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Red Deer’s Parker Thompson enters new territory with two series weekend

Ended up with podium finishes in three of four races
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Parker Thompson barely had a minute to breathe in Toronto last weekend.

The 21-year-old had a busy 10 session schedule over the weekend between two different series on the track at the Honda Indy.

He raced in the Indy Pro 2000 series in an open-wheel car, as well as the Porsche IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series. Each series had two races plus qualifying sessions.

He ended up with three podiums in four races, including a second and two thirds.

“Getting the maximum out of two very different cars was a tremendous challenge. The Porsche GT3 Cup Car, and the Tatuus PM-18 Indy Pro 2000 car are not only very different in size and handling characteristics, but they also require a very different strategy and approach during race action,” Thompson said in a statement on his website.

”Going back and forth between vehicles, and jumping straight into race pace really tested my concentration and ability to remember key markers and set-up notes for this very unforgiving Streets of Toronto track.

”This was probably my most stressful weekend of racing ever, but I’m overjoyed by our results. In these two highly competitive series, I always feel blessed to stand on the podium. Doing that three out of four times this weekend feels like a huge achievement.”

His fourth race of the weekend was also the 100th of his career. Over that span, he has 55 podium finishes and 26 wins.

After the weekend races, Thompson sits second in both the Indy Pro 2000 and GT3 Canada and is leading the Canadian Touring Car Championship.

Thompson will take a break next weekend before he hits the track again later this month.

He’ll get back at it on July 26-28 with an Indy Pro 2000 race in Lexington, Ohio. Next, it is a GT3 Cup Canada race in Elkhart Lake, WI, before a CTCC event in Trois Rivieres, Que.



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Byron Hackett

About the Author: Byron Hackett

Byron has been the sports reporter at the advocate since December of 2016. He likes to spend his time in cold hockey arenas accompanied by luke warm, watered down coffee.
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