CALGARY --
Parker Thompson rounds the corner, shifts into fifth gear and slams his foot down on the gas pedal. Within seconds, the digital speedometer indicates Thompson is flying down the straightaway at 263 kilometres per hour.
But the 21-year-old professional race car driver from Red Deer, Alta., isn't in a real car on a real track — he's sitting in an $80,000-car simulator at Speeders Indoor ProKarts in Calgary. Thompson spends hours every week in a simulator, practicing his craft and racing against his own track times.
"It’s pretty remarkable how close it is to the real thing," Thompson said of the simulator made by VRX Simulators — a Vancouver Island-based company that supplies some of the best race car drivers in the world.
"The company actually went and scanned every major track in North America and some in Europe. So it is bump for bump, every nook and cranny, everything is pretty much as it is in the real world."
Thompson may only be in his early 20s but he's been racing for more than a decade. While many of his friends played hockey or football growing up, Thompson raced. He caught the racing bug from his father and soon was one of Canada’s top kart racers.
He now races in the Indy Pro 2000, Canadian Touring Car Championship and Porsche GT3 Cup Canada circuits, meaning he spends a lot of time travelling, racing and practicing on the track or in a simulator. He’s now preparing for what’s expected to be an even busier 2020 racing season.
Thompson knows racing isn’t nearly as popular in Canada as it is in the United States or Europe, but he wants to grow the sport in his home country.
"It’s definitely tough for a young up-and-coming Canadian to make it in motorsports."
He promotes racing across the country, speaking to groups and holding events allowing fans to challenge him in kart racing (he has three upcoming challenge events scheduled to take place at Speeders in Calgary).
One of the racing simulators Thompson trains on will be at Speeders until the end of January for the public to try out. Thompson says he spends at least three days every week on the machine.
"I’m using it as a training tool. It’s kind of like if you asked a hockey player if he takes practice seriously. It’s not just me skating around the rink, it’s me making sure that I’m tuned in and doing everything correct as I would in the real world."
He’s hoping his training helps make 2020 his most successful, and fastest, season yet.
