Intensive learning experience for Thomas Nepveu on the Lucas Oil Raceway Oval. 14th at his first oval track race - Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

Given that rain had disrupted the Friday schedule,  Thomas Nepveu and his #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car prepared by Cape Motorsports took the start of the "Cooper Tire Freedom 75" this morning (Saturday) on the Lucas Oil Raceway. This was his first start on an oval track, as he started 16^th and gave us one of his patented super starts to move up to 15^th place, which he held until the 31^st lap of the race. He then held on to that position until lap 60 when he moved up to 14^th position, where he eventually finished. 

Thursday (May 27) was an important day for Thomas Nepveu: he covered some 150 laps over the two practice sessions in order to build his confidence in himself and in his car's capabilities and worked with his team to fine-tune the set-up as his level of experience and confidence grew throughout the day.

"On Thursday, Thomas improved in every session and his best laps were in qualifying, I am sure he has more confidence for the race. On Saturday, Thomas approached the race with the correct attitude. He had a good start and fought tooth-and-nail for 75 laps. He matched his qualifying time in race trim. It was a very good performance for his first oval race." declared Dominic Cape, the president of Cape Motorsports, after the race. 

Thomas Nepveu talks about his experiences on the track

"Our goal in Thursday's practice was to gain confidence on the oval and understand the potential of my #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car. The team added downforce for the second practice session, and I felt more comfortable in that session and in qualifying.

"In the race, my confidence continued to grow as the car worked perfectly, with the same set-up as my teammate Michael D'Orlando who took the win. I was ready to attack towards the halfway point of the race, but the lack of caution periods didn't allow me to move up to the front in the relatively heavy traffic around me in the final third of the race.

"I worked hard on my driving precision and staying focused throughout the race in order not to make any mistakes. I've learned a lot and I can't wait to get back to an oval track and apply the experience I gained today," explained Thomas Nepveu, the sole Canadian driver in this series.

Oval racing is an integral part of IndyCar, the target series for Thomas Nepveu. It makes sense for a development series like the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship to visit such a track to prepare the young drivers for the high-speed oval tracks visited by the IndyCar Series, such as Indianapolis, Texas Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway.

Next event - June 17 to 20 - Road America (Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin)

Thomas Nepveu and Cape Motorsports will be back on track with the #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car from June 17 to 20 for the Road America event.

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.

Cape Motorsports

Cape Motorsports prepares cars and provides trackside stewardship for drivers who rent one of their cars (Up to four) in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series. The team offers an unparalleled driver development program that includes training with simulators, as well as teaching driving techniques and race strategies. It is always difficult for a young driver to get into a professional series and make his mark, let alone win, no matter how talented he or she may be. With the coaching and mentoring provided by Cape Motorsports, new drivers acquire all the knowledge required to achieve maximum success quickly and efficiently.

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