Marcus Thunder

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Marcus Thunder
Thunder Picture.png
Thunder at the 2013 British V-Prix
Born (1995-07-13) 13 July 1995 (age 28)
Southampton, England
Related to Kiara Thunder (sister)
Formula Virtual World Championship career
Nationality 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png British
2024 team Kōwhai-Toyota
2024 car number 31
Entries 118 (112 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 1
Podiums 5
Career points 286
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 2
First entry 2013 United States V-Prix
First win 2015 Brazilian V-Prix
Latest win 2015 Brazilian V-Prix
Latest entry 2024 Australian V-Prix
2023 position 27th (0 pts)
eVirtual World Championship career
Active years 2022
Team Downton eVirtual Team
Entries 12 (12 starts)
Championships 1 (2022)
Wins 1
Podiums 5
Points 167
Pole positions 1
Fastest laps 6
First race 2022 Australian eV-Prix
First win 2022 Macau eV-Prix
Last win 2022 Macau eV-Prix
Last race 2022 United States eV-Prix
IndyVirtual Series career
Team(s) Formation Competition
Starts 36
Championships 1 (2018)
Wins 6
Podiums 12
Points 1057
Pole positions 2
Fastest laps 7
First start 2017 V-Prix of Florida
First win 2017 250 Miles of Daytona
Last win 2018 Race van Nederland
Last start 2018 Macau V-Prix
Best finish 1st (527 pts) in 2018
IndyVirtual Triple Crown career
Participating
year(s)
20172018
Team(s) Formation Competition
Best finish Japan 500: 11th (2017)
Monaco 250: 3rd (2017)
Laguna Seca: 4th (2018)

Marcus Leo Thunder (born 13 July 1995) is a British virtual racing driver driver who is currently competing in the 2023 Formula Virtual World Championship for Kōwhai.

He was the successful applicant of the Downton Young Driver Academy when it was first set up to find a test and reserve driver for the Downton team in their first season. This later became a race seat after regular driver Scott Parsons was injured. He scored his first podium in the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix while on loan at Mathershaw Technology, his first podium for Downton in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix and his first win for Downton in the 2015 Brazilian V-Prix, his 30th start in the series.

Personal life

Thunder was born in Southampton, Hampshire and is the older brother of Kiara Thunder, who is also a racing driver. Thunder's parents John and Molly are frequently seen supporting him at his races.

Thunder was the first product of the Downton Young Driver Academy and was about to embark on a degree in teaching when he got the call up to race for the team.

In his own time Thunder enjoys online gaming, swimming, reading, writing and karting.

Career

Formula Virtual (2013-2017)

Downton (2013-2017)

2013

Thunder drove a Downton Virtual Grand Prix car for the first time during the Downton Young Driver Academy set-up test early in 2013. After setting the fastest time he was appointed as the official test and reserve driver for the Downton team.

During the build-up to the 2013 United States Grand Prix regular Downton driver Scott Parsons was involved in a rally accident that resulted in injuries ruling him out of the race. As reserve driver Thunder was handed the seat and made his racing début at just 18 years old. With no time to practice he qualified towards the back of the field, although only a few tenths off of team mate Kip Maxwell, and finished in 18th place, beating Romano Agostino.

Thunder was given some private testing in the car prior to the French Grand Prix and subsequently out-qualified new teammate Felix Beyer before bringing the car home in fourteenth place, ahead of five other drivers, all of whom had been racing since the start of the season. Thunder scored his first points with a ninth place finish in the next race in Germany before two twelfth place finishes and another solitary point in the Italian Grand Prix. Thunder was knocked out of the Chinese Grand Prix by Douglas Bacon and ended up with his first retirement however had impressively qualified the poorly performing Downton car in the midfield for every race since France while his array of teammates had struggled to get off the back two rows.

Loan to Mathershaw

Following the Chinese Grand Prix Bradley Downton was contacted by Mathershaw Technology team principal Robert Mathershaw to request the services of Thunder for the Japanese Grand Prix after regular Mathershaw driver Karl Beckenbauer was handed a race ban. After agreeing a £1,000,000 fee, with possible bonuses and extra races depending on performance, Downton decided to allow Thunder the opportunity to drive the Mathershaw car. He immediately impressed with a top nine qualifying performance before finishing sixth.

As a result of his performance Thunder was handed the drive for the final two races and made good of his chance, scoring a debut podium in the proceeding Brazilian Grand Prix having started eighth on the grid. He then secured his best grid position to date in his career in the final round of the season with fourth and followed it up with another points finish in fifth, meaning he had beaten highly rated teammate Adrien Simon in two of the three races they'd done together. Overall Thunder finished eleventh in the Drivers' Championship despite only competing in ten of sixteen races.

2014

For 2014 Thunder continued with Downton, racing alongside reigning World Champion Nathaniel Powers following the latter's move from Franklin. In the season opening Australian Grand Prix Thunder out-qualified Powers by six tenths of a second securing seventh on the grid compared to Powers' thirteenth. In the race Thunder made use of other's incidents to bring his car home in fifth while his team mate retired. Thunder qualified fifth in Malaysia ahead of his team mate again, but finished behind him in seventh, while a mistake in qualifying in Bahrain left him nineteenth on the grid, and he ultimately retired with suspension failure.

Following a disappointing home race in Britain, Thunder returned to the points with tenth place in Canada, and repeated the result at the next race in the United States after overtaking Will Hoskins on the final lap and also setting the fastest lap for the first time in his career. After failing to score in Spain, Thunder once more returned to the points in the Portuguese Grand Prix, finishing eighth before two successive mechanical failures in France and Germany. Thunder returned to form in Austria, once more out-qualifying his team mate and finishing just behind him in the race in sixth place, but in Belgium he went one better, finishing fifth and beating Powers.

Downton endured a miserable Italian Grand Prix and Thunder only managed twenty-first, before an equally as miserable Chinese race where Thunder retired from a points position with suspension failure. Fortunes turned in the Japanese Grand Prix however, as Thunder picked up his first ever podium finish for Downton in third place. This was followed by seventh in Brazil and sixth in the final race of the season in Mexico.

2015

On 10 May 2014 it was confirmed Thunder would continue with Downton for the 2015 season. The entire team struggled in pre-season and Australia, but picked up in Malaysia as Thunder scored the first point of the season in tenth, despite an unscheduled pit stop. Post-qualifying for the third round in Brazil it was announced both Thunder and team mate Powers would stay at Downton until at least the end of 2017, which Thunder duly celebrated by snatching his - and the team's - first ever win in the series the very next day. Powers finished second to complete a memorable 1-2. Thunder scored consistent points in every race he finished thereafter, ending the year seventh in the championship on 100 points, ahead of team mate Powers.

2016
2017

IndyVirtual (2017-2018)

Formation (2017-2018)

Return to Formula Virtual (2019-2021)

Lucas (2019-2021)

eVirtual (2022)

Downton (2022)

Third spell in Formula Virtual (2023-present)

Kōwhai (2023-present)

Helmet

Thunder's helmet is primarily orange with a blue strip up the front. To the sides of his visor he has dark blue shapes with yellow thunderbolt's producing British flags. On top the British flag is prominently featured, along with his car number and name. His sister Kiara uses an identical helmet design, although with different colours, primarily pinks and purples.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2013 Formula Virtual Orange Downton Pagani 7 0 0 0 0 3 11th
Barclays AMG Mathershaw Technology 3 0 0 0 1 33
2014 Formula Virtual Downton FV Team 17 0 0 1 1 69 9th
2015 Formula Virtual Downton FV Team 16 1 0 0 1 100 7th
2016 Formula Virtual Downton FV Team 18 0 0 0 0 2 20th
2017 Formula Virtual Downton FV Team Reserve driver
IndyVirtual Formation Competition 18 2 1 3 6 530 3rd
IndyVirtual Triple Crown 3 0 0 0 1 167 6th
2018 IndyVirtual Formation Competition 18 4 1 4 6 527 1st
IndyVirtual Triple Crown 3 0 0 0 0 93 14th
2019 Formula Virtual Lucas V-Prix 8 0 0 0 0 0 32nd
2020 Formula Virtual Lucas V-Prix 16 0 0 0 0 15 14th
2021 Formula Virtual Johnnie Walker Lucas V-Prix 16 0 0 1 2 64 11th
2022 eVirtual Downton McLaren eVirtual Team 12 1 1 6 5 167 1st
2023 Formula Virtual Toyota Kōwhai Racing 16 0 0 0 0 0 27th
2024 Formula Virtual Toyota Kōwhai Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0* 13th*

* Season in progress.

Complete Formula Virtual results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2013 Orange Downton Pagani Downton BD01 Pagani PF12013 AUS
MAL
BHR
GBR
ESP
CAN
USA
18
FRA
14
GER
9
AUT
12
BEL
12
ITA
10
CHN
Ret
11th 36
Barclays AMG Mathershaw
Technology
Mathershaw RJM-001 Mercedes FO 108Z JPN
6
BRA
3
MEX
5
2014 Downton FV Team Downton BD02 Downton DS-2014 AUS
5
MAL
7
BHR
Ret
GBR
17
CAN
10
USA
10
ESP
12
POR
8
FRA
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
6
BEL
5
ITA
21
CHN
Ret
JPN
3
BRA
7
MEX
6
9th 69
2015 Downton FV Team Downton BD03 Downton DS-2015 AUS
11
MAL
10
BRA
1
RSA
6
ESP
6
POR
9
FRA
6
GBR
5
CAN
7
USA
4
GER
Ret
BEL
6
ITA
7
MEX
9
CHN
Ret
JPN
8
7th 100
2016 Downton FV Team Downton BD04 Downton DS-2016 AUS
18
MAL
17
CHN
20
JPN
21
FRA
20
ESP
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
NED
14
BEL
9
ITA
16
TUR
15
BHR
13
CAN
24
USA
14
MEX
18
POR
17
BRA
13
20th 2
2019 Lucas V-Prix Lucas LW-4GPR Downton DS-2019 AUS
15
JPN
24
CHN
DNQ
MAL
DNQ
GBR
DNQ
FRA
DNQ
ESP
DNQ
CAN
DNQ
USA
AUT
GER
BHR
TUR
ITA
BEL
MEX
BRA
32nd 0
2020 Lucas V-Prix Lucas LW-5 Downton MCL-2020 JPN
18
MAL
17
AUS
19
RSA
20
GBR
12
FRA
16
ESP
18
GER
22
USA
17
CAN
Ret
BHR
Ret
TUR
Ret
BEL
10
ITA
8
MEX
5
BRA
13
14th 15
2021 Johnnie Walker Lucas V-Prix Lucas LW-6 Downton MCL-2021 JPN
9
MAL
11
AUS
11
RSA
9
GBR
16
FRA
9
ESP
11
GER
15
UAE
16
TUR
3
BEL
4
ITA
Ret
CAN
4
USA
18
MEX
8
BRA
3
11th 64
2023 Toyota Kōwhai Racing Kōwhai Tahi Toyota RVX-23 AUS
22
MAL
Ret
JPN
17
RSA
22
UAE
18
FRA
18
GBR
24
GER
17
BEL
25
ITA
Ret
TUR
22
CAN
20
USA
Ret
MEX
23
ARG
23
BRA
20
27th 0
2024 Toyota Kōwhai Racing Kōwhai Rua Toyota RVX-24 AUS
13
MAL
SIN
JPN
FRA
GBR
GER
NED
BEL
ITA
KWT
CAN
USA
MEX
ARG
BRA
13th* 0*

* Season in progress.

IndyVirtual Triple Crown results

Year Team Manufacturer JPN MON CAL Pos. Points
Q R Q R Q R
2017 Formation Competition Jaguar 20 11 7 3 10 6 6th 167
2018 Formation Competition Jaguar 18 Ret 24 15 6 4 14th 93

Complete IndyVirtual results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap; results with * indicate most laps led)

Year Team Manufacturer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2017 Formation Competition Jaguar FLO*
Ret
DAY
1
JPN
11
SUR
2
IND*
1
CAN
Ret
SEB
Ret
INDY
4
MON
3
FRA
2
GBR
8
GER
Ret
RSA
4
NYC
3
LBH
7
CAL
6
AUS
Ret
MAC
6
3rd 530
2018 Formation Competition Jaguar FLO
3
NYC
Ret
JPN
Ret
SUR
7
RSA*
1
ITA
Ret
INDY
1
CAN
14
MON
15
FRA
1
GER
5
NED
1
GBR
5
DAY
Ret
LBH
2
CAL
4
MEX
8
MAC
5
1st 527

Complete eVirtual results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Points
2022 Downton McLaren eVirtual Team AUS
2
CHN
6
MAC
1
JPN
5
ITA
5
NED
Ret
MON
24
GBR
2
MOR
Ret
MEX
Ret
AME
10
USA
3
1st 167