Tom Onslow-Cole

Tom Onslow-Cole

Nationality  British
Born May 16, 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 is to enter the British GT Championship driving in a factory-supported Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.[1]

Career

Onslow-Cole at Snetterton in 2007, the scene of his first British Touring Car Championship win.

Team RAC (2007)

Onslow-Cole began his career in karting at the age of eight.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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[5] and the team claimed four of the season's first five pole positions.[6] 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.[7] By midseason, other teams and drivers were complaining about their apparent straightline speed advantage.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] He finished on the podium for his first race back with the team at Brands Hatch.

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.[13] 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.[14] He decided to miss the final three rounds of the season.[15]

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 having left Tony Gilham Racing.[16]

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)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Pos Pts
2007 Team RAC BMW 320si BRH
1

5
BRH
2

15
BRH
3

6
ROC
1

8
ROC
2

2
ROC
3

Ret
THR
1

8
THR
2

7
THR
3

10
CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

7
CRO
3

2*
OUL
1

9
OUL
2

13
OUL
3

7
DON
1

10
DON
2

11
DON
3

8
SNE
1

2
SNE
2

6
SNE
3

1*
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

6
KNO
1

DSQ
KNO
2

13
KNO
3

10
THR
1

10
THR
2

10
THR
3

Ret
10th 109
2008 VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra BRH
1

7
BRH
2

6
BRH
3

Ret
ROC
1

7
ROC
2

5
ROC
3

Ret
DON
1

3*
DON
2

3
DON
3

2
THR
1

1*
THR
2

1*
THR
3

7
CRO
1

19
CRO
2

11
CRO
3

7
SNE
1

6
SNE
2

14
SNE
3

5
OUL
1

5
OUL
2

3
OUL
3

11
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

3
KNO
3

12
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

6
SIL
3

6*
BRH
1

9
BRH
2

8
BRH
3

3
6th 170
2009 Team Aon Ford Focus ST BRH
1

BRH
2

BRH
3

THR
1

THR
2

THR
3

DON
1

DON
2

DON
3

OUL
1

OUL
2

OUL
3

CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

NC
CRO
3

Ret
SNE
1

SNE
2

SNE
3

KNO
1

KNO
2

KNO
3

SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

13
SIL
3

14
ROC
1

14
ROC
2

Ret
ROC
3

9
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

9
BRH
3

12
21st 4
2010 Team Aon Ford Focus ST LPG THR
1

13
THR
2

12
THR
3

7
ROC
1

8
ROC
2

7
ROC
3

7
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

1*
BRH
3

10
OUL
1

1*
OUL
2

3*
OUL
3

5
CRO
1

8
CRO
2

5
CRO
3

2
SNE
1

6
SNE
2

3
SNE
3

16
SIL
1

2*
SIL
2

3*
SIL
3

1*
KNO
1

7
KNO
2

7
KNO
3

2*
DON
1

8*
DON
2

1*
DON
3

9
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

Ret
4th 200
2011 AmD Milltek Racing.com Volkswagen Golf BRH
1

13
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

12
DON
1

11
DON
2

7
DON
3

Ret
THR
1

7
THR
2

DNS
THR
3

10
OUL
1

11
OUL
2

16
OUL
3

DNS
13th 61
Team Aon Ford Focus CRO
1

11
CRO
2

10
CRO
3

13
SNE
1

8
SNE
2

8
SNE
3

11
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

11
KNO
3

8
ROC
1

19
ROC
2

12
ROC
3

Ret
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

3
BRH
3

7
SIL
1

4
SIL
2

3
SIL
3

7
2012 eBay Motors BMW 320si BRH
1

3
BRH
2

10
BRH
3

Ret
DON
1

5
DON
2

10
DON
3

9
THR
1

8
THR
2

13
THR
3

10
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

9
OUL
3

3*
CRO
1

7
CRO
2

6
CRO
3

2
SNE
1

6
SNE
2

7
SNE
3

2
KNO
1

2*
KNO
2

2
KNO
3

5
ROC
1

8
ROC
2

14
ROC
3

7
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

6
SIL
3

5
BRH
1

3*
BRH
2

15*
BRH
3

10
6th 281
2013 PPCGB.com/Kraftwerk Racing Volkswagen CC BRH
1

14
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

16
DON
1

13
DON
2

10
DON
3

6
THR
1

3
THR
2

2
THR
3

4
OUL
1

15
OUL
2

11
OUL
3

Ret
CRO
1

10
CRO
2

3
CRO
3

12
SNE
1

12
SNE
2

9
SNE
3

17
KNO
1

13
KNO
2

13
KNO
3

Ret
12th 152
Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST Mk.III ROC
1

Ret
ROC
2

9
ROC
3

12
SIL
1

15
SIL
2

Ret
SIL
3

13
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

9
BRH
3

13

* Season 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 in progress.

References

  1. "Nissan returns to British GT". Autosport 216 (1): p. 75. 3 April 2014.
  2. "Tom unimpressed by all the title talk". Norwich Evening News (Archant). 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  3. "Onslow-Cole's outing". Autosport 196 (5): p. 21. 30 April 2009.
  4. O'Leary, Jamie. "Onslow-Cole gets Arena Ford call up". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  5. Amos, Stuart (2010-03-29). "Onslow-Cole ready for BTCC title assault". Elmbridge Guardian (Newsquest). Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  6. Hockley, Chris (2010-08-05). "Tom Wants to be a Cool Guy". The Sun (News International). Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  7. "Tom Onslow-Cole inherits race two honours". Brands Hatch (MotorSport Vision). 2010-05-02. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  8. "Aon hit with restrictions". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2010-08-22. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  9. "Chilton doubles up in controversial fashion". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2010-08-22. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  10. O'Leary, Jamie (21 March 2011). "Onslow-Cole in shock VW move". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  11. Turner, Kevin. "Onslow-Cole keen to stay in BTCC". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  12. "It's three eBay BMW turbos". BTCC.net. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  13. "HARD. Passat for Onslow-Cole". btcc.net (TOCA). 2 January 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  14. "Double top for Neal". British Touring Car Championship (TOCA). 5 May 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  15. "TOC to miss remaining rounds". British Touring Car Championship (TOCA). 4 September 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  16. "Onslow-Cole joins Airwaves Racing". British Touring Car Championship (TOCA). 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.

External links

Media related to Tom Onslow-Cole at Wikimedia Commons