Tom Onslow-Cole has taken his maiden touring car win with a lights to flag victory in Round 21 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk today. In a weekend of firsts for the Team RAC driver, Tom started from his first pole position of the season and beat Mat Jackson off the line to take an immediate lead he was never to lose.
Despite coming under intense pressure in the closing stages, Tom held his nerve and the place to cross the line nearly three seconds ahead of reigning champion Matt Neal, multiple race winner Fabrizio Giovanardi and championship leader Jason Plato.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it’s awesome, so good,” said Tom. “It was particularly good as it wasn’t gifted, it was a tough race from start to finish, I got a bit of a break in the last couple of laps, but to have someone of Jason’s stature behind me and to be able to hold him off was a great confidence boost. I’m on such a high now, I think I might be flying to the next round not driving!
“I don’t think it was necessarily my best race ever as I started from pole and should have always been in with a shout, but it’s definitely my most memorable. I’m ecstatic, it’s been such a good weekend confidence wise, and I feel I’ve got everything under my belt now. It’s tough out there but I’m getting used to it and I think I’m able to hold my own.
“With Snetterton being the home track of Team RAC, I couldn’t have picked a better place to perform like that, from word go really, putting it on the front row with Colin it was always going to be a good event for the team and the support here has really been amazing. You could actually hear it in the car, people shouting, it was unbelievable. Definitely I want more now!”
Race one saw Tom start from his first front row slot, after qualifying second alongside his team-mate Colin Turkington. At the lights Tom made the better start and for almost half the lap, the pair ran side-by-side until Tom edged ahead to lead. For five laps he held the place, gradually pulling away until a minor error allowed not just Colin through, but also Gordon Shedden. He held on though to take third at the flag, but was later elevated to second after Turkington was found to be underweight and dropped to the back of the grid.
Race two had Tom again start from the front row and another great getaway saw him lead into the first corner before the success ballast applied from race one’s third place finish, took its toll. As a result, as the youngster struggled with the extra weight, he dropped to seventh after the safety car had been deployed for an incident.
At the restart, he looked set to make a move on Mat Jackson for sixth, when the safety car was deployed for the second time, and with Shedden into the pits with a gear selection problem, Tom finished sixth at the flag, which with the reverse grid, would give him pole for the day’s final race. “I struggled with the extra weight and found it much more difficult,” he said. “It really was an action packed race. I was watching all the action unfold from the pack in front and to be honest was happy enough not to get too involved.”
Results of Race 1 – 18 laps
1 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 22:05.923
2 Tom Onslow-Cole BMW 320si 22:06.732 3 Tom Chilton Vauxhall Vectra 22:07.134
4 Mat Jackson BMW 320si 22:07.833
5 Fabrizio Giovanardi Vauxhall Vectra 22:09.523
6 Darren Turner SEAT Leon 22:19.603
Results of Race 2 – 21 laps
1 Fabrizio Giovanardi Vauxhall Vectra 32:08.399
2 Matt Neal Honda Civic 32:09.597
3 Jason Plato SEAT Leon 32:10.076
4 Darren Turner SEAT Leon 32:10.832
5 Mat Jackson BMW 320si 32:11.093
6 Tom Onslow-Cole BMW 320si 32:11.526
Results of Race 3 – 18 laps
1 Tom Onslow-Cole BMW 320si 22:07.246
2 Matt Neal Honda Civic 22:09.947
3 Fabrizio Giovanardi Vauxhall Vectra 22:10.498
4 Jason Plato SEAT Leon 22:10.154
5 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 23:12.214
6 Colin Turkington BMW 320si 23:12.767
Championship positions after 21 rounds:
1 Jason Plato 209
2 Fabrizio Giovanardi 195
3 Matt Neal 154
4 Gordon Shedden 139
5 Colin Turkington 113
6 Mat Jackson 111
7 Tom Chilton 108
8 Darren Turner 107
9 Mike Jordan 98
10 Tom Onslow-Cole 95
