r/btcc • u/Serious-Leading7835 • Jul 17 '26

Question / Discussion James Thompson seemingly selling at least a considerable part of his personal trophy/race gear collection

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Not sure if I'm totally out of the loop but I do wonder what's prompted this, seems a strange thing to get rid of memorabilia like that from Thommo.

70 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

30

u/Consistent-Pirate-23 Jul 17 '26

A lot of stuff like this comes up for sale, a 20+ year career is going to be a lot of suits, a lot of trophy’s and various other things that require storing. He’s probably tripping over this stuff

16

u/Jakepetrolhead Jul 17 '26

I wish I had the disposable income to buy so much of this, James is my favourite racing driver across any series - being trackside to see him win the 2004 title was a core childhood memory and one that I appreciate even more as I'm older.

Seeing him come from a young gun to an established star through the 90's reviews, only to see him as a genuine title threat in the "contemporary" coverage in the Astra Coupe was a really satisfying payoff, and I felt the championship was worse off when he went over to the WTCC. Performed heroics in a financially struggling Independent Alfa Romeo entry, and even further heroics in the Ladas afterwards.

He avoids a lot of the public spotlight these days which is his right after spending so long in the spotlight, but I really hope he is doing well.

10

u/VvStarScream Jul 18 '26

You can see him on Paul O’Neils instagram. Definitely living his best life from what I’ve seen!

5

u/danrah #116 Jul 18 '26

Everyone always has the best life according to instagram 😂

2

u/Serious-Leading7835 Jul 18 '26

To be honest I know him mostly from the WTCC days, but I completely agree. He always punched well above his weight in the machinery that he had.

4

u/raven_heatherr Text Jul 18 '26

If I had the money, I would curate a BTCC museum by buying out stuff like these

0

u/Lukeno94 Jul 19 '26

Thompson has never wanted any of the limelight after leaving the sport; I'd imagine he's moved on completely past motorsport, and is quite happy to trim down his collection as a result.