The New Zealand Rugby League team spent the morning karting at Highlands Motorsport Park and Thompson had the fastest lap on the kart track, taking 51.12sec to complete the circuit.
The secret of his success was simple.
''Just go ... no brakes. I don't think I touched the brakes at all until the end,'' he revealed afterwards.
Asked if the win would give him bragging rights over his team-mates, Thompson said ''Nah, you have to stay humble.''
The Kiwis arrived in Queenstown on Sunday and are ''back to business'' today, training in preparation for the team's Four Nations match against England in Dunedin on Saturday.
Coach Stephen Kearney said the motorsport park outing had served its purpose in giving the team a break.
''It's given them a down day and let them experience something a little bit different. I think some of them fancy themselves as daredevils on the racetrack though.''
There was some jostling for position on the kart track and a wide range of aliases adopted by the players as racing names - from ''The Silent Death'' through to ''Skids'', ''The Hectic'', ''Shadow'' and the ''Black Mamba''.
As well as karting, three Kiwis - captain Simon Mannering, Tohu Harris and Suaia Matagi- had the chance of experiencing a few ''hot laps'' at the park, travelling around the race circuit in a Lamborghini driven by park owner Tony Quinn.
''I was in safe hands,'' Mannering said when asked if he was nervous when the speed hit more than 200kmh.
''It wasn't too bad. The Lamborghini really sticks to the road, so it was all good.''
Mannering was impressed by the park and said Quinn had ''done a great job with this place''.
