Thompson ruled out of Snetterton on medical grounds
Bobby Thompson has been ruled out of competing at this weekend's BTCC races at Snetterton on medical grounds after rolling his Audi at Croft 11 days ago.
The 24-year-old, who was visibly shaken after the accident, was assessed by doctors again earlier this week but not cleared to race.
Thompson currently holds a 27 point lead in the Jack Sears Trophy, for drivers who haven't previously finished in the top three of a race. His Trade Price Cars Racing Audi will be driven this weekend by Ethan Hammerton, who drove for the team in 2018 and has been racing in the Mini Challenge this season.
“It’s really frustrating to not be able to race this weekend," said Thompson, "particularly when Croft had been going so well. Scoring my best ever qualifying result and then taking two top eight finishes meant it was my best weekend in the BTCC, but that got overshadowed by the incident in race three.“As a driver, you always want to go out there and race and I was desperate to try and reward the team for all the work that has gone in to repairing the car, but this time, I’ve got to listen to what the experts are saying and sit things out.“Obviously that isn’t ideal for me in terms of the Jack Sears Trophy but the key thing is that I have points on the board and the guys who are chasing me don’t, so it’s still all to play for."Hopefully Paul (Rivett) and Ethan can take some points off my rivals and my focus is on making sure I’m fully fit to come out and fight for the title when we get to Brands Hatch.”
"It was a nice surprise to get the call asking if I would be available to stand in for Bobby," added Hammerton.
"I'm really excited to be given an unexpected opportunity to return to the BTCC, but I have to be realistic about my chances as I haven't done any testing and the first time I'll drive the Audi will be in practice on Saturday morning."My aim is to improve my times in each session as I get used to the car, and hopefully we can move forwards in the three races."
Watch qualifying on Saturday afternoon on itv.com/btcc, with all three races live on ITV4 on Sunday.