Gary Thompson, one of Ireland’s brightest motorsport prospects, continued his push for the Japanese F3 Championship National Class title with two podium finishes at the former Formula One Grand Prix venue in Fuji this weekend.
The 19-year-old, runner-up in the prestigious Formula BMW Pacific series in 2009, bounced back from a frustrating sixth in Saturday’s opening race around the 4.563km circuit set in the foothills of Mount Fuji, with third and second place finishes in Sunday’s two events.
In a wet qualifying session, the Dubliner, who receives support from Aviation Display and Cebu Pacific Air, impressed to set the third best time for race 1 and second for race 2.
The opening event on Saturday afternoon was held on a damp, but drying track with Thompson opting to start on slick tyres in the hope of conditions improving further. Unfortunately, Gary’s SGC by KCMG team didn’t have time to switch his Dallara single-seater to dry settings prior to the race, leaving Thompson battling an unbalanced car to sixth at the chequered flag.
Starting from second for race 2 on Sunday morning, Thompson got away strongly and held his place in the early stages of the race. Later, despite his car developing a brake issue, he was still able to finish a strong third to net his first podium of the weekend.
The grid for the final event was decided on each driver’s fastest lap time from race 1, leaving Thompson down in sixth at the start. Nevertheless, Gary rewarded his team for the hard work they put in fixing the earlier brake issue by getting away superbly as the lights went out and climbing to fourth by turn 1 and third one corner later. Having comfortably set the fastest lap of the race, he later pulled a superb move on one of the factory Honda drivers to grab second place and was challenging for the lead as the chequered flag waved.
Gary Thompson: “Overall this has been a very positive weekend and two podium finishes keep me well placed in the championship. We had a few problems in practice on Friday, but qualifying was encouraging. While the first race was very frustrating and we dropped some crucial points, our pace in the other two was very good.
“I’d also like to say a huge thank you to the team for their work this weekend. They did an incredible job to solve the brake problem between races two and three and the car was fantastic.
“I’m still really eager to get that first win, but fastest lap in the final race was a real boost to our confidence and we all feel that a victory is coming. We really think we can get it at the next round, which is also at Fuji, in July.”
Thompson will return to action for rounds 6 and 7 of the 2011 Japanese F3 Championship at Fuji International Speedway on 16/17 July.
