Bill Thompson (racing driver)

{{Short description|Australian racing driver (1906{{ndash}}1945)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Use Australian English|date=June 2012}}

File:Bugatti Type 37A of Bill Thompson (1932 AGP).jpg) contesting the 1932 Australian Grand Prix]]

File:Bill Thompson (MG K3 Magnette) 1935 Australian Grand Prix.jpg at the 1935 Australian Grand Prix]]

William Bethel Thompson (28 December 1906 – 12 February 1945) was an Australian racing driver. From Summer Hill, Sydney,[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thompson-william-bethel-8792 Grahm Howard, Thompson, William Bethel (1906–1945), adb.anu.edu.au/biography]. Retrieved 5 June 2015 he was active in motor sport from 1928 to 1936.[https://web.archive.org/web/20150301042529/http://bugatticlubaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/BillThompsonbookreviewAust.pdf Review by Pedr Davis, Bill Thompson, Australian Motor racing Champion - By Kent Patrick, bugatticlubaustralia.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org] His competition cars included various Bugattis, a Riley Brooklands and an MG K3. Although his career was not taken to the international level, he met with considerable successful in Australia, winning the Australian Grand Prix three times.

Thompson died as a result of an aircraft accident on 12 February 1945 in the Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean. At the time of the accident, Thompson was serving in the Royal Australian Air Force and was travelling as an unauthorised passenger in a Consolidated PB2Y Coronado of the United States Navy.Kent Patrick, Bill Thompson - Australian motor racing champion, 2011, pages 283 to 286