Thompson, James (race car driver)

Among friends and fans of motor sport, James has the nickname Tommo ( eng. Thommo ).

Early years

Thompson first sat behind the wheel in 6 years: on a family farm, he spent the race on a specially tuned car for him. At age 14, he took part in local automotive tests, driving a Ford Escort .

In 1990, James spent his first races in karting competitions, and a year later, after finishing the racing school of Jim Russell, he spends a couple of seasons in the national championship of the junior Formula One Vauxhall . Despite some advances in funding for the continuation of a career in form, he is not and the Briton switches to body racing. In 1993, Thompson participated in the national championship among sedans, and in 1994 he debuted in the main national championship - in the BTCC .

In the first season, James shows himself well behind the wheel of a private Peugeot, and in 1995 he moved to the factory Vauxhall team. Thompson spends the first half of the season very much, becoming the youngest pilot to win the series, but the unpleasant accident at the stage in Nockhill , Which led to eye damage, causes him to miss five stages of the championship. At the same time, he still finishes seventh in the individual competition.

The year 1996 is less successful, and then Vauxhall changes its partners in the series, moving from the RML Group to Triple Eight Race Engineering . Thompson does not remain with any of the projects, having gone to Honda / Prodrive . The move justifies itself - the Briton regularly fights for podium positions in races and is fifth in the season, ahead of his partner Gabriele Tarquini by several points. In the same season, he spends several races in the German Super Turism Championship . In 1998, James manages to spend a year in the British championship so stable that for the first time at the end of the season he becomes the winner of his personal record. The racing program of the season is complemented by several stages of the Belgian touring .

In 1999, Thompson again changes the team: Honda finishes cooperation with Prodrive and goes to West Surrey Racing , Thompson goes there too. The year turns out to be less stable, but all changes in the offseason only lead to a minimal deviation in the individual competition: the Briton at the end of the 4th season, having won four victories. A year later, the Briton combines performances in the British touring with performances for Abt Sportsline in the DTM . In the BTCC, due to a minor injury, he misses two stages and finishes the year with the 9th, and in Germany, speaking on unfamiliar tracks, he finishes only ten times in ten races in the scoring area.

2001—2012

In 2001, the Briton goes to Triple Eight Race Engineering , returning to Vauxhall . The team declares it to the main, but rather poorly presented class in that year Touring . Thompson is quite stable, ranking third in the season. In the same year he participates in European supertourism.

In 2002, the competition in the BTCC Touring class grows, which turns into the hands of Thompson: the champion of the 2001 season Jason Playto became interested in stock car races and in 2002 went to ASCAR , and the vice-leader of last year's championship, Ivan Muller, greatly slowed down the stability of results, winning in the 2002 season, only five wins against ten last year. As a result, Thompson, even having gained 15 penalty points for the unlimited replacement of the engine at the end of the season, could more than confidently win the championship, beating the vice-champion of the same Muller - by 20 points. The level of training equipment will allow the Frenchman and the British to make the fight for the title a matter of internal disputes: in 2003, Ivan replays James, but in 2004 Thompson takes revenge.

Since 2003, the Yorker has been working more and more actively with N.Technology in ETCC . A couple of seasons the parties quite successfully cooperate on a partial schedule, and in 2005, with the transformation of the European Championship into the World Cup, Thompson finally goes into this series, throwing the British touring. The first season in the WTCC turns out to be quite successful - James regularly fights in the group of leaders, periodically fights for victories. At the end of the year he will finish eighth in the individual competition.

In 2006, N.Technology undergoes major changes: the project loses Alfa Romeo support, funding goes down, and part of the staff leaves the team. James moves to SEAT Sport . The first half of that season is very stable, though Thompson does not win, but regularly finishes with points, but in the second half of the year there is a long unsuccessful series - Thompson six races in a row can not get into the scoring group and rolls back to the eighth place in the individual competition. In parallel, the Yorkers will also be involved in the British tour on an incomplete schedule: James wins three victories there and, even having missed four stages of the series, takes the sixth place in her personal standings.

Cooperation with the Spanish brand is brief and in 2007 Thompson returns to N.Technology . The once great strong team was now only one of the middle peasants of the world championship, but by concentrating all its efforts on the James car, she was able to impose the struggle on the WTCC factory teams. After an unsuccessful start of the season, when the first points were obtained only in the fifth race, Thompson was able to gradually catch up with the leaders, scored two wins, was on the podium many times and only a couple of points did not reach the vice-champion title. In 2008, the results plummet - the transition from Alfa Romeo to Honda , started in the off-season, with insufficient funding does not bear fruit, and at the end of the year the project leaves the championship. James does not find a place in the World Championships and re-enters the regional series: c 2008, he periodically participates in races in the Danish Championship, in 2009 he starts at the BTCC and in the V8 Supercars . In 2009-10, James wins the European Cup twice in the S2000 class.

Performances in various regional championships are periodically interspersed with performances in the World Championships, where, since 2009, Lada Sport has been using its services.

Summary Table

Racing car body

WTCC

Bold marked start from pole position, italics - the fastest lap in the race.

•   Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Thompson

• Official site (eng.)

• Profile (English) on the Driver Database website