New Malden's Tom Onslow-Cole insisted the car was the as much the star after being crowned the inaugural 24 Hour Series GT3 drivers' champion on Sunday.

The 28-year-old and RAM Racing team-mates Thomas Jäger and Paul White took their Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 to a second placed finish at the 12 Hours of Brno event in the Czech Republic.

The result means RAM Racing, crowned GT3 team champions last time out, secured podium finishes in all six of the championship’s 12 and 24-hour endurance races, including second place in the Dubai 24 Hours and a win in the 24 Hours of Paul Ricard.

Onslow-Cole joined 2013 European Le Mans Series GTLM champions RAM Racing at the start of this season for the Dubai 24 Hours and impressed so much that they signed him up for the complete championship.

And he was delighted to have repaid their faith in him with a double helping of silverware.

“It feels great to be an international GT3 championship-winner,” said Onslow- Cole, who bagged a podium on his RX Lites debut in Turkey last weekend.

"I’ve raced with many teams in my career and RAM Racing is up there at the top with the very best.

"I came into GT racing two years ago and, in that time, I’ve completed eight 24-hour races and five 12-hour races, in addition to a season of British GT and various other single event races.

"The 24H Series has been the ideal place for me to catch-up on seat-time and perfect what’s needed to be successful in GT and endurance racing.

“The Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 is most certainly one of the best GT3 cars out there.

"It’s durable, reliable and easy to drive. The service from AMG Customer Sports has been very impressive, too. I can’t wait to get my hands on the new AMG GT GT3.”

Onslow-Cole shares the 24H Series GT3 Driver’s title with AMG works driver Jäger and the former Brooklands College student paid tribute to all his team-mates after claiming the crown.

“It’s brilliant to complete our podium run. We engaged in a great battle with Scuderia Praha, which after seven hours saw us leading by just 0.150 seconds," he added.

"Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day to take the win, but claiming the titles doesn’t half make up for it.

"A massive thanks to RAM Racing, they have been faultless all year, and, of course, to my team-mates Thomas [Jäger], Cheerag [Arya], Adam [Christodoulou], Paul [White] and Jeroen [Bleekemolen]."