Thompson: “Never say never” to BTCC

James Thompson has labelled Hartmann Racing as one of the top touring car teams out there as he gears up for another busy year. The Brit told TouringCarTimes that Hartmann were operating at “an exceptionally high level” that would allow him to compete for honours in each of the DTC, STCC and ETCC this season in “the top car in Europe.”

The double British champion also said, “Never say never” when asked by TouringCarTimes about the chances of him participating in his home series, potentially even in the Honda Accord with Hartmann, though the presence of Team Dynamics means such a move “doesn’t really make a lot of sense”.

Thompson described his schedule for the coming season as “a good programme and a full programme again. It won’t be quite as bad as last year, and it’s just one type of car this year!

“I’m really looking forward to it. I think it should be good and hopefully we’ll get to do Monza and Brands Hatch in the WTCC. I think we can spring a surprise or two at one of those races and represent ourselves well.

“The nice thing is it’s a chance to actually have a go for three championships. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win all three, but at least this year we’ll do the full championship as opposed to bit parts of various series.”

Six date clashes between the British and Danish series also make it highly unlikely that Thompson would be able to dovetail anything more than the occasional cameo appearance in the BTCC.

“Never say never,” though said Thommo. “It depends on the budget. Obviously Honda and Hartmann Racing have a good relationship so we’ll see how we go. From our side we want to do as much racing as we can and represent ourselves well.

“If there’s a chance to do some BTCC races then never say never! It’d be nice and I think it’d be good, but Dynamics are in there with their Honda so it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to be honest.

“The best thing for us is Europe, to look at a bit of WTCC, and from our side represent ourselves well and show that our car, and our team is a good outfit.”

For now just Thompson is confirmed in the Honda Accord, but he welcomed other drivers to the team who had the budget and “wants to be in the top car in Europe”, a machine that helped him to his European crown in October of last year.

“I think the thing is because we’re not a manufacturer operation everyone tends to go for the more favoured cars. The team operates at an exceptionally high level and now we really want to show people in Sweden, Denmark and Europe, that we’re running two cars at a super high level, we want to win races, and that this is a good car to be in.”

Thompson also confirmed to TouringCarTimes that he would not be getting behind the wheel of a Lada again in the WTCC in 2010.