NÜRBURG (June 2, 2024) – “I’ve experienced a lot in almost 35 years of motorsport, but this was something special again,” said driver Tom Coronel after his 15th participation in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Due to thick fog, only a third of the race could ultimately be completed. “It feels different, but safety comes first,” said Coronel. Together with his teammates Paul Meijer, Jan Jaap van Roon, and Tiago Monteiro, he finished seventh in the Porsche Cup class and 26th overall with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of the German team Max Kruse Racing. “We will definitely be back next year,” Coronel announced.
“This race is just incomparable to anything else, so incredibly cool.”
Tom Coronel – GT3 Driver at Max Kruse Racing
It was clear beforehand that the weather would have a significant impact on the 52nd edition of the annual 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. On Thursday, the first two training sessions took place under changing conditions, while the third qualifying session on Friday took place on a dry track, but rain and fog were predicted for Saturday. In the combined result of the three qualifying sessions, Coronel’s car and his teammates finished in seventh place in the class, which was also the team’s starting position for the race. “It depended on how much traffic you encountered, you just had to be lucky,” said Coronel. “I lost a good four seconds in one sector. That was unfortunate, but otherwise, I was right there and it went really well.”
The race started at 4:00 PM on Saturday, while it was already raining during the formation lap. Coronel took the start in the Porsche with start number 127 on rain tires. That turned out to be the right choice: he immediately moved up from seventh place and took the lead in the class on the Grand Prix circuit, leading his starting group onto the Nordschleife. “Leading was super exciting because you have to feel the road surface yourself, how much grip there is, but fortunately, it all went well,” he reported afterward. During his stint, Coronel fought a beautiful duel with one of the other Porsches, with the two 911s exchanging the lead in the class several times in traffic. Ultimately, Coronel managed to bring the car in as the class leader at the end of a double stint for the driver change.
After his teammates completed their stints, Coronel got back in late Saturday night. However, the conditions deteriorated almost by the minute. His story: “I was driving at Schwedenkreuz, where we normally go 250, and I already told the team over the radio: ‘I just can’t believe this!’ I only had the white line to orient myself, visibility was that poor. And indeed, half a lap later, the red flag was waved, indicating that the race was stopped. It really was impossible.” The race director announced after the interruption around 11:30 PM that there would be no racing until at least 7:00 AM on Sunday morning.
Thus began the long wait. “I went to my camper and slept because there was nothing else we could do,” said Coronel. The situation did not improve on Sunday either. Ultimately, five laps were driven behind the safety car from 1:30 PM, but a restart at race pace was no longer possible due to continued poor visibility in several places, so the race director finally declared the race over.
“I’ve gained a few new experiences again,” said Coronel. “Driving a Porsche in the rain on the Nordschleife was new for me, but I quickly felt good with the car. Driving when the red flag came out was intense. It feels different that we could only drive a third of the normal race duration, but during the hours we could race, I had a great race. My teammates also did a great job. Paul (Meijer) was superb in his debut in the 24-hour race, Jan Jaap (van Roon) drove an incredible stint in the rain, and Tiago was also very strong. The combination was really a good choice, so count on us being there again next year!”
