Bobby Thompson

Robert David Thompson (born 28 July 1996 in Hornchurch, England) is a British racing driver who most recently competed in the Snetterton round of the 2024 British Touring Car Championship, driving for Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR. He was the 2022 Jack Sears Trophy winner.

Career Early career After competing in karting from 2006 to 2012 at a national level, Thompson made his car racing debut in 2012, competing in the Ford Fiesta Championship. He completed a full season in 2013, finishing 19th overall with one podium to his name.

Thompson competed as a guest driver for Meridian Motorsport in the second and third round of the 2014 British Formula Ford Championship, replacing Ashley Sutton.

VW Racing Cup In 2015, Thompson moved to the Volkswagen Racing Cup Great Britain, driving for Team HARD. Racing. He finished tenth overall in his debut season, with one win. He switched to Power Maxed Racing to contest the 2016 season, and came fifth overall. Returning to Team HARD. Racing for 2017, he won the championship with six wins.

British Touring Car Championship

2018 Following his VW Racing Cup championship win, Thompson signed a contract to drive a Volkswagen CC for Team HARD in the 2018 British Touring Car Championship. He struggled in his debut season, finishing in the points just three times, at the sixth round of the season at Snetterton Circuit, and at the seventh at Rockingham Speedway. With 23 points, he finished 28th in the overall standings, and tenth in the Jack Sears Trophy.

2019 In October 2018, it was announced that Thompson had re-signed for Team HARD for the 2019 season, again driving a Volkswagen CC. He had a strong opening round, finishing sixth with fastest lap in the first race, and scoring in the other two. With ten points finishes throughout the season, he finished 22nd in the standings with 35 points, and third in the Jack Sears Trophy.

2020 For 2020, Thompson switched to GKR TradePriceCars.com, driving an Audi A3 Saloon. He had a strong start to his campaign, finishing in the points 11 times out of the 17 races he finished in the opening seven rounds. However, in the third race of the weekend during the seventh round at Croft Circuit, Thompson crashed and barrel-rolled his car whilst fighting over eight place with Senna Proctor. He was ruled out of the following round due to a concussion sustained in the crash, and did not appear at the final round either. As a result, Thompson came fifth and missed out on the title in the Jack Sears Trophy, which he was leading at the time of the crash. He came 18th in the overall standings, with 44 points.

2021 Due to financial constraints following his crash the previous season, Thompson was forced to sit out from the 2021 season. He made his racing return in October 2021, competing in the final two rounds of the 2021 Mini Challenge UK with JamSport Racing as a guest driver.

2022 Thompson returned to the championship for the 2022 season, driving a Cupra León for Team HARD. He had a strong season, achieving his first overall podium finish in the championship with a third place in the reverse grid race during the second round at Brands Hatch. He scored 99 points across the season and came 14th in the standings, and after a long battle for the title with George Gamble, Thompson sealed the Jack Sears Trophy trophy title during the final round at Brands Hatch.

2023 Thompson continued with Team HARD in the 2023 British Touring Car Championship, driving a new Cupra León. In the second round of the season at Brands Hatch, he achieved his second podium finish in the championship, converting reverse-grid pole into second place in the reverse grid race.

Prior to the sixth round of the season at Croft Circuit, Team HARD announced that Thompson would step down from the championship for the remainder of the season due to "financial circumstances faced by the team". He was replaced by Michael Crees.

Personal life Thompson's cousin Aaron Thompson is also a racing driver, who won the 2015 BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship and the Clio Class of the 2021 Britcar Endurance Championship.

Racing record Karting career summary

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2012 Ford Fiesta Championship - Class C N/A 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2013 Ford Fiesta Championship - Class C 15 0 0 0 1 36 19th 2014 Ford Fiesta Championship - Class C 2 0 0 0 0 23 33rd British Formula Ford Championship Meridian Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 N/A NC† 2015 Volkswagen Racing Cup Great Britain Team HARD. Racing 15 1 1 2 2 356 10th 2016 Volkswagen Racing Cup Great Britain Power Maxed Racing 14 0 0 0 7 430 5th 2017 Volkswagen Racing Cup Great Britain Team HARD. Racing 14 6 3 9 10 520 1st 2018 British Touring Car Championship Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars 29 0 0 0 0 23 28th 2019 British Touring Car Championship GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct 30 0 0 1 0 35 22nd 2020 British Touring Car Championship GKR TradePriceCars.com 21 0 0 0 0 44 18th 2021 Mini Challenge UK - JCW JamSport Racing 6 0 0 0 1 N/A NC† 2022 24 Hours of Dubai - TCX CWS Engineering 1 0 0 1 0 N/A 10th 24H TCE Series - TCX British Touring Car Championship Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero 30 0 0 0 1 99 14th 2023 British Touring Car Championship Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils 14 0 0 0 1 74 17th Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown 6 0 0 0 1 2024 British Touring Car Championship Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR 3 0 0 0 1 34 20th2026GT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupParadine Competition † As Thompson was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded just in first race; races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races; signifies that driver led race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2018 Team HARD. withTrade Price Cars Volkswagen CC BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 28th 23 2019 GKR Scaffoldingwith Autobrite Direct Volkswagen CC BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 22nd 35 2020 GKR TradePriceCars.com Audi S3 Saloon DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 THR1 THR2 THR3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 18th 44 2022 Autobrite Directwith JourneyHero Cupra León DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 14th 99 2023 Autobrite Directwith Millers Oils Cupra León DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 17th * Go-Fix withAutoaid Breakdown SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 2024 Zeus Cloud Racingwith WSR BMW 330e M Sport DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 20th 34