9 – Tom Onslow-Cole
Since his BTCC debut back in 2007 with Team RAC, Onslow-Cole has now competed under a total of seven different outfits in the series, the latest two arriving this season.
Team number six was Tony Gilham‘s musical chair-like Team HARD squad, hiring the experience of Onslow-Cole to assist the progress of their new creation – an NGTC Volkswagen Passat.
Onslow-Cole quickly showed his talent by forcing his way into the top 10 during only the second meeting of the season for the new machine, before going even better with a remarkable brace of podium visits at the ultra-fast Thruxton venue during rounds seven and eight to announce the car as a potential contender for BTCC success.
Another rostrum came his way at Croft in the much trickier weather conditions, before a swift change occurred in the second half of the season, when Onslow-Cole departed from the squad and appeared at Rockingham behind the wheel of an Airwaves Racing Ford Focus.
The added weight handicap that came with this move hindered his debut meeting at the Corby circuit, but strong showings at Silverstone and Brands Hatch challenged his team-mates Mat Jackson and Aron Smith, both with much more experience in the NGTC Focus.
