Tom Onslow-Cole will return to BTCC action at the wheel of one of the Team HARD. built VW CC’s for the Dunlop BTCC tyre test at Snetterton on the 11th July.
Onslow-Cole last raced with Team HARD. back in 2012 in the 1st ever VW CC to appear on the Dunlop BTCC MSA touring car grid and had great success out the box with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finish in only its 3rd race weekend at Thruxton. The car went on to have lots of success over the last few years and now back at their original home, the team are continuing to work hard to find the sweet spot.
The engineering team have been working hard over the winter and the first half of the season but as yet have only shown glimpses of the ultimate pace needed to compete at the front of the grid. The competition is very tough nowadays with a number of drivers capable of winning, so the need to find the perfect set up is critical. Bringing Onslow-Cole in to the fold will hopefully help the team find what has been missing as they look to build on their promise.
Onslow-Cole said, “The BTCC is bigger and better than ever and although I have been away from the grid building a successful GT career, the appeal of the BTCC never goes away. It will be interesting to drive one of the new RML specification touring cars and see how they have changed over the last few years. I have always kept in touch with Tony and the team and the invitation to come down to help the team progress further was too good an opportunity to miss.”
Tony Gilham added, “Tom is a very professional and proven racing driver in many disciplines and so to get him in to work with us to develop the BTCC car with his touring car experience is a no brainer. Not only that but he has driven the car previously and we believe Tom can add a massive amount to our programme. It’s no secret we have invested a lot of time and money into the cars over the winter, so we need and want to find the maximum possible from the cars. It has been a tough start to the season and we haven’t achieved so far what we set out to do. We have some developments to bring to the table and hope to find what we are looking for.”
Onslow-Cole continued, “I recently met with Tony and the team to discuss what we will be working towards on the day and I feel that I can help them in the areas required. It will be very interesting to see how we end up at the test and go from there. I’ll always have a place in my heart for the BTCC and would never rule out a return at some point as long as it fits in and around my other commitments both on and off track.”