VX Racing, the most successful team in the British Touring Car Championship, is celebrating again. VX Racing driver James Thompson was named National Racing Driver of the Year at the Autosport Awards, last night, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The award completes a triumphant year for Thompson, recently crowned as BTCC champion for the second time in his career.

Murray Walker presented the Paul Warwick Trophy to Thompson at the glittering ceremony hosted by Steve Rider and attended by drivers, movers and shakers and celebrities from the world of motor sport. Walker made special mention of the season-long rivalry between VX Racing drivers Thompson and Yvan Muller, who battled for the drivers' championship to the last of the 30 races.

On receiving the award, Thompson commented, "It's been a fantastic year. I've been involved in the British Touring Car Championship for 11 years now, and this was one of the best. The good thing about having that class of team-mate is that you feel like you've achieved something if you beat him."

Thompson triumphed over a formidable line-up of drivers, including Nelson Piquet Jr, Jamie Green, and his VX Racing team mate Muller, to win the most votes from the readers of Autosport magazine. Thompson's name is now added to the roll of honour for winners of the National Racing Driver of the Year Award and joins great drivers such as Martin Brundle, Johnny Herbert and David Coulthard.

The factory-supported VX Racing team won the BTCC team, manufacturers' and drivers' titles in 2004 for an unprecedented fourth successive year, VX Racing's James Thompson pipping team mate Yvan Muller to the driver's crown by a single championship point. Since its racing debut in 2001, the Vauxhall Astra Coupe has sped its way into the record books as the most successful car in the 47-year history of the British Touring Car Championship. VX Racing will return to defend its titles in the 2005 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park in April.