Thompson knows where he’s going

UP-AND-COMING international road racer Joey Thompson has revealed he can’t wait for 2019 after teaming up with Tynedale’s WH Racing Team.

The 20-year-old, who moved from North Yorkshire to County Durham earlier this year, put himself on the road-racing map with his race-leading antics on a Supertwin at the North West 200 in May.

Since then he’s been on several teams’ watch lists, but the headstrong youngster refused some high-profile offers to instead join forces with the Prudhoe-based WH squad.

Thompson will kick off 2019 with the North West 200, before heading to the Isle of Man TT and then the Ulster Grand Prix.

“It’s a really good team and they’ve got two competitive bikes with an ex-Lee Johnston BMW and an ex-McAMS 600,” he said. “With such strong bikes, they need someone to come in and do them justice.

“Now, I’m not saying that will be me, I’m not saying I’m going to win the 600s race at the North West or even getting a top 10 on the big bike, but I’m really up for the challenge.”

Thompson is a no-nonsense character. Fiercely ambitious, he has quickly crept up the pecking order since deciding three years ago that he wanted to race the TT.

“Everything I’ve done since then was to get there, and although a lot of things changed along the way and my career has taken paths I probably didn’t prepare for, I don’t think I’ve changed in what I want,” he said.

“It’s often easy to get swept up in the whole scene and get side-tracked. I don’t think I’ve strayed from the initial objective – to do something I love.”

And it was this determination to keep enjoying the sport which helped him choose the WH Racing team.

“I like the team, we’ve got similar goals and objectives. We want to push forward and get as close to the front as we can but we also want to have fun.”