Insider Gaming caught up with Trackmania pro Thomas ‘Pac’ Cole after he finished third at the tense Esports World Cup tournament.
His performance secured Team Vitality a spot on the podium while AG.AL won the EWC Club Championship and claimed $7m.
After balancing accountancy studies with his esports career, two-time World Champion Pac has now gone full-time in his search for more Trackmania trophies.
Pac spoke to us about competing since the age of 13, his EWC experience playing in front of a passionate French fanbase, and why he chose Vitality.
Congratulations on your podium finish at the EWC. It ended up being a crucial result for Team Vitality, can you walk us through that final?
I knew for the Club Championship, for Vitality, we wanted to be third. And the only way for us to be third was if I finished ahead of Mime in the grand final, because he played for Navi.
My main goal of the final was to beat Mime, but obviously I wanted to win. And the way that Gwen played the first track, I think he already got a 10-point lead or a 12-point lead.
Gwen was always there or always just ahead. And so I ended up pushing some turns, which if was going for safe, then, you know, I wouldn’t need to do that. But I wanted to challenge Gwen and put him under pressure.
Instead, I crashed, I think Epos crashed. And then the next round, I crashed again and Gwen won two rounds in a row.
Then on the third round, after that, I was on an incredible time and Gwen just had the momentum and I think he did a world record in the round. And so it’s like, okay, cool. This kid’s now 30, 40 points clear of all of us. First place is not looking as likely.
I think I had the performance to be second, but because of pushing for first, I got third, which is a great result. Super happy to the way I got to the finals, knocking out Mudda, knocking out Carl, knocking out eLconn21 as well. I feel like it’s like an incredible run to get there, which can’t be ignored.
You surprisingly struggled in the earlier rounds of the tournament. What do you chalk that up to, and how did you recover?
I’ve always had like matches go from 2:00 pm, 3:00 pm and then it can get till 9:00 pm, but I’ve already had like six matches at that point.
Going straight into a 9:30 pm match, having warmed up all day. I don’t think I was ready for it, I drained myself, I just didn’t really get into my rhythm, played awful and then obviously lost.
I went into the loser bracket, and at that point, I had like a mental shift. At Dreamhack earlier this year, I came from the loser bracket and won the tournament. So I kind of knew that I wasn’t in like, the worst position ever because I’m used to it.
And then the Saturday playoffs, I just felt ready. I didn’t have the horrible nerves or the feeling of, oh my god, if I lose now, it’s embarrassing.
And then the quarterfinal I was in was probably one of the greatest matches I think ever seen in Trackmania. It was me, Carl, Otaaaq, and Neon. And obviously Neon is this new 17-year-old kid on the block.
He shocked everyone with his performance in the group stage. And then obviously you got the rest of us, and it was just one of those crazy matches with a quad finalist, which you never really see.
And what was it like playing a LAN in front of all the Vitality fans?
I mean, I’ve had a lot of LAN experience, but I’ve never had it like that. It felt like I was at a football match. I had the Vitality fans cheering me on the whole time. They had drums, they had speaker phones, they had everything.
I think the first and second matches, I found it really hard to get used to it. It kind of weighed on me a little bit, because I was playing so poor. That was the issue for me in the second match, I felt like I was letting them down.
And then I think I found a bit of a groove with it and understood sort of how to deal with that in my third and fourth. So every time I’d win a round, they’d go crazy. And that’s one of the best feelings.
Getting through that semifinal, I looked up and I could see them all there going crazy. And knew I just needed to really give it some.
It’s something that I am very grateful for. I’m very grateful for the World Cup being in France. Very grateful for Counter-Strike being at the same time and also kind of being lucky in the sense that they got knocked out before I did, so then we had more people coming to support me.
It felt like one of those moments where I had all eyes on me. The whole team and all the fans were like, okay, this one guy can decide whether we get on the podium in the EWC Club Championship or come fourth.
What led to you joining Vitality in the first place? Did you have other offers?
I did have other offers, and what made me choose Vitality is Danny, Danny Engels, he is just a legend.
We had an early call, I had an early call with him, he said he’s played Trackmania before, and like he was at the World Championships in like 2010 or something, when someone else won that I knew, and I thought that was kind of a cool coincidence, and then I had a call with him and Neo, and that was a great call as well.
I was like okay, cool, these are great guys, and it was just the personal touches, and how much they cared about the player, I think that’s kind of what really like outlined it for me, it’s like okay, these guys actually care about me.
It’s not just a case of, we need you for EWC, you’re good at the game, get the points, that’s that, and then when you’ve got the points, then you can go away.
They saw the value in me, and wanted me to do well. Obviously, it helps the team overall, but like they kind of cared about me, and Trackmania, and had a vision themselves.
I think I’m just so happy I made the right decision and joined them, I think it was just one of the best things I could have done, and I’ve been so lucky ever since. Every day I feel like I can be happy that I have made an incredible decision for my gaming career. Honestly, I couldn’t praise them as a team anymore, and the people as well.
Where does that EWC rank in your best career moments?
I’ve never felt like that during an event before. So like it ranks like super high up there. In terms of happiest moments I could rank, I would say my last year World Cup win with Carl Jr. was probably the happiest I’ve ever been.
Because I’ve been waiting, I was waiting for my second World Championship for so long. And to get it with the guy that’s always denied me was like, but also one of my best friends. I couldn’t ask for a better feeling, winning something with someone that you’ve trained with for so long and them also being like one of my closest friends.
Nothing can really beat that. I mean, if I won EWC, that could have been an insane feeling. Still, EWC is so up there just because of all the mental emotions. There’s like the horrific down after day two losing and then the major high of the entire final day of keeping on going and keeping on getting through each match.
As you’ve mentioned, you’re very close with Carl Jnr. What makes him the Trackmania GOAT?
I think the longevity that he’s had, like he’s been doing World Cups since 2012. He came third in his first, and then he won the next three.
He has seven world titles and he’s won every single tournament, he’s practically won every event you can win. I would say EWC was a crazy whirlwind of circumstances that led to him not going further.
He kind of has always been at the top, and he’s been through many different eras now where he has won. He’s beaten everyone that’s in the current era.
No one can really go above him until they’ve beaten him more times than he’s beaten them, and I feel like we’re close. I’m close. I think in terms of longevity and how good I’ve done as well, I think I’d like to think I’m there, thereabouts.
I think Gwen, talent-wise, is way beyond me and Carl. That’s just how it is. But I’d like to think that I’ve left something behind as well.
I mean, obviously everyone will say Carl’s the GOAT, but I’d like to think that I’ve kind of left a good reel of second places.
You started playing tournaments online at a very young age, has that helped your career and how do you maintain your desire to keep improving?
I just love competition. I think as a kid, when I first started competing, I think I was 13 in my first one. And it was a game called Trackmania Canyon. And I remember when this game first came out, I was like, I wanted to have the rank one name. I never got to rank one, I got to rank four. And I was just so determined.
As a kid, racing games really stood out to me and I had this just random goal of just like, yeah, I want to be the best at a racing game.
I would get bored after like, say, three hours of playing Call of Duty, whereas Trackmania, like you can do so many different things. I always found it fun.
And I think that’s the most important thing is that if I didn’t enjoy it, then I don’t think I would be as competitive and trying as hard as I have been.
I was studying for AAT and ACA qualifications, and the only time I had to play Trackmania was when it was big competitions and when I could sort of win some money. For me, like I’ve been playing the game for so long, I always wanted to get a trophy out of it.
Trophies were sort of the things that I lived for in a way, because without actually having anything physical from it, I felt like I was never going to really remember what I’ve been doing on this game.
I want to have like a trophy cabinet where I can look back and go, wow that’s something I did when I was in my teens and twenties and maybe early thirties if I keep going, hopefully.
That answers out last question in a way, where do you go from here? What are your aims and aspirations?
Keep accumulating as many trophies as possible. I mean, I won DreamHack and I didn’t get a trophy and that was really gutting. Still want one for that.
I want to just keep my name out there, keep being at the top and near the top as close as possible, I don’t want to dwindle away yet. I still feel as if I am one of the fastest players and still feel as if my level is above the rest and with Carl.
If I can win another world championship, that would be incredible. I’ve already got two, so it’s not too bad. The only goal now would be to get a three, a four and a five and get closer and closer to Carl. I think that would be an insane feat.
I think the level is getting higher and higher and sometimes you have to be a bit realistic. But my unrealistic dreams would be just to win another one and then win the next one again.
I want to get another trophy so that I have so I have to force myself to build another trophy shelf because it’s quite full at the moment. So I’d love to have another shelf.
Had you watched much Trackmania before EWC? Share your experiences with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Also, check out our interview with Vitality stand-in jL on his return to CS2. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
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