Edward James Thompson (born 26 April 1974 in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a British

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

driver. He has twice been champion of the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

(BTCC) and the

European Touring Car Cup The FIA European Touring Car Cup was an annual touring car racing event, which had been held at various locations across Europe from 2005 to 2017. Unlike in previous years where it was a one-off event, in 2010 the series was a three-round event. ...

, and was third in the 2007 World Touring Car Championship.

Racing career

British Touring Car Championship

Thompson started racing in the BTCC in a privately entered

Peugeot 405 The Peugeot 405 is a large family car manufactured by the French automaker Peugeot from 1987 to 1997. Its production continued under license from outside Europe in Iran by Iran Khodro Company until 2020. It was voted European Car of the Year for 1 ...

in 1994, his performances earning him a factory

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

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 new

Vauxhall Vectra The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car ( large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in saloon, hatchback and estate (from model year 1997 onwards) body styles, the Vectra was al ...

, although Thompson took a victory at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

, moving up from fifth in a two-lap burst in which

Roberto Ravaglia Roberto Ravaglia (born 26 May 1957) is an Italian former racing driver, who currently runs ROAL Motorsport, who operate a Chevrolet operation in the World Touring Car Championship. Before retiring in 1997, he was one of the most successful tourin ...

and

Rickard Rydell John Rickard Rydell (born 22 September 1967) is a retired Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car ...

collided,

Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock (born 24 October 1960) is a German motor racing driver. He competed in and won German Formula Three before moving onto Formula One. Winkelhock would compete in the 1989 season of F1 with the Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives ...

spun, and

Alain Menu Alain Menu (born 9 August 1963) is a Swiss racing driver who is currently working for Team BMR as a driving coach. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twic ...

broke down. James Thompson 1998 BTCC

In 1997, Thompson joined

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, finishing fifth in the championship in 1997, third in 1998, and fourth in 1999. He missed two rounds through a concussion sustained in a 12 G backwards accident at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

in 2000, but returned to racing at Knockhill, and was able to finish ninth, having been pre-season favourite for the title. 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-mate

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 wit ...

in their dominant

Astra Astra (Latin for "stars") may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became t ...

. Thompson was BTCC champion in both 2002 and 2004, and was second in 2003 behind Muller. For 2006, Thompson joined

Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British auto racing, racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been List of BTCC champions, BTCC Champion, in 2001 British Touring ...

at SEAT Sport UK. 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 at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

for the final round he used his

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

-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 at Croft, 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, replacing

Gordon Shedden Gordon William Shedden (born 15 February 1979) is a British racing driver currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Speedworks Motorsport, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA. He has previously won the series on three occasion ...

. He collected a double win at Donington Park, and added a third win at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

. After the round at

Knockhill Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA-approved circui ...

, Thompson was replaced by ex-

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster. He competed in Formula One from to , winning three Formula One Grands Prix over a 12-season career. In endurance racing, Herbert won the 24 Hours of Le ...

due to clashes with his commitments in the WTCC and

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

. Thompson was chosen as the development driver for the new

Next Generation Touring Car Next Generation Touring Car, also known as NGTC and by its Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designation TCN-1, is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA and TOCA specification and classification for production base ...

regulations, and participated in first practice for the 2010 season finale at Brands Hatch in a prototype car based on a

Toyota Avensis The is a mid-size/ large family car built in Derbyshire, United Kingdom by the Japanese automaker Toyota from October 1997 to August 2018. It was the direct successor to the European Carina E and was available as a four-door saloon, five-door ...

. He returned to racing for the 2011 season finale with Airwaves Racing to support

Mat Jackson Mathew Jackson (born 10 June 1981) is a former British auto racing, racing driver. Racing career Early years Born in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, Jackson started racing in karts in his teens, before finishing 4th in the 2000 Renault Clio ...

's title bid. 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.

World Touring Car Championship

For 2005, Thompson attempted a new challenge in the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

, with

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

. 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. Alfa Romeo 156 N Technology James Thompson WTCC 2007 Curitiba

Alfa Romeo 156 N Technology James Thompson WTCC 2007 Curitiba

For 2006 he moved to

SEAT Sport Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the missi ...

, the team which he would also drive for in that year's BTCC. 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 including

and

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and , and World Touring Car from to 2021. In touring car racing, Tarquini won the World Touring Car Championship in with SEAT; ...

, he finished eighth in the Drivers Championship. In 2007, Thompson rejoined

in the WTCC run by N.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 he competed for N.Technology in a Honda Accord Euro R in the WTCC. He also drove an Accord in the

Danish Touring Car Championship The Danish Touringcar Championship (abbreviated as the DTC) was a touring car racing series in Denmark. The inaugural year for the DTC was 1999, after the huge success in Scandinavia of the British Touring Car Championship The British Touring ...

. 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. He also returned to the WTCC with

Lada Sport Lada Sport is the Tolyatti-based performance and motorsport company for Lada-branded cars and a wholly owned subsidiary of AvtoVAZ. History AvtoVAZ had a minor involvement in motorsport from the 1970s, producing racing cars for various series ...

in July 2009, driving their new Priora model. He participated in five events with Lada Sport, achieving a best result of sixth place in both races at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

. Thompson was unable to participate in the final event at

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

following a heavy collision in qualifying with the stationary car of

Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste (born 26 February 1974 in Genoa) is an Italian auto racing driver. His early racing career included competing on motorcycles and the Monza International Rally. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2004 (wh ...

. Thompson returned to the WTCC in 2012 with

driving a

Lada Granta WTCC {{Racing car , Car_name = Lada Granta 1600T WTCC , Image = , Category = World Touring Car Championship , Constructor = Lada , Designer = Andrey Ruzanov, TMS Motorsport , Predecessor = Lada Priora , Chassis = Lada 119/VAZ-2190 (Lada Grant ...

at both the Race of Hungary and the Race of Portugal. He will return to the WTCC in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, driving a Lada Granta WTCC full-time with Lada Sport Lukoil alongside new teammate

Aleksei Dudukalo Aleksey Nikolayevich Dudukalo ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Дудука́ло, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪdʑ dʊdʊˈkalə; born 6 October 1976) is a Russian auto racing driver. He raced in the World Touring Car Cha ...

. During qualifying for the Race 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. Lada later withdrew both of their cars prior to the races as neither could be repaired in time to participate.

European Touring Car Cup

He won the

2009 European Touring Car Cup The 2009 FIA European Touring Car Cup was the fifth running of the FIA European Touring Car Cup. It was held on 25 October 2009 at the Circuito Vasco Sameiro near Braga in Portugal. James Thompson (racing driver), James Thompson won the event afte ...

at the

Circuito Vasco Sameiro The Circuito de Velocidade Vasco Sameiro (also known as Circuit of Braga) is a racing circuit located north of Braga, Portugal at Palmeira. It was constructed in 1990http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=3039 Braga, Portugal to host ETC ...

near

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, driving a

Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States sinc ...

for Hartmann Honda Racing. In 2010 he 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. The two got back together heading for the second round of ETCC. Thompson successfully defended his ETCC title in 2010.

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship

In 2011, he raced in the

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship The Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) is a touring car racing series based in Scandinavia. The series took over from the Danish Touringcar Championship The Danish Touringcar Championship (abbreviated as the DTC) was a touring car ra ...

for

Polestar Racing Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Geely Group Motorsport, formerly the Volvo factory auto racing team, and runs the FIA WTCR programme for Lynk & Co, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The team’s current drivers are Thed Björk, Y ...

in their

Volvo C30 The Volvo C30 is a three-door, front-engine, front-wheel-drive Luxury vehicle#Premium compact segment, premium compact hatchback manufactured and marketed by Volvo Cars from 2006 to 2013, in a single generation. Powered by Inline-four engine, inl ...

. He left the team in the middle of season, citing differences in the development direction of the car as the reason for the departure. His replacement was later announced at WTCC driver

.Volvo Polestar Racing signs Gabriele Tarquini
TouringCarTimes.

Race of Champions

After

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Button competed in Formula One from to , and won the World Drivers' Championship in with Brawn; ...

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 driver

Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, Order of the British Empire, MBE ( born 7 August 1974) is a British people, British racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Chip Ganassi Racing, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, ...

on 16 December 2006.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 1996–2002 all races, 2003–present just for first race) Races in ''italics'' 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.