weekend views
 
The first race weekend of the FIA European Touringcar Championship 2002 at Magny Cours did not bring the results Tom Coronel hoped for. The Dutch driver of the Carly Motors / Isert BMW team suffered from mechanical problems during the whole weekend.

"On the first lap of qualifying a gear shaft broke, which effectively stopped my session. This also explained my 18th spot on the grid for the first race. Fortunately I was able to gain some places right after the start, but as the race went on I dropped down a bit. I was suffering from brake problems so I had to take on a defensive driving style. Despite that I lost one position on the last lap which put me down in 12th place. In the 15 minutes break between the races the Carly Motors Team Isert engineers gave it their all to improve the brake balance. In the early stages of the second race it seemed to work, but I could not use it to good effect. To make things worse I hit the Nissan of Tommy Rustad and in the end I had to park the car with a bent steering rod. Of course it is a big disappointment, but I knew that you can both win and lose a lot in the first race. For me that was all there was today. Of course with nine rounds still to come nothing is really lost at the moment. In the next two weeks we will try to improve the car in order to make a better showing at the next round at Silverstone", Coronel said after the race. Tom Coronel is supported this year by Apex, Seiko, Bertelli and McGregor

The first round of the ETCC was very much an Italian affair. Both races were won by Fabrizio Giovanardi, followed by his Alfa Romeo teammate Nicola Larini.



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