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

The recently𝔍-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 ra🔴lly 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 bet🍸ween 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 doi💃ng a little bit."

The Yorkshireman admitted that no deal had been arran💮ged as yet, and that his im🍒mediate focus remained on taking the BTCC title with Triple Eight Vauxhall.