Tom Onslow-Cole

Thomas Michael Onslow-Cole (born 16 May 1987 in Kingston, Surrey ) is a former British racing driver.

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.

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 two 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.

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.

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.

He finished 10th overall in the championship standings for West Surrey Racing after recording four podiums, including his maiden victory at Snetterton.

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 and the team claimed four of the season's first five pole positions.

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.

By midseason, other teams and drivers were complaining about their apparent straightline speed advantage.

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.

Chilton's father is responsible for the team's sponsorship from Aon Corporation, but Onslow-Cole was able to win the third race.

Onslow-Cole has returned to Team Aon to drive the third 'Global' Ford Focus alongside 2010 team-mate Chilton and Andy Neate.

at this stage he was placed 10th in the Championship.

In 2011, Onslow-Cole raced a NGTC-powered, Super 2000-specification Volkswagen Golf in the British Touring Car Championship, with AmD Milltek Racing.

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.

With Team Aon having left to go to the World Touring Car Championship, Onslow-Cole had to look elsewhere for a drive in 2012.

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.

He finished on the podium for his first race back with the team at Brands Hatch.

He went on to claim a further 6 Podiums leading him to 6th in the Drivers Standings.

He achieved a best result of 4th and finished the year 12th in the Drivers Standings.

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.

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.

He decided to miss the final three rounds of the season.

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 team's points tally in the constructors Standings.

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, Onslow-Cole won the GT3 class of the 24H Series after taking a podium at every round, including a second place at Dubai 24 Hours and a race win in the inaugural 24 Hours of Paul Ricard.

In 2016, he entered various 24H Series events in the Ferrari 488 GT3 and Mercedes AMG GT3, winning the 24 Hours of Brno and taking third at Paul Ricard.

He also raced for Team Parker Racing in the Bentley Continental GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Am class.

This year, he has a BMW factory contract for the Nurburgring 24 Hours and will contest Le Mans Cup, GT Open and various 24H Series races in the Mercedes AMG GT3.

Tom announced his retirement from racing quietly via an instagram bio update in 2023.

Onslow-Cole began his career in karting at the age of eight.

He won the International GT Open in Pro-Am category in 2018 and in 2019 and the 24H Series in 2015.