Parker Thompson

Canadian Parker Thompson earned five wins in 2022, on his way to the Porsche Carrera Cup title.

Photos Courtesy Parker Thompson Racing

2022 CARRERA CUP CHAMPION

Story by J. Wally Nesbitt

In an automotive re-enactment of the David versus Goliath parable, Parker Thompson and the single car JDX Racing effort, took on the powerhouse Kelly Moss Racing team and emerged as the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion.

Entering into the season finale at Road Atlanta riding a record of five race victories plus another eight top five finishes, Thompson still sat five points in arrears of points leader Kay van Berlo. Benefiting from early race misfortune for his rival van Berlo (punctured radiator-contact), Thompson was nevertheless forced to run a disciplined 45 minute contest, ultimately finishing the season with a third place overall (second in Pro Class) race result, sufficient to earn the Red Deer, AB resident the prestigious Al Holbert Cup.

“I was taking no risks in that final race. I’d done the math and knew where I needed to finish to complete the comeback,” noted Thompson. “When my crew told me that Kay was out, a lot of the pressure was off, but I still needed to finish near the top. Riley (Dickinson) was hounding me pretty fiercely, so I let him go. I didn’t need that position. I settled into third spot, focused on avoiding the curbs and backed my speed off a little.”

“I have to admit, running below just the limit made it the hardest 10 Inside Track Motorsport News 30 minutes I’ve ever done in a race car,” concluded the driver of the No. 9 Shell/JDX Racing Porsche 992.

Originally having set his career motorsports goal of racing in the Indianapolis 500, Thompson trained in a variety of open wheeled disciplines with successes coming in Formula 1600, USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Pro Mazda. Receiving a taste of sports car competition in 2019 by piloting an Audi R8 to the GT-Sport class title in the Canadian Touring Car Championship, Thompson went a step further by doubling his workload with a season-long ride in the Canadian Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge where he finished in second spot overall behind current IMSA GTD champion Roman De Angelis.

Moving into the Carrera Cup North America ranks in 2021, Thompson again enjoyed success riding a trio of race win to third place in the year-end rankings.

“As we prepared for this season our mindset was championship or nothing,” recalled Thompson. “Personally, I’d had enough of this runner-up stuff.”

Kicking off the 2022 campaign with three podium finishes at Sebring and Long Beach, the series moved on to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca where the No. 9 Porsche found its way into victory lane with back-to-back wins.

“That weekend was a real turning point for JDX Racing, we now knew we could run with, and beat, the best in the series. That gave us all a real boost of confidence,” said Thompson. “But I think our wins may have woken up the Kelly Moss bear.”

Two more solid performances came at Watkins Glen (3rd/ 4th), setting up Thompson’s much anticipated return to Canada as part of the Toronto Indy weekend. Unfortunately, the first of the 45 minute races did not go as planned.

“That weekend embodied how I drove this year, I was always attacking as hard as I could. And sometimes that can burn you.”

Taking the green flag from third spot on the grid, Thompson wrestled his way into second place in the first turn and was charging for the lead as the pack headed into the tight, third corner. On cold tires and with cold brakes, Thompson simply overshot the corner and was forced to take to the runoff area. By the time he had his mount spun around, the pack was 30 seconds ahead of him. Undeterred, the 24-year-old planted his right foot down and after 45 minutes of caution-free racing, he had worked his way back up to a sixth place result. Employing the same mindset in the Sunday finale, Thompson was able to add another runner-up finish to his totals.

“I knew that after Toronto we were hitting a couple of my best tracks, Road America and the Indy road course, places where I’d won before. I knew that we’d needed to do well there, because after that was the final weekend at Road Atlanta, a track that just didn’t seem to like me very much.”

Earning a win at each of the doubleheader events at Elkhart Lake and Indy somewhat softened the blow of a DNF in round two at Indianapolis.

“I really wanted to at least finish on the podium to narrow the points gap, but Trenton (Estep) lost his brakes and got into me in the first corner. That was my first ever non-finish in a sports car and it could not have come at a worse time.”

With a month to prepare for the Road Atlanta finale, the JDX Racing strategy was laid out.

“We were confident of our chances, we knew that the championship was within reach and that we just had to do our jobs. We followed the plan and I was able to get my first win at Brazelton. That was probably the most rewarding win we had all year. I know that I worked harder in the car than I ever had before.”

Despite having not slept the night prior to the finale, Thompson was nevertheless prepared for the title fight, ‘bullying’ his way into second place behind Porsche Junior Driver Lauren Heinrich and setting the fastest race lap. Contact between van Berlo and Trenton Estep ultimately led to van Berlo’s retirement from the event, allowing Thompson to cruise to his inaugural Carrera Cup championship.

“For me, it was business as usual in the car until the cool down lap. But as soon as I crossed the line, the tears began to flow. The pressure was off – I’d finally won a premiere championship.”

Not one to show off for a simple race win, on the occasion of his Porsche crown Thompson did allow himself the opportunity to do some doughnuts.

“I’d never done doughnuts before, but I did manage to do some of the nicest doughnuts that I’ve ever seen,” he laughed.

Concluded the newly crowned champion, “If someone offered me a ride in the Indy 500, you bet I’d take it. But now, I’ve put myself on the map in sports cars and I am committed to this discipline. I have fallen in love with sports cars and sports car racing. I’m in this for the long haul now.” IT