ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Canadian Parker Thompson travelled to the famed Road America racing circuit in Wisconsin in late June for the fifth event of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, posting a pair of top-five results that included a podium finish in the second race of the doubleheader. The rising Mazda Road to Indy star arrived in Wisconsin as the series championship point leader and left holding onto the lead, albeit in a tie with his Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Anthony Martin. The 18-year-old Red Deer, AB student steered his #2 Weyburn Energy Van Diemen to fifth in the opening race, and then later that same day (Saturday, June 26), he stormed back to finish a strong third. These results extend Parker’s streak of top-five finishes to eight straight races, the best in the series.
“I drove the wheels off of the #2 this weekend, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to catch the front boys,” offered Thompson, who now has 217 points in the title chase. “I still managed a fifth and a third, which brought a vital points haul in order to keep the championship hunt alive coming out of Road America. You can definitely count on me coming back stronger for my home Grand Prix of Toronto next week.”
Parker got the Road America event off to a solid start on Thursday, coming to grips with the challenging 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain circuit. Through both sessions that led to Friday qualifying, Thompson closed the gap on the top of the charts, running without the aid of a draft in order to develop a truly quick set-up. In the timed session to set the grid for Race 1, which was held on Friday afternoon, Parker posted the third fastest lap (2:11.312), which placed him behind his teammate Anthony Martin for the first of two races that would be run on Saturday.
In the opening race, Parker was in the middle of a crazy scrum during the restart after an early caution period, and his car was damaged due to contact initiated by some overly aggressive competitors. Although the car was not at 100% for the remainder of the 30-minute race, Thompson did a superb job in bringing it home for a fifth place finish.
In the short amount of time between the two Saturday races, Parker’s team repaired his car and he emerged from a three-wide run heading into the opening corner at the green flag, jumping from his starting position of fifth to third, getting out ahead of the chaos to score a strong third place finish. This performance was certainly needed, as Martin scored both race wins to pull into a tie with Thompson in the championship. The rest of the season is going to be an exciting shootout for the title.
The next event of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will allow Parker to remain at home in Canada, as he will travel east from Red Deer to the province of Ontario for the annual Honda Toronto Indy. This will be a huge weekend for the rising Canadian star with the chance to represent his country on home turf.
Parker is thankful for the opportunities provided to him by his valued partners, including Weyburn Energy, Uber, Sylvan Lake RV, Bell Helmets, OMP Racing, Lapizta Watches, Openhwy, Mazda and Cooper Tires.
About Parker Thompson:
Parker was born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta and got behind the wheel of his first kart at the age of eight. He went from being a weekend warrior rolling a kart and toolbox in the back of a family half-ton in Calgary, to a championship-winning fixture in many of the world’s top karting events. In 2012, Parker was the first ever North American to make it to the podium in the Junior Rotax category at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimao, Portugal where he was awarded the third ranking in the world. At the age of 14, Thompson went on to live in Italy, leaving family and friends behind to race in Europe full-time with the Energy Corse Factory team. This move helped accelerate his dream of becoming a professional racecar driver. He had a record-breaking season for a Canadian, producing results yet to be seen by a North American competing at the world stage in Europe. Currently, the accomplished 18-year-old looks to make it one step closer to his dream of a professional racecar driver and make the jump to racing formula cars. After finishing fifth overall in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda last year, for 2016, Thompson has signed a deal with championship-winning Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.