CANADIAN YOUNG GUNS REV UP FOR TORONTO RACES
Parker Thompson in Pro Mazda, Dalton Kellett in Indy Lights are both looking for glory
The Mazda Road to Indy races: entry level USF2000, mid-tier Pro Mazda and upper rung Indy Lights, will take place during the Honda Indy Toronto weekend July 13-15.
We caught up with two Canadian young guns: Albertan Parker Thompson leading the pack in Pro Mazda and hometown favourite Dalton Kellett in Indy Lights who, as a Queen’s University engineering physics grad, touts the real-life fun of STEM occupations.
Parker Thompson, No. 90 Team Exclusive Autosport You’re having an impressive rookie season in Pro Mazda this year. What’s been the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge is that the competition is at another level. If you look at this Pro Mazda championship, you have teams and drivers that have competed at the highest level.
I think the other biggest challenge obviously is that anytime you get into motorsport and move up the ladder, budget is always going to go up.
The car is new for 2018. Give me a run-through of what it’s like behind the wheel.
The difference between the USF2000 and Pro Mazda is a big one. Apart from the same chassis tub, you’ve got larger front wings and rear wings in Pro Mazda. You’ve got a larger diffuser on the Pro Mazda and then more horsepower and larger tires. So you add all that together and all of a sudden you’ve got a beast of a race car.
What’s your strategy coming into the Toronto race?
The strategy is: win! Toronto has treated me very well the last few years. It seems to match my style, especially since they made the change through the last sector where they moved the pit lane. With the bumps and the off-camber turn, and then you come around to the front straight, I think it is a really cool little sector.
Dalton Kellett, No. 28 Team Andretti Autosport
á This is your third year in Indy Lights. How important is this season?
It’s pretty important. The big thing for me, I think, is that I’ve shown pretty consistently that I’m ready as far as the ovals are concerned. I’d like to have a little more consistency on the road courses — that’s an important goal this year.
But I think pace-wise and technique-wise, I’m pretty much there. It’s just a question of putting everything together.
Tell me about the car and the team this year.
It’s great. We brought on some new engineering staff this year and the engineer I work with ... we’ve got a good history and we like working together. I think all the teams’ cars are so close. (It’s) just (about) getting that last little bit out of it.
Walk me through your prep. What do you need to do here?
There’s a lot of things. Toronto throws some curve balls at you. It’s different from the other street courses because there’s a lot of pavement transitions, (it’s) very bumpy.
The Lights car is particularly challenging because of its high downforce. It’s fast, it’s got big tires, which means it’s pretty sensitive to the car moving around a lot. You have to run a fairly stiff car whereas in IndyCar, they have a third spring (that) lets you run softer setups and deal with the bumps better. We don’t have that, so learning to control the car over the bumps is very important.