THOMPSON FINISHES MARATHON - THANKS TO RUGBY HERO WILKINSON
Green Flag MSA British Touring Car star James Thompson says
he has England’s Rugby World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson
to thank for making it to the finish line in yesterday’s
(Sunday) London Marathon.
Thompson completed the distance in three hours and 19 minutes
- under his previous record - but admits that with six of
the 26.2 miles to go he was starting to feel the affects of
running through heavy rain and high winds.
“My feet were like lead and I was struggling. But then
I came to an energy drink station and who hands me a bottle
of Lucozade but Jonny Wilkinson! ‘Come on, James!’
he shouted at me and that really perked me up. I almost sprinted
the last six miles,” said Thompson, who will be in BTCC
action for his Vauxhall team at Brands Hatch this coming weekend,
24/25 April.
Thompson and three fellow runners helped to raise over £10,000
for Marie Curie cancer care nurses in yesterday’s Marathon.
Thompson lost his father to cancer. "When my father was
ill last year, the help that the Marie Curie nursing staff
gave our family was invaluable,” added Thompson. “I’m
really pleased with what we’ve achieved for this fantastic
charity."
After resting his blistered feet, Thompson will focus on
pegging back the ten-point gap that Vauxhall team-mate Yvan
Muller opened up at the head of the table in Thruxton’s
opening three BTCC rounds on Easter Sunday.
Thompson said: “It’s fair to say that Brands
has been a bit of a disaster these past few years. In 2002,
I went there with a 32-point lead over Yvan and we came out
of it level on points. In one race my car’s suspension
broke and in the other Yvan knocked me off the track. Last
year, I started on pole position but the two races also didn’t
work out.
“The racing will be fast and furious at Brands - it
always is. We now have three races on raceday and the lay-out
of the track means there’s a big bottleneck of cars,
particularly in the opening laps. Someone always gets eliminated.”
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