Thomas Sopwith was the son of English aviation pioneer and
yachtsman Sir Thomas Sopwith – builder of the
Sopwith Camel and later chairman of
Hawker Aircraft – and Phyllis Brodie. He was educated at
Stowe School, Buckinghamshire. Sopwith took up motor racing and formed his own team, Equipe Endeavour, named after his father's racing yacht. His success as a racing driver saw him win the first-ever round of the
British Saloon Car Championship in
1958. That year he narrowly lost out on the driver's title to
Jack Sears after a ten lap shoot-out at the end of the season, after the two drivers finished on equal points. In 1961 he switched from car to
powerboat racing. In 1961 He won the first ever Cowes - Torquay race in Thundebolt, following up with wins in 1968 (Telstar) and 1970 (Miss Enfield II). In 1965 he won the Cornish "100" Offshore Class 3, powerboat race in a boat called 'Thunderflash', just beating Mike Beard in 'Mongaso'. He was the owner of Endeavour Holdings Limited, a car dealership in
Portslade,
Brighton, with a turnover of £17 million. He died on 4 May 2019 at the age of 86 at
Basingstoke Hospital. ==Racing record==