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Unus Alladin

Ask anyone in the paddock to describe Tom Coronel and responses would probably range from "insanely bonkers" to "lightning quick". But you'd struggle to hear anyone say anything bad about the 42-year-old who celebrates 25 years in motor racing in Macau next weekend.
Coronel returns to his favourite circuit as the FIA World Touring Car Championships (WTCC) enters the final two rounds of the 2014 season.
Dutchman Coronel will be looking for his first Macau victory after twice coming close to celebrating on the podium.
The Macau races would not be the same without one of the sport's most colourful and flamboyant characters.

	Party tricks? No problem. Oh yes, I'm still eating glass. No problem. Fire paper, with lamp oil, no problem … shaking up beers turning upside down … I'm still doing that

	Tom Coronel
Outgoing, outlandish and somewhat outrageous, Coronel will certainly add something extra to the race weekend.
And when it is time to party, nobody does it better.
Leading in two races in 1997 (Formula Three) and 2001 in the WTCC with just two laps to go, legend has it that Coronel was already thinking of which bar he would be celebrating in … until he crashed.
"It's entirely possible," laughed Coronel, who returns to Macau with ROAL Motorsport in a Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 and is currently seventh in the overall WTCC standings.
"Macau is always the end of the season, and you can relax a bit. I also think that after you race and it's all done, you can celebrate. This is completely true.
"That's Tom Coronel," said the fun-loving veteran driver of his wacky misadventures. "Of course, it's not always partying. You need to concentrate at times, but outside of that, you need to have a free mind. Also when I see how overly serious people are, I might come out and tell them to relax. That's my style, it has always been like this. In Macau, it's always extra outgoing in that place. It's suitable for this.
"Party tricks? No problem. Oh yes, I'm still eating glass. No problem. Fire paper, with lamp oil, no problem … shaking up beers turning upside down … I'm still doing that."
And Coronel wants everyone to know that he'll be partying again as he celebrates 25 years of motor racing in Macau.
"I think I have been to Macau 12 times. It's my 25th anniversary of racing and you need an excuse to party. I found one," he laughs.

Partying - or the thought of partying - might have cost him when he was leading the Formula Three Macau Grand Prix in 1997.
"I was leading the race by three and a half seconds with only two laps to go. At that moment, I was looking in my mirrors and I crashed at Mandarin Corner, very soft against the guard rail. I broke my rear suspension. It was a red-flag situation and [Soheil] Ayari won the race.
"It was one of those wins which should have been on my CV. I won the [Formula Three] Marlboro Masters that year. I was leading in Monaco in the Formula Three race until I crashed. The same thing happened in Macau.
"I could have been the only driver to have won all the big three Formula Three events, but for my overconfidence and because I think I drove a bit too easy," said the Dutchman.
Hong Kong's Darryl O'Young paid tribute to his former ROAL Motorsport teammate.
"It was great being teammates with him in 2013. He's full of energy and rarely says no to anything, which makes for some pretty interesting moments. We managed to become good friends and I learned a lot from his experience, as he was very quick in the BMW," says O'Young.
"He's had a great career and I don't see him slowing down anytime soon!"

Coronel keeps coming back to Macau to compete because he absolutely loves the Guia circuit.
"It's one of the most challenging circuits on planet Earth. It's because it's tight, it's fast, it's bumpy, and it's a one-off event. It's not like 'ah you come back next week'," he said in a more serious tone.
"No, no, it's once a year and all these things added together with no testing, it's an extra exciting circuit because one mistake and you can never win back time, you will always be behind all the others. If you have one crash, you lose one session, and that session, you can never win it back. People try to win it back and there's more pressure, and you crash again. In Macau, don't try to keep up to make up," he said.
Coronel has made his mark in Macau aside from his crashes and misfortunes. He set the fastest lap at the 1997 Formula Three race and finished third one year.
In the Guia race for touring cars in 2001, he finished and won race one. But in race two, he crashed again with just two laps remaining.
"It's the same situation. I should have won in the touring cars and I should have won in Formula Three.
"Even last year, twice I was leading the race [in the WTCC], and two times the red flag came out.
"The red flag cost me two places, so I finished third. Because I was leading by four or five seconds [before the red flags], they would not have caught me … never. We had a red flag and we had to restart and the other guy overtook me," he said.
Will lady luck smile at Coronel in Macau in 2014 and present him with the ideal gift for his 25th anniversary?
"It should. I have won everything in my career [he has four WTCC career wins]. But I have never won in Macau. There have been some opportunities, but somehow the luck was never on my side."
Always the traveller and adventurer, Coronel will fly to South America in January for the Dakar rally.
"Hopefully, I will drive in the WTCC again [in 2015], but I don't know at the moment," he said.
But what is certain is Coronel will arrive in Macau on a high. In previous WTCC rounds he scored successes in Beijing, where he finished second, and in Japan at Suzuka, where he took fourth place.
He was also third at Spa. A podium place in Macau is entirely possible.
"It's going to be a big celebration if we do get a podium place. A win would be extra special. There will be more reason to party," he smiled.


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The return of the high-flying Dutchman

Tom Coronel will be back at his favourite race meeting next weekend hoping for better luck than he's previously experienced in Macau. Photo: SMP Pictures

Tom Coronel keeps coming back to Macau to compete because he absolutely loves the Guia circuit.

The return of the high-flying Dutchman

Tom Coronel looks to celebrate 25 years' racing with an elusive Macau win