Thomas Nepveu racing at the legendary Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit. May 13 to 15, 2021 - Races 5, 6 & 7 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

We have almost reached the halfway point of the 2021 season of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship this coming weekend, as Thomas Nepveu continues his apprenticeship with three races on the road course in the infield of the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This will be Thomas Nepveu's first event on the 2.4 miles track and the rookie driver is working hard to prepare himself for this important weekend with the help of extensive race notes and videos prepared by Cape Motorsports, as well as simulation to fully grasp the track geometry and it's important reference points, such as corner exits before a long straightaway. The team knows the track well and will help the young driver learn and optimize the settings of the #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware machine. 

Passing is difficult in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, as Thomas Nepveu has found out since the beginning of the season. To alleviate the negative effect that this difficulty causes during a race, drivers must focus on optimizing their qualifying to improve their position on the starting grid, as well as gain as many positions as possible on the start of a race and on restarts after caution periods. Cape Motorsports possesses a wealth of technical information to back up the young Oka driver, given their 10 race wins at this track since the series' first visit here in 2015.

"In addition to studying the race notes and videos provided by my team, I was able to do almost five hours of advanced simulation at Cape Motorsports to identify key areas on the track. The goal is to become as familiar as possible with the combination of slow and fast corners at Indy," said Nepveu in a phone interview. 

Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit

Added to the legendary 2.5-mile oval in 2000, the road course has accommodated Formula 1, WeatherTech Sportscar Series endurance races and MotoGP World Championship races since then. The track configuration features14 corners, one of which at very high speed, and two long straights over 2.439 miles (3.22 km). This openness enables the USF2000 cars to average 165 km/h (103 mph) for their lap record.

The needs imposed by the mix of slow and fast corners combined with the high-speed straightaway are contradictory: optimal grip through and out of slow and faster corners with the help of high aerodynamic downforce and resulting drag on the one hand, and pure speed on the high-speed sections with little aerodynamic drag (i.e. less downforce and less slipstreaming that would help others to overtake you).

Weekend Schedule (EDT)

• Thursday, May 13: Test Session 1 - 8:00 to 8:50 AM | Test Session 2 - 11:15 AM to 12:05 PM | Practice 1 - 2:30 to 3:00 PM | Qualifying 1 - 5:00 to 5:20 PM
• Friday, May 14: Race 1 - 10:40 to 11:20 AM (15 laps - 40 min | Race 2 - 3:25 to 4:05 PM (15 laps - 40 min - grid set based on best lap time from race 1)
• Saturday, May 15: Race 3 - 9:40 to 10:20 AM (20 laps - 40 min - grid based on best lap time from race 2)

Live Timing: Road to Indy TV application Cooper Tires USF2000 site

Breakfast Club of Canada

Thomas Nepveu is honoured to join to the Breakfast Club of Canada cause. He will add his name to a list of ambassadors dedicated to highlighting food insecurity among Canadian children and will participate in various fundraising events.

To make a donation on Thomas Nepveu's page: https://give.breakfastclubcanada.org/thomas-nepveu-pilote-de-course-professionnel-et-ambassadeur-du-club

Thomas Nepveu 2021 Results - Cooper Tires USF2000 Series

Photo Credit: CoForce

Partners - Brief Outlines
(Click on links for additional information) 

Cromwell

Cromwell is a private real-estate company active since 1986 in the multi-residential, office and commercial/ shopping centre segments. 

Karting Excellence

A major reseller of sophisticated, up-to-date kart simulators, as well as offering driving courses for simulated racing, and kart track software development, based on liDAR technology.

Richelieu Hardware

Richelieu Hardware is the leading distributor of hardware products in North America, with over 80 points-of-sale across the continent. 

Pétrole Bélanger

Transport, maintenance and delivery of petroleum and propane gas products to residential, commercial, and agriculture customers in the major Quebec regions for more than 65 years!

Home Hardware

With more than 1,000 independently owned outlets, Home Hardware is the most important distributor of renovation products in Canada. 

Hamster

The largest Canadian-owned distributor of office products, which includes the Novexco commercial division.

PL-100

PL-100 with anti-friction treatment is the best all-purpose penetrating lubricant on the market. Its action is faster, longer lasting and more efficient than that of its competitors. PL-100 is a product from Prolab, a family-owned Quebec company established in 1985. 

Ionik

This Quebec-based maker of sports-oriented clothing places a special emphasis on respect for the environment.

Centre de Médecine sportive de Laval

The Centre de Médecine sportive de Laval uses over 100 health professionals to deliver personalized medical services of the highest order to athletes of all levels.

King Canada

Canada's leading distributor of woodworking, metalworking, automotive and material handling machinery, tools, equipment and accessories.

Festidrag Development

Under the leadership of Martin D'Anjou, this production and promotion house assist in the development of Canadian drivers' careers, on as well as off the tracks.

Additional Information

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

Managed and promoted by Andersen Promotions, LCC, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship is the first step in the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, and leads on to more advanced stages in quicker, more competitive series: the Indy Pro F2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including the Indianapolis 500 and the top level in single-seater car racing in America. The champions of the three lower series earn major scholarships each year to help fund their next season in the Road to Indy program.

The Road to Indy Program

The Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires program offers an entry level series into professional racing, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. From there, drivers move on to the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, which uses a more refined and quicker version of the USF2000 car. The drivers then move on to the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Series, using a much more powerful, much quicker and more complex car to set up and drive, in preparation for their move to America's top single-seaters, the super-fast NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Car

This series uses a standardized Tatuus USF-17 chassis which delivers an exciting level of performance and is a logical step up from the lower learner series to continue the development of young drivers.

The car features:

• A carbon fibre and aluminum honeycomb safety cell for the driver and the fuel tank, and carbon-fibre bodywork and wings
• A sealed two-litre (175 HP) engine and a six-speed sequential gearbox with steering-mounted paddle shifters 
• Adjustable suspensions and front-rear brake bias
• Bespoke Cooper Tires
• A dry weight of 500 kg 

Thomas Nepveu Career Path and Results

Born in Oka (Quebec), Thomas Nepveu has always shown a great interest in extreme sports, starting with small motorcycles on dirt tracks. He quickly moved on to karts first in the Montreal area, then on to provincial and national series in Canada, on to the United States, Europe and other continents.

2020

• Single seater debut in the Mexican F4 series at the Autodromo de Querétaro, Mexico
• 1 victory and 2 podiums out of 3 F4 races
• Victory in the ROK Fest East series - Charlotte (NC) (ROK Senior class)
• 6^th out of 52 entries, one pole from 3 races in ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour
• 6^th and 1 podium (3^rd) out of 4 races in the SKUSA Winter Series
• 8^th and 2 poles out of 6 races in the SKUSA Pro Tour

2019

• Transition to Rotax Senior class
• Canadian Karting Champion
• Canadian Shifter Open Champion
• Two top-5 finishes in the SKUSA Pro Tour (Senior class)
• Qualified for the Final in the WSK Euro Series (Sarno, Italy)

2018

• US Open Champion
• 3^rd in the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour series
• 4^th in the Max Challenge class at the Rotax Grand Final (Brazil)
• 15^th in the CIK-FIA World Championship OKJ (Sweden)
• 5^th in the ROK the Rio (Las Vegas)

2017

• Transition year to the Junior class (12 to 16)
• 1st in the Florida Winter Tour (2^nd round)
• 2^nd in the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship  

2016

• Debut with PSL Karting
• Youngest driver (11) on the Canadian Karting Team
• Champion in the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship with 7 victories in 7 races, a first in this event
• Champion at the Mini Swift Super Nationals
• Runner-up in the Mini Max world championship
• Team Canada finishes first of 54 countries in the Rotax World Championships with Thomas Nepveu the top Canadian finisher in the Mini-Max class

2015

• Transition year (11 to 13 age group)
• Quebec Cup runner-up
• 4^th in the Eastern Canada Championship
• 3^rd in the Canadian Championship

2014

• Quebec Cup champion
• Eastern Canada champion
• 3^rd in the Canadian Championship
• 3^rd in the Florida Winter Series (first podium for Thomas Nepveu in the United States) 

2013

• Wins all Canadian championships in the 9-year-old class
• Quebec Cup champion
• Western Canada champion
• Eastern Canada champion
• 6^th in the Micro Max class at the Rotax Grand Finals in New Orleans, Louisiana

2012

• First year in racing, in the Micro Max class, in Quebec and Ontario
• 5^th in the Quebec Cup