|
Thompson Goes Fourth in Parma! |
|
|
|
|
Monday, 10 March 2008 |
Gary Thompson gave
himself, and perhaps Ireland,
a best ever result in international kart racing yesterday with a stunning fourth
place finish in the Margutti Cup KF2 event in Parma.
Racing against 87 drivers from 22
countries, the Donabate driver was always in contention throughout the weekend
and finished his fourth ever event in the senior ranks within inches of the rear
bumper of the third place kart having been part of a four-way train that broke
away from the rest of the field.
The result is confirmation of the strong testing form that Thompson has shown
recently and, encouragingly, the fifteen year-old was the highest pace driver
using a chassis from the famous Tonykart organisation which traditionally
supplies much of the grid.
Thompson had steered his Alonso branded
machine to third place in his group during qualifying, a position that might
have been even better if he had not missed the last seven minutes of the session
due to a misread pit signal.
As a result he started sixth for his first
of two heats and from then on combined searing pace with controlled aggression
to improve on his grid positions throughout the weekend.
He finished
third in Friday's first heat and fifth in heat two on Saturday afternoon. That
meant fifth position on the grid for Sunday morning's semi final which he
converted into fourth position by the end.
As a result Gary started eighth on the
grid for the final against the cream of the world's best kart racers, most of
whom are targeting a full time career in car racing.
In the all important
20 lap final, Gary made light work of the karts around him
and soon tagged on to the leading three drivers who established an advantage
over the rest.
 By the flag Gary was an impressive fourth having turned
times within fractions of a second of the race winner. Despite the great result,
Gary's
competitive nature meant that he was actually slightly disappointed not to have
secured a spot on the podium.
A podium would have been nice but It's been
a pretty good weekend and we've been very competitive throughout," said
Gary. "That
missed time on track while the track was drying out at the end of qualifying was
a missed opportunity but I didn't let it put me off.
"We showed we have
the pace to run with the very best and it certainly is a boost ahead of the
first round of the WSK series which is the next event on the
agenda."
Gary's next race is the first
round of the European WSK series at La Conca, Italy
next weekend, March 13th to 16th
|
