Tom Onslow-Cole will return to defend his 24 Hours of Paul Ricard title, this weekend, but not alongside his usual RAM Racing team-mates. Instead, the British racing star will join rivals SPS Automotive Performance in their identical Mercedes AMG GT3.

As Paul White sits this race out, due to work commitments, Roald Goethe (DE) and Stuart Hall (GB) took the chance to reunite with old ROFGO Racing regulars Jamie Campbell Walter (GB) and Dan Brown (GB) in the RAM Racing car. Meanwhile, OC called Stephan Sohn from SPS and kick-started a relationship they had been talking about for a while.

“I met Stephan [Sohn] at the Mercedes AMG Stars and Cars event in December and discovered a mutual desire to drive together. After a few discussions, we were unable to put anything together due to clashes and other commitments but, with this change in my calendar, things fell into place overnight.” commented the Milltek Sport-sponsored driver.

Stephan added: “We’re very happy to have Tom in the car, this weekend. It was in my head for a long time and now there is an opportunity. We’ll give it a try and see what are the options for the future. We think Tom will fit in perfectly to our team, as you have to be a bit crazy!”

OC won the 24H Series in the GT3 class in 2015, taking the 24 Hours of Paul Ricard win along the way. He is determined to take the race win again alongside new team-mates Lance David Arnold (DE), Alex Müller (DE), Valentin Pierburg (DE) and Stephanie Kox (NL) in the IMG Worlds of Adventure Dubai-liveried Mercedes.

“Stephan runs a fantastic team, one that I’ve battled against many times,” the Rockstar Energy Drink Athlete added. “The competition for this race looks strong, but so do we, and I’m looking forward to working with the SPS crew and battling it out at the front.”