Four Podiums for Thompson in Sentul
In a frustrating weekend of missed opportunity Gary Thompson finished fifth and 11th in the double header of Formula BMW Pacific races at the Singapore Grand Prix event in Marina Bay.
A red flag in qualifying when another driver crashed cost Thompson dear as the truncated session badly affected his chances of annexing a grid position for each of the races that would have represented the pace he had been running in practice.
Having missed out on a fast time early in the session thanks to tyre problems, Thompson was in the process of recovering with a lap that looked on target for a front row start when the red flag flew.
As a result Thompson had to make do with third and tenth on the grid for Saturday and Sunday races instead of second and third which had looked likely before the intervention.
In race one on Saturday afternoon, Thompson made a good start but was pushed wide as he tried to go round the outside of turn one and lost two places. Thereafter he raced hard and managed third fastest race lap despite damage to a rear shock absorber, further reinforcing his lead in the Formula BMW Pacific Rookie Championship.
Race two was always going to be a challenge from tenth but Thompson, confident that he could run quicker than many of the drivers around him, made a good start and made his way up to eighth in the early stages.
Unfortunately on lap nine he was the victim of a somewhat overambitious overtaking attempt from the ninth paced driver, the ensuing clash knocking the Cebu Pacific supported driver off track and back to 12th.
He eventually finished 11th, seventh of the pacific series registered drivers and third of the Rookies. The points haul consolidated his second place in the overall and rookie cup series standings but Thompson was frustrated not to have scored better.
We were more competitive than the results we got this weekend and it was tough to recover after qualifying. Once youre in midfield its sometimes tough to control what goes on around you.
But I guess that happens sometimes and the main thing is that I was at least able to bring the car home for some decent points, said the 17-year-old from Donabate.
Next Round: November 11th, Okayama Japan
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