Thompson Enjoying GT4 America Return Mentoring McIntosh

Photo: Parker Thompson/Instagram

Parker Thompson said he is excited to compete in Toyota GT4 machinery, ‘as much as he can,’ amidst a mentorship and coaching role as Anthony McIntosh’s Pirelli GT4 America co-driver this season in a Pro-Am No. 69 JTR Motorsports Engineering Supra GT4 EVO2.

Parker, who has GT4 experience in both the SRO America and IMSA paddocks, returns to full-time GT4 America competition this season after selected appearances with the now-defunct Hanley Motorsports program one year ago. The Toyota-contracted driver also contests the full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Vasser Sullivan in its Lexus RC F GT3.

“It’s always nice just to stay more connected to the Toyota family,” Thompson told Sportscar365. “It’s great that they’ve developed the GR Supra. It’s an awesome car for SRO, so I’ve tried to do my best to support it and drive it as much as I can.

“It’s nice that the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and SRO America play nice with their calendars. That’s honestly what it comes down to. I want to drive as much as I can because I love driving.

“The GT4 format is fun just because of how even it is. Even with Balance of Performance, which is a dirty word, I find that you’re never out of the hunt in a GT4 car. You can always find ways to win races and be in the race, not be outside the window.

“So I’ve enjoyed it a lot. The racing is like no other and I hope to continue to do it.”

Thompson’s campaign comes with the Jared and Dave Thomas-run team and is centered around driver development for McIntosh. Notably, the pair teamed up in the past in Porsche Endurance Challenge North America competition last year.

McIntosh, who with his variety of on-track experience in a variety of IMSA and SRO-sanctioned competition, is also competing on the GT America powered by AWS grid this year in Supra GT4 machinery.

“I’ve gotten really close to Jared Thomas and Dave Thomas,” Thompson said. “Jared owns the team, and Dave helps run it, which is cool. I look at them, and I look at one day, what I’d love to do with my dad. I think what they’re doing is fantastic.

“They’re getting to the point where I think they’re pretty professional. And the connection there is Anthony McIntosh or ‘Tony’ as he’s more well-known in the racing paddock. Tony’s been longtime friends with Jared and Dave.

“When we sat down in the offseason and talked about me helping his development as a coach, firstly, and then secondly as a co-driver.

“I said, ‘Hey, I know you’re good at racecraft, but that’s where learning racecraft in a series where the cars are more even and you don’t have to worry as much about BoP, is going to be really important before you get to WeatherTech or maybe eventually WEC,’ and he agreed.”

After a slower start to the season in Sonoma, Thompson and McIntosh bounced back with a season-best fourth-place finish at the three-hour Lone Star Enduro at the Circuit of The Americas.

Furthermore, McIntosh took a GT4 class win in GT America in the Lone Star State that same weekend. However, Thompson says that McIntosh’s development in the car speaks more than any results on track this season.

“As a professional driver, I want to win every single race we enter,” he said. “I know how sometimes that’s not realistic, but as Tony’s coach, and even as his friend, I want to see him develop.

“The Tony that I knew before Sonoma in Round 1 and the Tony I know now, he is 1000 percent getting better. You look at his race in GT4 America, at COTA, when he definitely didn’t have the car to win that race, and he somehow muscled it through.

“The goal here is not to win the SRO GT4 championship. It’s to make Tony the assassin that he needs to be so that when he gets to a premier championship in GT3, he’s going to be ready to win it. So if I can say at the end of the season I’ve done that, then my job’s done.”