Say no to taking drugs but yes to eating glass
Tom Romeo Coronel loves the limelight - and what better way to be the centre of attraction than by eating glass. The Dutchman, who still has to win a title in Macau despite six years of participation, is an undisputed champion when it comes to entertaining his friends.
'I eat glass as a party trick. You have to chew it really well and it is no problem at all. My brother is a dentist and he says it is no problem. Glass is after all just sand. How do I eat it? Come tonight, I will show you how,' says Coronel (pictured).
With the competitors in the FIA World Touring Car Championship having a day off today before tomorrow's title-deciding race, Coronel would have been up to his tricks last night. We couldn't take up his offer, but the word around the circuit is that the Dutchman does love a pint.
'He is a party animal. I couldn't believe it when he started to eat the glass,' said one admirer. 'Why would anybody want to eat glass? It's crazy, but that is Tom Coronel. He is one real character, somebody who livens up the scene.'
Coronel, 33, loves Macau and says he waits eagerly to come every year to race and party. But his wild, impetuous nature has sometimes been his downfall - and he is the first to admit he needs to rein in his streak of recklessness.
'I have been here six times before. In 1996 I did the lap record in Formula Three and the following year I was leading in this race before crashing out. In 2001, I won the first leg of the Guia but then crashed out in the second leg.
'This circuit is all about surviving, it is a survival race,' Coronel said.
On the first day of qualifying, on Thursday, Coronel, driving a Seat Toledo Cupra, recorded the third fastest time. He could have gone faster, but the voice of experience told him to take it easy.
'I was telling myself, 'Tommy, slow down, Tommy, slow down'. I felt I could have gone faster but I didn't want to crash out. You get punished earlier on this circuit than on a normal track,' said Coronel.
A privateer, Coronel knows he will have his work cut out to match and beat the factory teams of BMW and Alfa Romeo, who are both in the race for the team title in this final leg of the WTCC.
'The factory teams have so much more resources than us. Their annual budget is in the region of Euro2 million [$18,232,000] while ours is Euro600,000. You can only do so much with that sort of money,' says Coronel.
But he will be giving it his best shot tomorrow. The only question for the glass-eating Coronel is whether he has bitten off more than he can chew this time.
