Tom Onslow-Cole took his second independents’ class victory of the season at Croft for West Surrey Racing, and closed in on the top three in the independents’ standings.
After qualifying in 10th place, the 25-year-old took seventh, sixth and finally a podium in race three with second, his best result since his last race win at Donington Park in 2010 for Arena Motorsport. Finishing second behind Jason Plato also meant he took his second independents’ class victory of the year, after achieving the same in race three at Oulton Park.
“It’s better than some of the others have been, but still not exactly what we’re looking for,” said Onslow-Cole to TouringCarTimes. “The signs are all very positive, the car has been quick all weekend, we’ve just been slightly unlucky with a bit of contact.”
Onslow-Cole was up to fifth place in the first race, before he was hit at Tower bend by Mat Jackson, who’d locked up with a braking problem, which dropped him to 14th but he was able to work his way back up to seventh by the chequered flag.
“(Mat Jackson) just made a small mistake and locked up and got into the back of us, these things happen when you’re racing so close. It was just a shame as it put us on the back foot for the rest of the day – but we’ve come through and had a good result at the end there, so we’re fairly happy.”
All three West Surrey Racing BMWs were battling at the front in the final race, and Onslow-Cole echoed team-mate Rob Collard’s comments that the team has made some good steps forward with the car in the last few races.
“I think the changes we’ve made to the car have been productive all round,” said Onslow-Cole. “I think we should have a good car at most circuits, the BMW is a good chassis, we’ve got a good powerplant unit, and we’re getting a handle on it all.”
After scoring 46 points in the independents’ trophy at Croft, Onslow-Cole has closed up to within 12 points of Mat Jackson in third and is just 55 points behind current points leader Andrew Jordan at the half way mark of the season.
“I think the independents’ is still in sight, the main championship is definitely out of reach now I’d say,” said Onslow-Cole. “But the independents’ we’re going to fight hard for, we’re all racing for EBay, we want the teams’ championship and hopefully (we can also get) the drivers’ one.”
