Best results of the season for Thomas Nepveu at Indianapolis. 9th in race 1 - 8th in race 2 - 5th in race 3 - Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

Thomas Nepveu had a big weekend at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit, a road course built inside the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. Thomas Nepveu once again displayed his improved driving skills as he has done since the beginning of his rookie season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. After qualifying the #2 Cromwell| Karting Excellence| Home Hardware car in 7^th place on Thursday, Thomas Nepveu crossed the finish line in 9^th, 8^th and 5^th places respectively in the two Friday and one Saturday races held over the weekend. This fifth position is his best result so far this season and suggests that we will see the young Oka driver in the top-5 again for the coming races.

The series drivers took part in three practice and qualifying sessions on Thursday, an important learning experience for Thomas Nepveu who was able to work with his team to gradually improve the car, his knowledge of the track and his driving, which is a little different on this hybrid track from conventional road courses. His unwavering determination, absence of driving errors and an ability to learn and adapt to new circumstances served him well.

The oval part of the track requires a great deal of precision from the driver in order to position himself well at the entrance of the first wide corner, to brake without locking a front wheel, and to negotiate all the corners without the usual aerodynamic downforce we see on road courses.

Thomas Nepveu Describes the On-Track Action

"Our plan for the two first 50-minute practice sessions on Thursday was to learn the unusual layout with its long straight and wide oval part on entry to corner 1, and the other more technical corners of the rest of the layout. We originally set up the car with relatively low downforce to reduce drag and go as fast as possible on the long straight. However, the lower downforce for braking and cornering in the infield corners were new to me and I had to adapt my driving technique accordingly. 

In qualifying, late on Thursday afternoon, the team kept us in the pits until about eight minutes before the end of the session so that we used only one set of new tires. There was enough time left when we went out on track to complete three timed laps and I set the seventh quickest time.

After a good start from 7^th on the grid in the first Friday race in the #2 Cromwell| Karting Excellence| Home Hardware car, I was in 4^th position but then found that the car was slowing by a few tenths of a second which made it difficult for me to maintain my position and I slipped down to 9^th place at the end.

The team then changed some settings in preparation for the second Friday race, mainly by giving me a little more downforce and therefore more grip in the tighter corners. The car did feel better but still slowed over the course of the race and I crossed the finish line eighth. We needed to work some more on the set-up for tomorrow's 20-lap race.

On Saturday, we launched well at the beginning of the race and on a restart on lap seven. I gained a position each time and ended up in 6^th position and defended that position right to the end of the 20-lap race. It was not easy, as the car started to understeer on lap 10. I tried to adjust my driving, but I still lack some practical experience in order to compensate for these variations in the car's behaviour over a race distance. I'm happy with my performance this weekend and I'm looking forward to the next race on the Lucas Oil Raceway oval," said Thomas Nepveu as he got out of the car.

Next Event - May 27 and 28 - Lucas Oil Raceway (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Thomas Nepveu and Cape Motorsports will be back on track May 27-28 for the only oval race of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship season at the Lucas Oil Raceway located in the Indianapolis area. In the meantime, Thomas Nepveu and PSL Karting will head to the Utah Motorsports Campus track to compete in the SuperKarts! USA (Spring Nationals) from May 20 to 23.

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