Although there has yet to be any official word on his plans for the 2008 season, Tom Onslow-Cole says he is focused on fighting at the front in his second year in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Onslow-Cole, who finished tenth in the standings this season at the wheel of the Team RAC BMW 320si, will move to pastures new for 2008 after leaving the WSR-run outfit at the start of the month – with a number of teams currently being linked to the 2006 Clio Cup champion.

With a successful debut campaign under his belt, the 20-year-old will hope to build on the first win he secured at Snetterton during 2007 to try and break into the top three in the standings.

"I don't quite know what the list of options is for me at the moment but I want to be in the BTCC again and I am pretty sure that is where I will be," he wrote in his latest Crash.net column. "I enjoyed the season I had immensely and it has been the realisation of a dream for me. As soon as I started testing the car it was a case of 'right, lets step up my goals for the year ahead' and I achieved the goals I set myself. I wanted a podium in the first half of the year and a win in the second half and I got that, so I think we just need to get sorted out, reassess the goals, and have another crack at it.

"It is hard to set goals without knowing where I'll be racing, but at the start of the year it is always a realistic goal to say you want to fight for the championship. As a driver, you aren't going out there to finish second and every driver wants to lift the title. I think it is possible next year but once the season is underway, it might be a case of looking at things again and reassessing the goals. But as a general goal, I'd love to break into the top three."

Onslow-Cole added that his debut season had been a rollercoaster road at times, with two main highlights and one stand-out disappointment.

"From a personal point of view, there were a number of highlights for me going through the season," he said. "The second place finish at Rockingham was great moment for me as I have wanted to be in a touring car since I was knee high and to be there on the podium in just my fifth race was absolutely fantastic.

"But then the RAC event at Snetterton was also fantastic and it was an unbelievable feeling to win there in front of the home crowd - I couldn't have picked a better time to take my first win! The feeling crossing the line, and the pictures I have from it, are things that I will never forget.

"Of course, the season wasn't all about the highs, and the biggest disappointment for me was my 'small slip-up' in qualifying at Oulton Park. I think it was only three or four laps in when I had a pretty big off at Cascades and put the car in the wall, although fortunately there wasn't too much damage done. However, it put us out of qualifying and left me down in 19th place on the grid.

"There were decisions that went against us during the year, like at Knockhill, but that mistake hurt me the most and I really punished myself most for that. It was a difficult weekend all round but one I can't really remember that well as I've blocked it out of my mind now!"