Karter on track for bigger things

HOME AND AWAY - GARY THOMPSON: GAVIN CUMMISKYgets the inside line on the 15-year-old Dublin driver with sights firmly set on progressing from kart racing to Formula One

THERE IS an exact path into Formula One and 15-year-old Gary Thompson is on it. We accept that is a significant statement. But they are already aware of his ability in the higher echelons of motor racing.

Sure, a few twists and turns lie ahead, including progression from the kart to the car. Talent is imperative, almost as much as contacts, funding and the team behind an ambitious young driver.

With the Thompsons it is a family affair. His father, Noel, understands the use of the media in promoting his son's talent (visit www.garythompsonracing.com).

Mother Trish covers a wide range of roles including strategic planner to and from events. She books the flights.

Sister Niamh is 21 and studying fashion and design in Limerick but there was a time when she too showed potential.

"Having two kids in karts would kill me! Niamh was very quick," says Noel.

Noel Thompson is, however, smart enough to surround Gary with experts like Ricky Flynn, manager David Kennedy and Richard Cregan of Toyota to provide the necessary advice.

Thompson is part of Ricky Flynn Motorsport team, with affiliations to Alonso Racing and ties right up to Formula One, and his journey has been steadfastly monitored and planned.

"There is no question Gary possesses the ability to go all the way," said Flynn from the testing bay in La Garda, Italy, last week. "He is also beginning to show the mental strength required to make it. Of course, it is not all about that. There are funding issues that need to be taken care of."

Noel explains this crucial aspect of motor racing: "We can afford karting and have the budget to bring him into cars over the next two years." Then what?

"We have a fairly heavyweight backer who we can pull in. Hopefully. There is contact with Formula One teams and we are already trying to push him into the junior ranks."

You would forgive the kid if, at just 15, he came across arrogant, or shy even, but there is a balance to his responses: a confidence only truly evident in a natural.

"Depending how it goes I'll be moving into cars next," Gary explains. "That is the plan over the next year. Formula One is where I want to be long term. Some of it is luck. I don't really believe in depending on luck but there is no other word to describe it sometimes. I'm still in school at Coláiste Choilm (in Swords) and have the Junior Cert in a couple of weeks but I have never really found school that difficult.

"I started when I was nine up in Athboy in Meath. Back then we didn't know we'd get this far. At the end of the first year, I had my first race in England. It was a huge step up."

Noel, who raced Formula B in the early 1990s, picks up this thread: "We went to a kart track in Tenerife in 2001 and straight away you could see he was fairly quick. I bought a cadet kart, with an ordinary engine, and entered him in races, expecting him to learn his way from the back of the grid. He had a podium finish in his first year. That was 2003."

Gary would have been 10 or 11.

The next year he finished ninth in the British cadet championships. By 2006 his sixth place in the UK Junior Championships saw him equal Niall Breen as the best ever Irish finisher. A year later he was third.

Gary was given an insight into the glamour world of F1 as a guest of Toyota at testing in Barcelona last February. He learned it wasn't purely about speed. He saw how these highly evolved cars can break into a corner at 200mph.

"What struck me about Gary was how mature a young man he was," says Richard Cregan, general manager of Toyota's F1 operation. "You just knew by the question he was asking that he has the right frame of mind. Another benefit is he has done so much racing and is still only 15.

"It must also be remembered there are only 20 drives in Formula One at the moment. It's getting more difficult to break into. Someone like Gary must retain a clear view saying, 'I'm going to make it,' because there are a lot of other talented kids with more money behind them.

There's a determined way about him. Lots of opportunities can come out of racing . . . It is a great way to develop characteristics and general behaviour to succeed in any walk of life. It will all stand to him."

Still based in Donabate, north Co Dublin, at least until he sits his Junior Certificate next month, Gary sets out each race week for a British or European destination on the Wednesday for testing, qualifying and preparation ahead of actual competition.

The next challenge comes in Belgium, during his exams; he will travel over on the weekend of the race.

"This means he will have a 10-minute preparation on a track he has never seen before qualifying begins," Noel explains.

Seemingly every week a new challenge crops up. Is it China or Japan next year for the inevitable transition into cars? Is it another year in karting? "We may move to China to test the BMW and probably some Reno cars with John O'Hara. But things may change. He is not 16 until the end of May and we can stay another year in karting. We don't want to move too quickly into cars."

The main targets for 2008 are the European Championships in Braga, Portugal (August) and World Cup in La Conca, Italy (September). "He possesses all the elements to be a racing driver. When he doesn't do well he will admit it and only blame the equipment if it is really at fault. He has the right attitude."

La Garda last Sunday provided another valuable lesson. It started with a familiar routine. Working on the pro-performance training regime of Dan Williams, he was in the gym and swimming pool early in the week before flying to Italy for testing. There were moments when his natural ability shone through but ultimately it will be chalked down as a frustrating week blighted by illness.

"Considering his physical condition he couldn't hold on," Noel continues. "He produced an amazing drive to get back to sixth on the last lap but he fell back so he's disappointed, but we're not."

Next stop is Belgium. Then Asia to get behind a bigger wheel. The track stretches on forever after that."Depending how it goes I'll be moving into cars next . . . Formula One is where I want to be long term