Tom Onslow-Cole
| Tom Onslow-Cole | |
|---|---|
|
Onslow-Cole at the Silverstone round of the 2013 British Touring Car Championship season. | |
| Nationality |
 United Kingdom |
| Born |
16 May 1987 Kingston (England) |
| British Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2007 |
| Current team | Airwaves Racing |
| Car no. | 6 |
| Former teams |
PPCGB.com/Kraftwerk Racing eBay Motors Team Aon AmD Milltek Racing VX Racing |
| Starts | 189 |
| Wins | 7 |
| Poles | 5 |
| Fastest laps | 13 |
| Best finish | 4th in 2010 |
| Previous series | |
| 2012 2004–06 2002 |
Superstars Series Renault Clio Cup T Cars |
| Championship titles | |
| 2006 | Renault Clio Cup |
Thomas Michael "Tom" Onslow-Cole (born 16 May 1987 in Kingston, Greater London) is a British auto racing driver. It was announced in April 2014 that he would not be returning to the British Touring Car Championship for 2014 and instead entered the British GT Championship driving in a factory-supported Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. In 2015, Tom is contesting the 24H Series with 2013 ELMS GTE class winners RAM Racing in its #30 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3. He has so far stood on the podium at every round, including Dubai 24 Hours, and took the overall race win in the 24 Hours of Paul Ricard. He hopes to take the GT3 driver championship win at the championship finale the 12 Hours of Brno in October.
Career
Team RAC (2007)
Onslow-Cole began his career in karting at the age of eight.[1] He was the 2006 Renault Clio Cup champion, winning the title by 113 points from his nearest rival. This allowed him to graduate to the BTCC for the 2007 season. He finished 10th overall in the championship standings for West Surrey Racing after recording 4 podiums, including his maiden victory at Snetterton.
VX Racing (2008)
In 2008, Vauxhall acquired his services and placed him into the third Vectra along with previous champions of the series, Fabrizio Giovanardi (2007) and Matt Neal (2005 & 2006). He took pole position for round 3 at Donington Park, leading race 1 until dropping to third through an off-track excursion. He was also strong in race 3, before being hit by Giovanardi, but recovered to finish third. He recorded another pole at Thruxton and followed this up with his first 2 wins of the season in races 1 and 2. He would go on to finish a career best sixth in the championship, scoring 170 points with two wins and nine podiums, including five podiums in succession.
Team Aon (2009–2011)
Having been replaced at VX Racing by Andrew Jordan, he started 2009 without a drive. Onslow-Cole drove the medical car during the second BTCC meeting of the season, at Thruxton.[2]
Onslow-Cole was brought in by Team Aon to replace Alan Morrison ahead of the round at Croft, where he was due to drive the medical car once again. He had to use Morrison's race suit and seat.[3] He rejoined the team later in the season for the final three rounds, before signing for the team full-time for 2010.
In 2010 Team Aon's Fords are powered by liquefied petroleum gas, and Onslow-Cole was confident of a title push pre-season[4] and the team claimed four of the season's first five pole positions.[5] His first win of the season was awarded to him after Chilton was excluded from the results at Brands Hatch due to a technical infringement; holding off Gordon Shedden by 0.009 seconds, the closest finish in BTCC history.[6] By midseason, other teams and drivers were complaining about their apparent straightline speed advantage.[7] Onslow-Cole scored stronger results than team-mate Tom Chilton early in the season, but in the first two races at Silverstone, Onslow-Cole moved over when leading to allow Chilton to take the victories.[8] Chilton's father is responsible for the team's sponsorship from Aon Corporation, but Onslow-Cole was able to win the third race.
In 2011, Onslow-Cole raced a NGTC-powered, Super 2000-specification Volkswagen Golf in the British Touring Car Championship, with AmD Milltek Racing.[9] It was announced on ITV4's live coverage on 5 June 2011 that he had parted company with the team, after the second race at Oulton Park. Onslow-Cole has returned to Team Aon to drive the third 'Global' Ford Focus alongside 2010 team-mate Chilton and Andy Neate.
eBay Motors (2012)
With Team Aon having left to go to the World Touring Car Championship, Onslow-Cole had to look elsewhere for a drive in 2012.[10] In February 2012 it was announced that he would join eBay Motors, the team for which under a different guise he made his BTCC debut with in 2007.[11] He finished on the podium for his first race back with the team at Brands Hatch. He went onto claim a further 6 Podiums leading him to 6th in the Drivers Standings.
Team HARD. (2013)
In January 2013 it was confirmed that Onslow-Cole would drive an NGTC Volkswagen CC for Team HARD. in the 2013 season in a three-year deal.[12] He took his first podium for the team at Thruxton where he finished third in race one and then he finished second in race two, his best result of the season.[13] He decided to miss the final three rounds of the season. at this stage he was placed 10th in the Championship.
Motorbase Performance (2013)
In September 2013, Onslow-Cole joined Motorbase Performance under their Airwaves Racing banner for the final three rounds of the 2013 season in a bid to improve the teams points tally in the constructors Standings. He achieved a best result of 4th and finished the year 12th in the Drivers Standings.
Strata21 (2014)
In April 2014 it was announced that Onslow-Cole would switch from touring cars to GTs, partnering Paul White in the 2014 British GT Championship for the Strata21 team, initially in a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3[14] before switching to an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The pairing managed to finish every round of the championship[15] and scored their first podium finish in the series when they finished third in the second race at the championship's Snetterton meeting.[16]
Ram Racing (2015)
Onslow-Cole remained in GTs for 2015, joining Ram Racing to race a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the 24H Series, and taking second places at the Dubai 24 Hours and the 12 Hours of Mugello[17] before scoring his first win in the series at the 24 Hours of Paul Ricard.[18] Outside of GT racing Onslow-Cole won the MSA RX Talent Search at Lydden Hill in May 2015, securing a drive in the RX Lites support race at the World RX of Turkey at Istanbul Park in October 2015.[19] He went on finish in third place overall in his rallycross debut and hopes to contest more rounds with the support of sponsor Rockstar Energy Drink.
Racing record
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)
* Season still in progress.
Complete International Superstars Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Ferlito Motors | Jaguar XFR | MNZ R1 |
MNZ R2 |
IMO R1 |
IMO R2 |
DON R1 18 |
DON R2 Ret |
MUG R1 |
MUG R2 |
HUN R1 |
HUN R2 |
SPA R1 |
SPA R2 |
VAL R1 |
VAL R2 |
PER R1 |
PER R2 |
41st | 2 |
Complete British GT Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Strata 21 | Nissan GT-R GT3 | GT3 | OUL 1 16 |
OUL 2 16 |
10th | 53.5 | ||||||||
| Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | ROC 1 4 |
SIL 1 10 |
SNE 1 9 |
SNE 2 3 |
SPA 1 14 |
SPA 2 6 |
BRH 1 7 |
DON 1 21 |
* Season still in progress.
Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results
RX Lites Cup
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Olsbergs MSE | Lites Ford Fiesta | POR | GBR | SWE | NOR | BAR | TUR 3 |
ITA |
13th* | 22* |
* Season still in progress.
References
- ↑ "Tom unimpressed by all the title talk". Norwich Evening News (Archant). 6 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ "Onslow-Cole's outing". Autosport. Vol. 196 no. 5. 30 April 2009. p. 21.
- ↑ O'Leary, Jamie. "Onslow-Cole gets Arena Ford call up". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
- ↑ Amos, Stuart (29 March 2010). "Onslow-Cole ready for BTCC title assault". Elmbridge Guardian (Newsquest). Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ Hockley, Chris (5 August 2010). "Tom Wants to be a Cool Guy". The Sun (News International). Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ "Tom Onslow-Cole inherits race two honours". Brands Hatch (MotorSport Vision). 2 May 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ "Aon hit with restrictions". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 22 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ "Chilton doubles up in controversial fashion". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 22 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ O'Leary, Jamie (21 March 2011). "Onslow-Cole in shock VW move". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 21 March 2011.
- ↑ Turner, Kevin. "Onslow-Cole keen to stay in BTCC". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ↑ "It's three eBay BMW turbos". BTCC.net. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ↑ "HARD. Passat for Onslow-Cole". btcc.net (TOCA). 2 January 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ↑ "Double top for Neal". British Touring Car Championship (TOCA). 5 May 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ↑ "Tom Onslow-Cole joins British GT". British GT Championship. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ↑ "Onslow-Cole reflects on GT switch". British GT Championship. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ↑ "Onslow-Cole hails team-mate over maiden British GT podium". Croydon Guardian. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ↑ "MOTORSPORT: Onslow-Cole sets pace with Ram Racing". Croydon Guardian. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ↑ Amos, Stuart (13 July 2015). "Motorsport: Onslow-Cole wants more wins for RAM". Croydon Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ↑ Ridge, Hal (21 May 2015). "BTCC winner Tom Onslow-Cole wins rallycross talent search". autosport.com. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
External links
Media related to Tom Onslow-Cole at Wikimedia Commons
- Official site
- Profile at BTCCPages.com
- btcc:action Profile
- Career BTCC Results
- Interview with Daily Express newspaper
- One of the btcc 2013 passat cc cars sponsors
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