It’s a unique proposition – the only British motorcycle racer riding a British bike in a top-line British championship, while also serving his country in the British Army. It’s very much a case of life in the fast lane for Stephen ‘Tommo’ Thomas, who has just completed his first season in the British Supersport Championship alongside his career as a sergeant in the Royal Military Police.
Sgt Thomas, 30, has served in the forces for 11 years but racing is a more recent move for the dad-of-one, who is backed as an elite sportsman by the British Army Road Race Team, in recognition of him competing at the top national level of his chosen sport.
Just a year after he started racing in 2017, Sgt Thomas won the 2018 Thundersport GB Racing Pre-National 600 championship and has quickly progressed up the ranks.
Aboard his British-built 2013 Triumph Daytona 675, Sgt Thomas has racked up a year’s worth of
invaluable experience in the British Supersport Championship, which runs alongside the UK’s biggestmotorcycle racing series, the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB).
Sgt Thomas, who lives in Amesbury, Wiltshire, rides for his own family-run team, Tommo 21 Racing, one of the privateer competitors who are the lifeblood of national racing championships. Operating on a fraction of the budget of the factory-backed teams and on much older machinery, his goal is now to attract more sponsorship to help him climb the ranks, both on the track and commercially.
“It’s a small, family-run operation. I do all the management, ringing round sponsors and logistics,
then on a race weekend, it’s all run by family members, too,”
said Sgt Thomas. “My dad Paul Thomas, who used to race himself, is my spotter, while my brother Alex is an apprentice mechanic. I’ve also had invaluable help from other people in the paddock, including Ricky Chadwick, the ex-BSB and TT racer, and Neil Creswell, who has lots of real-world paddock experience which is very important in the racing world."
“Also, a friend I met through racing who is also in the military, Jason Markham, who’s very handy with a spanner! He’s a racer, too, and races classic TT on his 1950s BSA bike. Our kids were born on the same day in the same hospital as well, so the bond there is very strong.
“Everyone is a volunteer who does it for the love of racing.”
The realities of racing on a tight budget meant Sgt Thomas had to miss some rounds in 2022 and was classified 33 rd in the overall standings. While he is pleased with his achievements with modest means this season, he’s always looking for more.
He said: “There is always an undertone of competitiveness, 100 per cent. We are there to go forward but with the resources we have at the moment, it’s just based on people mucking in who like racing.
“It’s a similar story with my sponsors. They are all people I’ve met along the journey and are hugely important to me. Many started helping out a bit but are now putting in more substantial finance or helping with discounts. It’s snowballed since we moved from club level to the top national level of racing.
“Next year, my plan is to upgrade our hospitality offering so we can bring more sponsors along. That way, we can help them fully understand what goes on is so much more impressive than having a sticker on the side of the bike.
“To namecheck one sponsor, Blackbird Corporate, who are my biggest sponsor this year – they
started by giving me bike mats, then a round’s worth of tyres, now it’s 50 per cent of my tyre bill.
They can see the value they’re getting the more they put in.”
Sgt Thomas’s task is made even tougher by his full-time job with the military, which means all his racing administration is done in the evenings and at weekends – also balanced against his
commitments as a family man."
“All teams, irrespective of the sport, have a budget. I have a financial budget and a time budget and I’ve just got to allocate time responsibility. If I go racing and don't crash, I can spend more time on content design and PR. If I have a rough round and damage the bike, that's when the background stuff dies out.
“Whether you’re at front or back, lots goes into racing a bike at speed. I would love to afford to go to a factory team, but it all comes down to money. My career affords me the privilege of racing bikes but that’s because I run my own machines.
“Out of the 11 rounds this year, I’ve competed in eight to control costs. We are at interesting
junction to go into next year.
“I want to get to the stage where I have enough funds to have a proper go at it and take that next
step. As a rider I can improve and with better funding I am sure results will improve. I can be
consistently in the midfield and challenge for the top third of the grid.
“A title sponsor for the team, that final major player and piece in the jigsaw – that’s what we need. Everything else is in place to grow and I’m backed up by people who are more than just sponsors. They are friends."
“I’ve come a long way since me and Neil started with a bike in a back of the van the Army lent us.
Being a military person, I don't like using the word addiction but don’t think I can find another
adjective to describe how I feel about racing!”
Sgt Thomas is being mentored in this dual role by David Stubbs, CEO of specialist security firm SSGC and a former military policeman and motorcycle racer himself. The pair met via Mission Motorsport – SSGC’s nominated charity – and an introduction from its CEO, James Cameron. David is supporting Sgt Thomas with business promotion techniques and opening
up his network to support him in his racing.
David said: “I know from experience how tough it can be to balance the commitments of serving
your country with racing competitively. Both are very rewarding in their own way and both need a lot of time, effort and sacrifice to do well. I have been helping Tommo build himself up effectively as a ‘mini business’, so he can sell his sponsorship opportunities to others by demonstrating its value to them. Working with Tommo has been very enjoyable and if my help means he can land even one more sponsor or key partner, it will have been very worthwhile for me.”
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