"I'm hugely grateful to Downton for the opportunity they awarded me back in 2013. I was all set on my career as a teacher, and then suddenly this opportunity arose through a scholarship type thing they ran to become the reserve driver for the team," said Thunder in a statement.
"Then I got a chance to race the car when Scott sadly couldn't, and we haven't looked back. However I feel now is the perfect opportunity for me to explore other options. I'm not currently running where I want to be in Formula Virtual and Formation Competition have offered me a deal that is too good to turn down, plus I get to run with the number 13 still!" Downton team principal Bradley Downton expressed his disappointment with Thunder's decision but wished the young Briton the best of luck. "Of course to lose a driver like Marcus is a shame, but we've spoken at great length about this to ensure it's the right decision for him, and he feels it is, so I wish him the best of luck. I'm also happy to confirm he will remain an integral part of the team and will serve as our reserve driver for 2017, with an option on his contract to return in the future." The announcement has prompted rumours Thunder has been pushed out of the team to make way for rookie Klaas van Snelheid - who has already previously been announced to race for the team in 2017 - but Downton assured this wasn't the case. "This is a decision Marcus made quite a while ago, long before we decided to give Klaas an opportunity." When questioned why the team refused to name van Snelheid's team mate before now - if the decision was already known - Downton replied, "Because we'd agreed with both drivers to allow Marcus to announce his own future in his own time, rather than confirm he wouldn't be driving and leave goodness knows who to come up with goodness knows what. We are happy to now confirm however that Nathaniel Powers will partner Klaas van Snelheid at Downton in 2017." This all means Thunder has just six races left of Formula Virtual career for the time being, with his final race coming at the Brazilian V-Prix in Sau Paulo on 11th December, where he will arrive as the defending race winner.
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