There may not be another driver more battle tested than Parker Thompson.

After three seasons in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, the first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy, the 20-year-old Canadian finally looks poised to seize his opportunity with the step up to the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires.

The opening doubleheader weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg saw Thompson nearly walk away with a win in Race 1 before falling victim to rival Rinus VeeKay on a late restart and settling for second. After adding another top-five finish in the Race 2, he sits second in the championship standings, 19 points behind VeeKay, headed to this weekend’s doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

What stands out about Thompson’s journey is how he went from nearly being out of a ride after collecting four wins and finishing runner-up in the 2016 USF2000 championship with Cape Motorsports, to leading first-year Exclusive Autosport to three wins, six podiums and third in the standings last season. Fittingly known as the “Eh Team” for its Canadian roots, Thompson is a major part of the foundation as both driver and team look to continue progressing up the MRTI ladder.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity, but I think it’s a pretty mutual benefit,” said Thompson, driver of the No. 90 Exclusive Autosport/Badlands Motorsport Resort Mazda/Tatuus PM-18.

“You look at EA. I’m getting to drive and they’re getting a driver that can develop their team on every level up. I’m pretty sure we’ve got a couple of fast guys in USF2000 (Igor Fraga, Manuel Cabrera, Jayson Clunie) to use my setups from last year. I think those guys are going to be set up really good and we’re looking to do the same this year.

“Obviously, we want to win the (Pro Mazda) championship, so it’s going to be two places up (from the 2017 USF2000,” Thompson continued, “but at the same time I think we've got a pretty good package developed already. We picked up a fellow Canadian driver (Antonio Serravalle) for the season, so that’s awesome, so we do have in Pro Mazda a full-on Canadian team.”

Last season, Thompson had to learn about the new Tatuus USF-17, which hindered some advantage he had as a returning veteran. Now in Pro Mazda, he’s one of the few with USF-17 experience piloting its upgraded cousin, the PM-18.

“There are similarities and then there are differences, too,” said Thompson, who owns seven career USF2000 victories. “I think this one suits my driving style a lot better than the USF-17 did, just due to the fact that you can drive it harder and be more aggressive with it and that’s worth time (on the track).

“Where in the USF car you had to be clean, you had to roll momentum. It was a standard 2 liter car. With (the PM-18), you can actually get aggressive with it, but it’s an awesome car. Obviously, you’ve got more downforce, you’ve got more tire and you’ve got more engine. So anytime you combine those three together, it makes for a better race car.”

Even though the field in Pro Mazda is as deep as it’s been, Thompson believes the pressure is more on the teams to progress with the new car. That’s also where he thinks Exclusive Autosport has an advantage with the offseason addition of engineer Tim Lewis, a 20-year veteran who has extensive Indy car and sports car experience.

“I think we’re all on a pretty even playing field. The biggest thing is going to be the teams learning the cars,” Thompson said. “You look at Juncos (Racing), they have an Indy Lights program, so they know what a high-downforce, high-horsepower car is going to handle like.

“Where (at) Exclusive Autosport, this is our highest level we’ve gotten so far. We’re continually developing, but we hired on Tim Lewis, he’s a pretty veteran engineer for anybody who knows Champ Car and lots of sports car stuff. He’s done a lot, so he’s been an absolute pleasure to work with and it’s been a lot of fun getting in this car.”

Thompson is among 16 drivers entered for this weekend’s Barber doubleheader. Pro Mazda teams have a 75-minute test session scheduled at 10 a.m. ET Thursday. The official race weekend on the 2.3-mile permanent road course opens with practice at 9:45 a.m. ET Friday, ahead of Race 1 qualifying at 3:15 p.m.

Qualifying for Race 2 is set for 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday. Race 1 begins at 1:50 p.m. Saturday, with Race 2 at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. Live streaming of the races and most other sessions is available at RaceControl.IndyCar.com.