Coronel surprised with third on grid
| By Edd Straw |
Sunday, April 6th 2008, 14:05 GMT |
 Dutchman Tom Coronel has admitted his surprise after qualifying his non-factory SUNRED Engineering SEAT Leon TFSI a stunning third for the second round of the World Touring Car Championship at Puebla.
Coronel outqualified four of the five works SEATs, with only pole position starter Jordi Gene ahead of him, and has said he will go all out for an against-the-odds maiden WTCC triumph.
"I was really surprised," Coronel told autosport.com. "But I think we're really on top of this circuit. Sometimes you have a feeling that you are unbeatable, just one or two times a year, when you know you could put Michael Schumacher in the car and the speed would be the same!
"That's how it felt in qualifying. I didn't make a lot of mistakes and everything came together. I thought a top eight would be possible, but this? No.
"I will just go for the win in the race. My car feels fast and consistent and I'm not and independent so I have to fight for every championship point!"
"The track is very low grip - offline it feels like driving on ice. Street circuits, low grip and rain - these are my opportunities to score big points because at normal circuits I have no chance, we don't have the power for that."
Although Coronel believes it will be difficult for him to get into the lead on outright pace because of the straightline speed disadvantage, he is confident it will be possible to pressure the pace-setting SEAT diesels and Chevrolets into mistakes.
"The good thing is people can make mistakes," he said. "And if you make a mistake hear you get a big punishment. This is one of my hopes - that the people in front of me make mistakes.
"You can push people, and although it's difficult to overtake because they are faster on the straights you can push them into mistakes. That's when you can pass them!"
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