Current 24H Series GT3 champion Tom Onslow Cole has been signed-up by Scuderia Praha to race its Ferrari 488 GT3 in the 24 Hours of Brno, next month, but has to sit out the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series Cup, this weekend, as team-mate Ian Loggie has other commitments.
OC will join the 2015 12 Hours of Brno race-winners, Scuderia Praha, for the final round of the 2016 championship and can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the Ferrari.
“You know when a new car is launched and you think ‘I fancy a go in that’?” commented the Milltek Sport test driver. “I’ve always watched the team with great admiration and I’ve been liaising with the team manager Jiri since last season. I’m so pleased our situations have aligned and we are able to race together. Thanks to Jiri Pisarik, Josef Král and Peter Kox for having me as part of their team, I think we have a really strong line-up!”
Ivo Horn, team principal at Scuderia Praha added: “We raced Tom for some time and he has been always a tough one to beat! This time we are together and we think that we have a very strong line-up to defend our trophy from last year. Tom has a vast experience from 24H Series which bodes well with dealing with the traffic and the 488 is an easy car to drive, although quite a bit different to what he has driven this year. As usual, we are doing our best to prepare the car, will be first time for our 488 on Hankook tyres, and we are hopefully also due to some luck.”
It’s been a busy year for OC, who has raced with both RAM Racing and SPS Automotive Performance in the Mercedes AMG GT3; Team Parker Racing in the Bentley Continental GT3 and, most recently, with Milltek Sport in the Nürburgring’s VLN series.
“It’s a shame to miss out on the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series Cup but I can’t really complain,” OC added. “It’s a privilege to be out there racing and, once again, I’ve had another really busy year, with more still to come. I’ve had a great time racing the Bentley with Ian, Callum [Macloed] and the guys at Team Parker Racing and I wish the #30 drivers, Chris Harris and Derek Pierce, luck for the race.
“I also want to say good luck the Bentley Team M-Sport crew who are in with a chance of taking two titles this weekend. I’m looking forward to watching the race.”