TOC Gets His Nürburgring Nordschleife Permit

Tom Onslow-Cole not only completed his Nürburgring Norschleife permit course at VLN7, but he took a podium in the Toyota GT86 Cup and racked up 13 race laps, which takes him more than halfway to getting his Nürburgring 24 Hours licence.

It was a change from OC’s usual 600+bhp GT3 machinery, this weekend. With more than 28kms of track to learn, he and long-term sponsor Milltek Sport opted to race in the Ring Racing Toyota GT86 with Nürburgring specialists Dale Lomas and Luke Gavris, as well as American racer Jean-Francois Brunot.

“You have to have respect for the Nordschleife,” he commented. “The Toyota GT86 is the perfect car to learn the track, while enjoying some competitive racing in the single-marque cup class. When it comes to team-mates, Dale and Luke not only know this place inside-out but they are fantastic at sharing information. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the ‘Ring.”

After completing an online learning course, a classroom-based tutorial and an on-track assessment, OC was granted his Nordschleife racing permit and the Ring Racing team started the six-hour VLN7 from fourth in class. After two stints and 13 laps, OC was in third place when he handed over to Luke, who took the chequered flag.

In order to gain his licence to race in the world-famous Nürburgring 24 Hours, OC must now complete one more VLN race-start and a further five laps of the Nordschleife.

“I can’t wait to come back and race here again,” OC continued. “I have a great respect for the circuit and the drivers who have mastered it. Seeing my Blancpain GT Series competition doing sub-eight minute laps is seriously impressive – the plan is to join them in the future. For now, I will continue to learn what is the most exciting and spectacular racing track in the world, giving it the respect that it requires.”

Managing Director Steve Pound said “We’re really pleased that Milltek have been able to give Tom the opportunity to take part in VLN7 with Dale, Lucas and Jean-Francois. The team did a great job to get a podium finish with the help of TMG, so we want to say a massive thank you to everyone for their commitment and look forward to what’s to come”.

Keep up to date with OC’s progress on our social channels where you will find three short video blogs showing his journey so far.