Thompson 2009 car racing season
Added: 28th December 2009
Its been an extraordinary first season of car racing for Gary Thompson. Hes clocked up more air miles than Barack Obama and gone from the semi anonymity of European karting to the blinding glare of challenging for a major international single-seater series.
Through it all, Thompson has maintained an even keel and a level head more reminiscent of Obama than a 17-year-old Leaving Certificate student in his first year out of karts.
From victory in his first ever car race to the crushing disappointment of losing his championship lead on a weekend when he was bundled off track by his title rival, Thompson has kept his emotions in check, managing to finish in the points in every race with just the final round remaining at the time of writing.
A record of ten podium finishes from 14 races in the Formula BMW Pacific series tells its own story of Thompsons ability to marry white hot pace with a veterans consistency at a level of racing where drivers rarely think much beyond the next gear change.
By the end of the year even Thompson, his own harshest critic, was able to look back with contentment at a season that had produced a maiden car title in the Formula BMW Pacific Rookie Cup and an excellent second place overall in the Formula BMW Pacific Championship.
If youd offered me the Rookie Cup, second overall, a win and nine other podiums as well as poles and fastest laps at the start of the season Id have taken your hand with it, says Thompson, relaxing back in Dublin ahead of an end of season trip to the Hungaroring to test a Formula Master car Jenzer Motorsport.
The goal at the start of the season was to finish in the top five in the championship and I was hoping that I could get on the podium from about mid season onwards. Instead, we won first time out and I was in the battle for both titles right from the start.
Thompsons ability to cope with the unexpected has been well honed over the previous nine seasons in karts where he quickly bucked the trend and headed for the British and European circuits rather than learning the ropes in Ireland for a few seasons.
After scoring wins in the Irish Cadet Championship and winning the Kirkistown winter series title, Thompson and his father Noel, a former Formula Opel racer, headed for the British Championships, finishing top ten in the Super One series in his first season.
By the time the moment came to switch to cars seven years later, Thompson had scored Irelands best ever result in the Super One JICA series, third overall as well as 13th in the European Championship from an initial entry of 250.
His final season in karts, 2008 produced an excellent fifth place in the Margutti Trophy at the start of the year but ultimately the season fizzled out early with illness and exams badly compromising his European KF2 Championships right from the off.
In a way that made the decision to cross the rubicon into car racing and he his Dad immediately went about crafting a plan. Eschewing the conventional and well trodden path into European cars the Thompson enacted a plan that had its seeds in John OHaras successful race winning campaigns in Asian Formula 3 several years previously.
I was sixteen and it was time to leave karts if I had ambitions in car racing, says Gary. Asia made the most sense because Dad had good motorsport connections there and the racing scene is expanding. The competition is hot but the budgets are slightly more manageable.
Noel Thompson, a long time supporter of OHara, went into partnership with the Kildareman to set up a Formula 3 team based in the Philippines which over several seasons secured numerous race wins for OHara, Ali Jackson and subsequent Indy Lights front runner Dillon Battistini.
Recognising the advantages of Asia offers in terms of competitive budgets, better weather for off season testing and an expanding, fashionable motorsport market the Thompsons targeted the high profile Formula BMW Pacific series
Gary began his first steps towards 2009 testing a Formula BMW under the tutelage of OHara, the Donabate drivers coach and mentor. After careful consideration Thompson opted to race with established race winners E-Rain Motorsport in time for the first round of the championship.
Testing went well and Gary travelled to Sepang for the first round of the championship at the Malaysian Grand Prix eager to make an impression. Being thrust into the cauldron of a car debut on the undercard to a Formula One Grand Prix might have fazed many drivers but Thompson blossomed in the spotlight.
Two pole positions in qualifying ensued and Gary coolly produced the perfect start to his race career with victory in the first race despite initially slipping to fourth. He calmly picked off the cares ahead and raced on to the flag and a meeting with BMW boss Mario Theissen on the podium.
Hearing the national anthem standing under the flag was a really proud moment, he says. And doing it in front of F1 teams and the worlds media was pretty good too.
A tardy getaway cost Thompson dear in the second race of the weekend as he slipped to third. He might still have won as he catching the cars ahead at a rate of knots when the race was stopped just after halfway.
Still, another podium finish helped secure the early points advantage and he headed into the season in bullish form. While the race wins proved elusive, Gary kept scoring podium finishes, an admirable achievement given some of the driving standards on display.
I dont want to criticise anyone but there were one or two incidents that made me think that I just had to bring the car home in the points. There were races where you couldnt think about winning because youd be a target.
I led in Sentul for a bit until I was pushed off track. The other guy got a reprimand but no other penalty. What can you do? It was all about keeping the car together and scoring as many points as possible.
Thompson kept racking up the scores and secured the Rookie Cup title for first year car racers along with second overall in the series one round early at Okayama in Japan on November 1st. To that point he had also secured more prize money than any other driver and, ahead of the final round in Macau, he was already working hard on next season.
The test with Jenzer Motorsport is an exploratory outing to see what the Formula Master series has to offer. At the moment we have a number of offers in Japanese Formula 3 and that is looking the more likely destination for 2010.
The level of professionalism and car development in Japan is really high and would be great training for the rest of my career. There are also lots of opportunities for paid drives in Japan so a professional career is not too far away if things work out.
Thompson, though, is not ruling out a move to Europe at some stage. Formula One is the ultimate ambition, of course, and Japanese F3 would be a great step on the ladder. Where I go to after that would depend on whats available.
But Asias great for racing, right now. The fans are extremely enthusiastic and the teams place a real value on a drivers ability. Im racing on F1 tracks and at big international venues and learning lots that maybe I would be in a national championship.
His performances havent gone unnoticed in the world of commerce, either, and Thompson was grateful to pick up an important sponsor, Cebu Pacific, one of Asias leading low cost airlines, after that stellar first round. While European racing threatens to stagnate in the current recession, Asia seems to be weathering the storm.
Its been a great first year and Im delighted Ive been able to show what Im capable of. My parents have been very supportive throughout my racing career and I hope I can continue to give something back to them and all my supporters.
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