New Malden’s Tom Onslow-Cole had feared he may never get back in to a touring car, but has set his sights on a British Touring Car Championship title challenge in his first full season back in the big time.

The 22-year-old was left without a drive at the start of last season having been released by previous employers VX Racing - despite having secured two race wins for the Vauxhall outfit.

He returned to the competition on a temporary basis with Team Aon towards the end of the season before landing a permanent race seat - alongside Tom Chilton - with West Sussex-based team.

Even then it was a decision to run Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) engines in the team’s Ford Focus, that persuaded Calor to get involved as sponsors, opening the door for Onslow-Cole’s return.

And the former Brooklands College student, who kicks off the season this weekend on familiar ground at Thruxton, is confident he can justify the move by challenging at the top end of the driver’s championship.

“Once you drop out it is always a worry that you won’t get back in. it is fantastic to be back actually racing rather than being known as the guy hanging around looking for a drive,” he said.

“If it hadn’t been for Calor coming on board then I wouldn’t be here. They came in last minute, but I have been able to at least do some testing and there was also the experience of last year to build on.

“By the look of testing times, it is going to be quite tight at the front of the grid and I would expect us to be there.

“We need to start off strongly, Three podiums is a good weekend. It is all about consistently getting on the podium. If we can do that then we are going to be challenging for the championship.”

Onslow-Cole spent last week at Thruxton taking guests out on driving experiences at the Hampshire circuit, in turn helping him get used to the circuit ahead of this weekend’s season opener.

He has spent the winter scraping together the funds needed to get on the start line and expects an equally hard battle for points on the track.

“It is a full-time job. It never really stops all year. You go from working all hours to get the money together, to working all hours racing,” he added.

“Touring cars is such a small community it is like being part of a family. I have made a lot of friends.

“At the moment I’m on good terms with everyone and if I’m not they haven’t made themselves known. But it can all change under the pressure of racing.”