Marcus Thunder
Marcus Thunder
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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* | 19th* |
* Season in progress.
Complete Formula Virtual results
(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
* 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 |
