British Tour Car Championship (BTCC) driver Bobby Thompson has joined Yeovil based Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR, one of Europe's most successful racing teams, piloting the BMW 330e M Sport for the 2024 championship. This takes him one step further to winning the UK’s prestigious BTCC title.
The partnership will see Bobby start his 2024 campaign at Snetterton on 25th/26th May, when his new livery will be unveiled. He joins Colin Turkington and Adam Morgan in Team BMW who have multiple victories to their names, as well as manufacturers’ and team honours.
Bobby, who is known as a BTCC “fans’ favourite”, will be sponsored by Zeus Cloud - an open source data protection and web hosting service headquartered in Somerset. He will be represented by Yeovil’s Path Marketing, which has specialised in motor racing and the car industry in general for the past ten years.
WSR is a legendary racing team with a history dating back to 1981. Team Principal Dick Bennetts has been instrumental in the careers of many motor sport superstars, including Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell. Bobby first tested for WSR at Brands Hatch in April, when it was announced the team was looking for a fourth driver.
Dick Bennetts, the Team Principal of WSR, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Bobby and Zeus Cloud to WSR. It was always clear what a determined and tenacious racer he was when he was a rival, but when he tested with us in March at Brands Hatch we saw just what his capabilities were on and off-track. The partnership of Zeus Cloud, Bobby and the WSR BMW has everything needed to perform.”
Bobby, 27, from Hornchurch in Essex, is competing for the sixth season in the BTCC in 2024. He has been racing for nine years and has set lap records at the world famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, as well as many UK tracks. He scored three podium finishes in the BTCC over the past two seasons and was the series Jack Sears Trophy champion in 2022.
He said: “It's honestly a dream come true! This journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with relentless hard work and the tireless support of my incredible family. I'm immensely grateful to WSR for their unwavering belief in me, guiding me through every step, especially during the Brands Hatch test.
“With a team that's growing stronger by the day and support that's nothing short of amazing, I'm so excited to hit the track as soon as possible!”
Path Marketing’s Managing Director Dale Cullen said: “We are looking forward to working with Bobby, he’s a great guy and has worked hard to get where he is today. He hasn’t had the finance he needed behind him up until now, as he’s just a regular guy from Essex, but we believe this will be a major turning point for him. We wish him very success in the season.”
Mark Grindey, Group CEO of Zeus Cloud said: "It is a great opportunity for us to sponsor Bobby, especially with how aligned I feel our values are. It was great to be able to see how family orientated they are at WSR and lovely to see how humble Bobby is. The rest of this year is going to be a pleasure and hopefully we can work with them in long term.”
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Notes for editors:
In the 2023 second round of the British Tour Car Championship season at Brands Hatch, Bobby achieved his second podium finish of the tour, converting reverse grid pole into second place in the reverse grid race. He raced for Team Hard in four of his five BTCC seasons and has spent the past two years racing Cupra Leons for the Kent based team.
Bobby was identified early in his career by the Motor Sports Association as an elite competitor and excelled in the Advanced Apprenticeship in sporting excellence. He is also an Association of Racing Driver Schools instructor, providing tutoring and mentorship for other drivers.
He won the 2017 VW cup championship, with six wins and two-second place finishes and competed with Team Hard in the BTCC in 2018 and 2019. In 2020 he moved to Trade Price Cars Racing but suffered an injury in a major accident, putting an end to his season halfway through the year.
After recovering in 2021, he re-joined the BTCC and Team Hard for the 2022 season and returned with a bang, winning the 2022 Jack Sears Trophy championship at the wheel of a Cupra Leon.
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