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Gary Thompson dominates in Motegi to take his first Japanese F3 win

A dominant performance helped Gary Thompson become the first Irish driver to ever win a round of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship last weekend following his National Class victory at Motegi.

The up-and-coming single-seater ace from Dublin had earmarked rounds eight and nine at the revamped Japanese venue as key to re-igniting his title chances, and if race two on Sunday was anything to go by then he remains a threat for this year’s crown.

Excellent pace in mixed conditions throughout free practice helped the 19-year-old line-up second for Sunday’s 20-lap race. One of Thompson’s key attributes remains his starts and that was again in evidence when Gary immediately vaulted into the lead as the lights went out.

For a while he was content to look after his tyres as the chasing pack remained close behind. But with a couple of laps gone Thompson began to stretch his advantage, first setting the race’s fastest time before consistently lapping quicker than his rivals to open out a 9 second lead.

With breathing space established, Thompson was able to reel off the remaining laps unchallenged. Such was the poise of his SGC by KCMG-prepared Dallara-Toyota that he could maintain the near-10 second margin over second place without pushing overly hard en route to registering the first win for a non-manufacturer supported car in 2011.

Thompson will travel with new-found confidence to Okayama on August 27th and 28th for rounds 10 and 11 lying fourth in the championship standings 23 points off the lead.