By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Thompson hopeful to maintain series lead after dreary Toronto weekend

Jul 18, 2018 | 3:51 PM

The current Pro Mazda points leader is not pleased with how the last weekend of racing went, and he says it shouldn’t have gone down the way it did.

Red Deer’s Parker Thompson has seen his massive points lead evaporate following two dismal finishes at one of his favourite tracks, the Toronto Indy. He still leads by seven points.

Last Saturday, Thompson was running in second place when he was blindsided by another driver early in the race, he says.

“The driver decided to make a really risky move on lap three,” he recalls. “I never even saw him coming and he ran into the side of me and smashed us into the outside wall on turn three. It didn’t write the car off, but only one of four corners was left intact.”

Thompson is still questioning what the driver was thinking.

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“There’s no place for it. It didn’t even need to happen on the third lap of a 45 minute race, and I guess it’s just me, but if I was battling the championship leader, I’d have a little more respect for him,” he says. “I’d race him hard, but I wouldn’t blindside him and smash him into the outside wall. I don’t want to say it was intentional, but sometimes it’s tough not to see it that way.”

The 20-year old ultimately placed 8th, while another seven drivers didn’t finish after another scary crash. Only six cars wound up seeing the checkered flag.

On day two, Thompson didn’t fare much better, finishing, but winding up once again in the eight spot. He began the race in 14th.

On bouncing back, the driver of the #90 car says, “The biggest thing is finding more sponsorship money to pay for the crash I just had. We were fast in Toronto; we were in second when the crash happened so I think we can easily get right back to our form.”

Thompson’s next pair of races go July 26-29 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Thompson hopeful to maintain series lead after dreary Toronto weekend

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