New Malden’s Tom Onslow-Cole will defend his 24 Hours of Paul Ricard title this weekend – but not with RAM Racing.

The 28-year-old, who has endured an otherwise miserable season in the 24 Hour series, has agreed terms to drive the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes AMG GT3 machine in France.

Onslow-Cole won the 24H Series in the GT3 class in 2015, taking the 24 Hours of Paul Ricard win along the way, but he is currently 13th in the driver standings.

“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,” he said.

Ram's Paul White sits this weekend's race out and Onslow-Cole former team-mates Roald Goethe and Stuart Hall have taken the chance to reunite with old ROFGO Racing regulars Jamie Campbell Walter and Dan Brown in the RAM Mercedes AMG GT3.

Meanwhile, Onslow-Cole called SPS' Stephan Sohn 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," said the former Brooklands College student.

"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."

Sohn 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.”