James Thompson
Thompson at the2014 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium.
Nationality	British
Born	(1974-04-26)26 April 1974 (age 51) York, North Yorkshire, England
World Touring Car Championship career
Debut season	2005
Current team	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Car number	15
Former teams	Lada Sport Rosneft N. Technology SEAT Sport Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo
Starts	156
Wins	4
Poles	2
Fastest laps	7
Best finish	3rd in2007
Previous series
2011 2010–11 2009,2011 2009–10 2009 2008–10 2001,2003–04 2000 1998 1997 1994–2004,2006 1992	Lada Granta Cup Scandinavian Touring Car Championship British Touring Car Championship European Touring Car Cup V8 Supercars Danish Touringcar Championship European Touring Car Championship Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Belgian Procar Super Tourenwagen Cup British Touring Car Championship Formula Vauxhall Junior
Championship titles
2010 2009 2004 2002	European Touring Car Cup European Touring Car Cup British Touring Car Championship British Touring Car Championship

Edward James Thompson (born 26 April 1974 inYork,England) is a Britishauto racing driver. He has twice been champion of theBritish Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and theEuropean Touring Car Cup, and was third in the 2007 World Touring Car Championship.

Thompson started racing in the BTCC in a privately enteredPeugeot 405 in 1994, his performances earning him a factoryVauxhall drive for 1995. He became the youngest ever race-winner that year, also taking two pole positions, before his season was cut short by a crash at Knockhill giving him an eye injury. 1996 was a transitional year with the newVauxhall Vectra, although Thompson took a victory atSnetterton, moving up from fifth in a two-lap burst in whichRoberto Ravaglia andRickard Rydell collided,Joachim Winkelhock spun, andAlain Menu broke down.

In 1997, Thompson joinedHonda, finishing fifth in the championship in 1997, third in 1998, and fourth in 1999. He missed two rounds through a concussion sustained in a 12G backwards accident atBrands Hatch in 2000,^[1][2] but returned to racing at Knockhill,^[2] and was able to finish ninth, having been pre-season favourite for the title.^[3]

When Honda pulled out for 2001, Thompson joined Team Egg Sport, racing their Vauxhall to four wins and third overall – enough to earn him a return to the factory Vauxhall team for 2002, which featured a titanic three-year battle with team-mateYvan Muller in their dominantAstra. Thompson was BTCC champion in both 2002 and 2004, and was second in 2003 behind Muller.

For 2006, Thompson joinedJason Plato atSEAT Sport UK.^[4] He did this at the same time as competing in the WTCC, meaning he had to skip some BTCC rounds when they clashed with World touring car races, in the second SEAT Sport UK car, though atSilverstone for the final round he used hisRed Bull-backed WTCC car. After competing in the first nine races, he was actually ahead of BTCC team leader Plato. Despite having to yield the victory to Plato atCroft, he finished sixth overall, scoring more points per entry than any other SEAT driver; although Plato failed to start two races due to accident damage.

For 2009, rumours had placed Thompson with a possible return to the BTCC after discussions with Team Dynamics to race one of their Honda Civics. He also tested a Tempus Sport Chevrolet Lacetti and a Motorbase Performance BMW 320si. However, his name was missing from the pre-season entry list, and it was later announced he would spend another year in the Danish series. It was then announced in April, prior to the Thruxton round that he would return to the BTCC, replacingGordon Shedden. He collected a double win at Donington Park, and added a third win atOulton Park. After the round atKnockhill, Thompson was replaced by ex-Formula One driverJohnny Herbert due to clashes with his commitments in the WTCC andV8 Supercars.^[5][6]

Thompson was chosen as the development driver for the newNext Generation Touring Car regulations, and participated in first practice for the 2010 season finale at Brands Hatch in a prototype car based on aToyota Avensis.^[7]

Thompson returned to racing for the 2011 season finale withAirwaves Racing to supportMat Jackson's title bid.^[8] The weekend did not go well with two retirements in the first two races, but a single point for fastest lap in the last race was to be the best result of the weekend.

For 2005, Thompson attempted a new challenge in theWorld Touring Car Championship, withAlfa Romeo. His first WTCC season opened with a win, but was not a huge success overall. He finished the season eighth in the standings. Alfa Romeo pulled out of the WTCC at the end of the season, leaving Thompson's future uncertain.^[9]

For 2006 he moved toSEAT Sport, the team which he would also drive for in that year's BTCC.^[10] Within the first six races, Thompson finished on the podium three times but in the second half of the season he finished in the points on only three occasions. In a team that featured a top driver lineup includingYvan Muller andGabriele Tarquini, he finished eighth in the Drivers Championship.

In 2007, Thompson rejoinedAlfa Romeo in the WTCC run byN.Technology. Although his aged Alfa Romeo 156 was not as well developed as his works-backed rivals, he fought for the championship title until the final race and ended the season in third place.

In 2008, Thompson competed forN.Technology in aHonda Accord Euro R in the WTCC. He also drove an Accord in theDanish Touring Car Championship. After missing the first two WTCC meetings, the team struggled to develop the car competitively. However, the team steadily worked on the car over the season and scored their first win of the season at Imola. However, N.Technology announced its withdrawal at the end of the year, leaving Thompson without a drive.

Thompson also returned to the WTCC withLada Sport in July 2009, driving their newPriora model.^[11] He participated in five events with Lada Sport, achieving a best result of sixth place in both races atImola. Thompson was unable to participate in the final event atMacau following a heavy collision in qualifying with the stationary car ofStefano D'Aste.^[12]

Thompson returned to the WTCC in 2012 withLada Sport driving aLada Granta WTCC at both theRace of Hungary and theRace of Portugal.^[13]

Thompson would return to the WTCC in2013, driving a Lada Granta WTCC full-time withLada Sport Lukoil alongside new teammateAleksei Dudukalo.^[14] During qualifying for theRace of Italy, he was hit by Dudukalo who had missed the braking point for the first chicane. Thompson was already through to Q2 and he returned to the pits for repairs before taking part in the second session. He set the ninth fastest time which would give him a front row start when the grid was reversed for race two.^[15] Lada later withdrew both of their cars prior to the races as neither could be repaired in time to participate.^[16]

Thompson won the2009 European Touring Car Cup at theCircuito Vasco Sameiro nearBraga inPortugal, driving aHonda Accord forHartmann Honda Racing.

In 2010, Thompson revealed a schedule of ETCC, the new-for-2010 Scandinavian Touring Car Cup and DTC, Danish Touring Car Championship. He won the season opener of ETCC and led the championship, but a few days before the Scandinavian season kicked off, he parted ways with Danish team Hartmann Honda Racing.^[17] The two got back together heading for the second round of ETCC.^[18] Thompson successfully defended his ETCC title in 2010.^[19]

In 2011, Thompson raced in theScandinavian Touring Car Championship forPolestar Racing in theirVolvo C30. He left the team in the middle of season, citing differences in the development direction of the car as the reason for the departure.^[20] His replacement was later announced at WTCC driverGabriele Tarquini.^[21]

AfterJenson Button pulled out of the 2006 Race of Champions, Thompson was announced as his replacement on 13 December 2006. He competed for the British team with fellow touring car driverAndy Priaulx on 16 December 2006.

(key) Races inbold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 1996–2002 all races, 2003–present just for first race) Races initalics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 2001–present all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 1998–2002 just for feature race, 2003–present all races)

† Event with 2 races staged for the different classes.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Co-driver	Position	Laps
2009	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford Falcon (FG)	Allan Simonsen	DNF	152

Media related toJames Thompson (racing driver) at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• James Thompson career summary at DriverDB.com
• Lada Sport Official website (in Russian)
• Lada Sport Official Greek website

• 1974 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from York
• People educated at St Peter's School, York
• English racing drivers
• British Touring Car Championship drivers
• British Touring Car Championship Champions
• Danish Touring Car Championship drivers
• European Touring Car Championship drivers
• European Touring Car Cup drivers
• World Touring Car Championship drivers
• World Touring Car Cup drivers
• Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
• Abt Sportsline drivers
• Cupra Racing drivers
• Cyan Racing drivers
• Racing drivers from Yorkshire

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2021
• Use British English from August 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Commons category link is on Wikidata