Thompson sets sights on return to rallying roots.

British Touring Car star James Thompson stunned visitors to the annual Autosport International exhibition in Birmingham by expressing a desire to try his hand at rallying in 2002.

The recently-reconfirmed Vauxhall driver comes from rallying stock, his father 'Piggy' Thompson having excelled on the national scene, but Thompson Jr switched his attentions to the track when he realised that making a living from a career on the dirt would be hard.

"I was always going to be a rally driver, but had a very late switch of loyalties when I decided to make a professional career in motorsport and found that only the very top guys were being paid," he explained, "There was no point in doing [rallying] then, as it would only have been a hobby, but in racing there were formulas in which people were earning money."

"Choosing between it being a business or a hobby has paid off for me, but now I want to get back to what I really wanted to do in the first place."

"I'm a frustrated rally driver, to be honest, and, with plenty of time [created by the testing ban in BTCC], if I can find the right deal, it might be worth me doing a little bit."

The Yorkshireman admitted that no deal had been arranged as yet, and that his immediate focus remained on taking the BTCC title with Triple Eight Vauxhall.