The reigning Jack Sears Trophy champion has relinquished his seat at the Team Hard Cupra squad to Michael Crees, who returns to the squad with which he contested his rookie BTCC season in 2019 at the wheel of a Volkswagen CC.
Thompson has occasionally mixed it with the big guns this season with the minnow Hard operation, scoring a second place at Brands Hatch in May and qualifying fourth at Oulton Park last month, before a collision in race two of that event ruined his weekend.
“It’s the ever-growing costs in touring cars up and down the grid – what we’re going through in the real world in the moment, it’s hard to bring that money in,” Thompson told Autosport.
“I knew halfway through this summer break that something was going on – I knew it was going to be an expensive summer break, and the money doesn’t magically come out of anywhere.
“Being the weakest money-wise, I knew I’d be the first to go.”
Thompson was at pains to stress that he was fulfilling his financial obligations set out, but that the increasing costs had forced Hard to find a driver with more budget for the remainder of the campaign.
“It’s not that we ran out of money,” he added. “I was paying for a subsidised drive, which I really appreciate from Team Hard.
“I fought tooth and nail to find more money, to go above and beyond, but the team couldn’t afford for the car to do the second half of the year unless they found a large sum.”
Thompson had been enjoying his most competitive season to date, under the watch of engineer Barry Plowman, the famed former Team Dynamics Honda technical chief.
Source: Autosport